BUY, GEORGE! : AFTER BURNS AUCTION, A FEW LUCKY FANS WILL NEVER HAVE TO SAY `GOOD NIGHT'.

Byline: Glenn Gaslin Daily News Staff Writer

Manny and Dorothy Santos usually don't shop here. Beverly Hills isn't exactly this Van Nuys couple's regular haunt, especially this hoity-toity corner of Wilshire Boulevard and Rodeo Drive.

``We usually like to go to garage and estate sales,'' said Dorothy Santos, grinning as she surveyed the Sotheby's gallery display of possessions George Burns left when he died at 100 in March. ``We've never done this. We thought it'd be fun.''

They're hoping to buy some old letters that Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope and Jimmy Stewart wrote to Burns, and you can't get those in Van Nuys. You can only get them at the Sotheby's auction of Burns' estate Thursday, the proceeds of which go to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the United Jewish Fund and the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

And like many of the buyers expected to bid on Burns' belongings - the Friars Club awards, the trademark glasses, the dining room table, the smoking jacket, and on and on - the Santoses are just fans. Regular comedy buffs. Folks who crossed one of the longest paths in show biz history.

``We have always been big fans,'' said Dorothy Santos. ``I saw him in person once when I worked at Disneyland.''

As she and her husband figured out how to place a bid (the letters they want will go for somewhere between $250 and $350), other would-be buyers browsed the sale's contents, and Burns' longtime manager and friend, Irving Fein, gave CNN cameras a tour.

Fein tapped a few keys on the grand piano ($5,000 to $7,000), pointed to carved figurines of Burns and Jack Benny ($900 to $1,200) and told the camera a little something about a Gracie Allen movie poster hung near the pool table ($1,500 to $2,500).

Those walking though the exhibit - set up like the dining room, sun room and library of the Burns home - absorbed the at-home tastes of a man some remember from vaudeville and others knew simply as the guy who played God.

``His tastes were very traditional, but not stodgy,'' explained Robert Levine, the sharp-suited Sotheby's expert who spent months sorting, cataloging and pricing the collection. ``These items will always be in style. They show a sort of East Coast sensibility.''

Much of the estate consists of furniture - nice mahogany furniture done in classic, Old World, European styles. But the collection as a whole, Levine said, will draw a wide and weird crowd. Fans and young Hollywood types may dig the classic memorabilia, the posters, paintings and awards. And those closer to Burns' age may snatch the more mundane.

``We got a call from somebody who had been a guest in the house,'' Levine said, pointing at armchairs with bird images on the seats. ``And they remembered and asked if we had those pheasant chairs there.''

The hottest items, of course, will be anything related to Burns' signature habit, the 10 to 20 cigars he smoked every day. Several wood humidors, ranging from a classic table-top Dunhill to a stand-alone model the size of a small child, could hold hundreds of cigars and should fetch a few thousand dollars each. And a collection of four cans of tobacco and 90 cigars likely will go for more than $1,000.

``He smoked the cheap ones, too,'' said Levine, motioning to some El Producto brand brown tubes. ``They would burn longer. He could stand on stage and the cigar would never go out.''

Across the room, Marianne Lindstrom passed on the cigars. The sometime collector eyed two pairs of plastic, cat's-eye glasses coated in fake gold and silver glitter. These belonged to Allen, Burns' wife and comic partner, and Lindstrom planned to pick them up for $600 or so.

``And my husband and I would really like those cuff links,'' she said, pointing inside a glass case.

Beyond these everyday items - these glasses and plates and jackets and cuff links - the Burns collection includes enough memorabilia to double as a Hollywood museum. There are copies of Allen's 1939 radio show, movie posters from ``The Sunshine Boys'' and ``Oh, God! Book II,'' a TV Guide cover featuring Burns, a Jeep-size 100th birthday card from Caesars Palace, a director's chair, dozens and dozens of show-biz awards and even more pictures, paintings and photos. Photos of George and Gracie. Photos of Burns and John Wayne. Photos of Burns and the BeeGees. Artsy photos of just Burns.

There's even a painting done by a fan, one who never intended for his work to be on the block at Sotheby's.

The artist, Randy Watkins, who works in the Daily News production facility, regularly paints large portaits of celebrities and goes about getting them signed.

Three years ago, he brushed a cigar-in-hand portrait of Burns, hoping that a friend who ``knew George Burns' son's horse trainer or something like that'' could get it autographed.

But when Burns was hospitalized in 1994 after falling down, Watkins went to Cedars-Sinai and sent a nurse to his room with some flowers, a card and the painting.

And now Sotheby's shoppers will start the bidding for it between $400 and $600.

``My intent was to get it autographed and keep it,'' says Watkins, who has never tried to sell any of his work. ``But George Burns wanted to put it in his pool room, and that's the biggest compliment I can get.''

THE FACTS

The event: Auction of the estate of George Burns.

Where: Sotheby's, 9665 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills.

When: Items on view 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today. Auction at 2 p.m. Thursday.

Proceeds: Proceeds go to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, the United Jewish Fund and the Motion Picture and Television Fund.

Information: Call [phone].

CAPTION(S):

Drawing, 6 Photos

Drawing: (Cover--Color) This portrait by Burnsfan Randy Watkins, is among the items on the block.

Photo: (1) The late George Burns' fans come in all ages, including Sandy Witkow, 11, of West Los Angeles, looking through the auction items at Sotheby's.

(2--3) At left, a pair of Burns' round tortoise-shell glasses and a Gucci eyeglass case embossed with his initials are estimated to open for bids at $1,000 to $1,500. Below, a framed photo of Burns and wife and comedy partner Gracie Allen is one of eight vintage photos that are expected to sell for more than the $500 to $700 presale estimate.

(4) This director's chair is expected to fetch upward of the $3,000 to $5,000 presale estimate.

(5) Robert Levine, the Sotheby's expert who cataloged and priced the Burns collection, holds a portrait painted by Randy Watkins, a fan who happens to work in the Daily News production facility. Bidding will start at $400 to $600.

(6) Jack Benny, in drag, cuts up with Burns in one of seven photos given a presale estimate of $500 to $700.