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W. Douglas Burden
William Douglas Burden (1898-1978) was a geologist, naturalist, hunter, filmmaker and author. His special interest was in Komodo dragons and animal behavior. Burden was a trustee of the American Mu...view moreWilliam Douglas Burden (1898-1978) was a geologist, naturalist, hunter, filmmaker and author. His special interest was in Komodo dragons and animal behavior. Burden was a trustee of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) from 1926-1961, where he established the AMNH Department of Experimental Biology in 1928 (later named the Department of Animal Behavior).
Born in Troy, New York in 1898, he received an A.B. from Harvard College in 1922 and his Master’s degree from Columbia University in 1926. Shortly after graduating from Harvard, Burden went on one of his early expeditions to the Far East to bring back amphibian, fish and insect specimens for the museum, and in 1926 he was elected to the museum’s board of trustees.
He founded and was president of several film companies, including Burden Pictures, Inc., together with ichthyologist Ilia Tolstoy, from 1928 until 1931, Marine Studios (later named Marineland), an aquarium project in Florida which worked to develop a shark repellent for use by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Marine Studios was formed in collaboration with Tolstoy, as well as C. V. Whitney, an American businessman, film producer, and writer.
Burden was married three times and had four children.
He passed away in Charlotte, Vermont in 1978 at the age of 80.view less
Books by W. Douglas Burden
Dragon Lizards of Komodo: An Expedition to the Lost World of the Dutch East Indies