Nathan Birnbaum is also the birth name of comedian George Burns.Nathan Birnbaum (Hebrew: נתן בירנבוים‎; pseudonyms: "Mathias Acher", "Dr. N. Birner", "Mathias Palme", "Anton Skart", "Theodor Schwarz", and "Pantarhei") (16 May 1864 – 2 April 1937) was an Austrian writer and journalist, Jewish thinker and nationalist. His life had three main phases, representing a progression in his thinking: a Zionist phase (ca. 1883 – ca. 1900); a Jewish cultural autonomy phase (ca. 1900 – ca.