Bertie Burns is a minor character in the Jem animated series. He is Flo's husband and Jetta's father. Much like the rest of his family, he is grumpy, unscrupulous and crooked. He likes to gamble and cheat, and won't hesitate on taking part in an illegal activity if with it he can get his hands on some easy money.
He was voiced by Philip L. Clarke.
History[]
Bertie Burns lives with his wife, Flo, in an old apartment building in Kingston on Hull England. From the first sight at the couple, one can guess they aren't the most trustworthy people. Both usually carry themselves in a grumpy and even rude manner, and it's quickly evident that they're opportunist people who are always looking for ways to go through life by doing only the minimal effort.
The first time we see the couple is when their daughter, Sheila Burns –better known to the world as "Jetta"–, calls them on the phone. She proposes them to find a way to apparent they are nobles with the intention of potentially scamming a lot of money from Pizzazz. The couple initially try to dismiss her, but when Jetta "threatens" them with the idea that when The Misfits discover she has been lying about her supposed noble origin, she'll be kicked from the band and be forced to come back to live with them. Terrified by this, the Burns couple finally agree to take part on the charade.
We next see the Burns couple at the "Wissex Downs", with Bertie winning some bets thanks to the tips given to him by his shady looking bookie - apparently a long acquaintance of him and who usually tips him on which horses to bet for a cut of the winnings. The bookie then informs Bertie about a man that's also at the racetracks; he tells him he's Lord Trevor of Wissex, that he has recently lost all of his money for gambling, and that now his creditors are after him. This happens to be exactly what Bertie and Flo were looking for to carry out their daughter's plans.
The couple approach Lord Trevor and convince him to let them use his mansion and act as if they were the owners, while he'll play the role of their butler; this with the intention of selling all possible trinkets from the mansion to Pizzazz at ten times their normal price. Due to the desperate situation he's currently in, Lord Trevor agrees, although under the condition that everything should be over the next night by eight o'clock.
After a failed attempt by Lord Trevor to assassinate his nephew, Mason Hawthorne, legitimate heir to the Wissex earldom, and who by the aforementioned hour will officially become the new Earl and inherit the mansion and all other possessions, Lord Trevor returns to his backup plan with the Burns family, although changing it to try to sell the entire property to Pizzazz instead, tricking her into believing it comes with a nobility title. This new plan goes as intended and Pizzazz is already in the middle of signing the property sales agreement, when Mason, his friends and The Holograms suddenly arrive at the mansion to stop the completion of the transaction, just as the clock is striking eight o'clock, marking Mason's entitlement as Earl of Wissex.
Seeing themselves cornered, the conspirators try to escape. While Lord Trevor and his minions try in vain to make it to the streets, Bertie, Flo and Jetta try their luck hiding in the stables (apparently, under mounts of hay), although they are soon discovered. It is unknown what happened to Bertie and Flo, but The Misfits were forced to wash the dishes during the concert celebrated that night at the mansion, so it is possible they received a similar punishment.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- His real name is undisclosed. Bertie can be a diminutive of Bertram, Albert, or even of any male given names ending in -bert.
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ In the episode Britrock, when Jetta calls her parents on the phone, she asks the operator to call to Kingston upon Hull, which is a port city in England.