As soon as he graduated high school, Burns moved to New York City to study theater.
He worked odd jobs during the day to pay for his rent and the acting classes he attended at night.
[citation needed] Auditions eventually led to an offer for the lead role in the national touring production of the Broadway hit Grease.
During his short career, Burns starred as Pete Stancheck in Walt Disney Productions' Herbie Goes Bananas and appeared on several television shows, as well as starring in the ABC series 240-Robert and The Thorn Birds miniseries.
[1][better source needed] Burns died at age 35 on February 22, 1990, in Santa Barbara, California.