Person Details

Birthday: 1960-09-12 17:22:00

Aliases: John Burke , Robert Burke

Gender: Male

Place of birth: New York City, New York, USA

Homepage:

Movie Involvements: 43

TV Involvements: 19


Most Famous Work

Biography

A born-and-bred New Yorker, Robert John Burke made his film debut while in his early 20s with a small part in the drama "The Chosen" (1981), based on the Chaim Potok story. He went on to study acting at SUNY Purchase where he met aspiring filmmaker Hal Hartley, who cast him as one of the leads in his debut feature "The Unbelievable Truth," an offbeat indie tale where he played a man trying to escape his troubled past. Working with Hartley again on the charming brother-centric dark comedy "Simple Men," Burke caught a major break when Hollywood producers decided that his chiseled jawline was the right one to replace Peter Weller's in the sci-fi/action sequel "RoboCop 3." Despite Burke's efforts, the movie tanked, and he went on to smaller roles in major films, including the lauded Western "Tombstone" (1993) and the prison-break movie "Fled" (1996). Burke landed his second chance in a Hollywood starring role with the Stephen King adaptation "Thinner" (1996), but the macabre tale, which featured him under heavy makeup to depict a callous man who magically loses weight, was deemed almost universally unlikable.Though Burke's leading-man days were mostly behind him, his beastly role in Hartley's "No Such Thing" (2001) aside, he soldiered on, and began increasingly working on television with recurring roles on the grim prison drama "Oz" and the police procedural "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC, 1999- ). Appearing in George Clooney's first two movies as director, "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind" (2002) and "Good Night, and Good Luck." (2005), Burke nonetheless became more familiar to TV audiences, particularly when he signed on to play Mickey Gavin, the ex-priest cousin of Denis Leary's lead character on the firefighter series "Rescue Me," a part that dovetailed with Burke's real-life second job as a New York State fireman.Often cast as a tough guy, the ruggedly handsome and tall actor continued to play imposing figures such as Major General James "Chaos" Mattis in the Iraq War miniseries "Generation Kill" (HBO, 2008) and Bart Bass, the controlling billionaire father of Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) on the soapy drama "Gossip Girl." Before long, he was juggling his ongoing "Law & Order: SVU" part with regular spots on the military drama "Army Wives" (Lifetime, 2007- ) and the tense crime show "Person of Interest" (CBS, 2011- ), while still finding time for supporting turns in films, including the Denzel Washington/Mark Wahlberg action movie "2 Guns" (2013).

Most Famous Work

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Average
8
Law & Order
Average
7

Law & Order

(1990) Ron Innes
CSI: Miami
Average
8

CSI: Miami

(2002) Jim Resdon
Blue Bloods
Average
8

Blue Bloods

(2010) Jyle Hogan
Gossip Girl
Average
8

Gossip Girl

(2007) Bart Bass
Person of Interest
Average
8

Person of Interest

(2011) Officer Patrick Simmons
The Sopranos
Average
9

The Sopranos

(1999) Officer Zmuida
White Collar
Average
8

White Collar

(2009) Patrick O'Leary

Acting

Year Character Movie/Tv
2023 Eddie Holland
2022 Smitty
Captain Briggs
David
2021 Detective Steven Morse
2020 Sheriff Campbell
2019 William Fairchild
2018 Mr. Holcomb
Chief Bridges
Hal
2017 General Sportwood
Captain Frascone
2015 Uncle Mack
Greg Ganley
Special Agent Brock
2014 Chet
IAB Lieutenant Ed Tucker
2013 Jessup
Andrew Lightstone
Salvatore Ferillo
2012 Captain Wolf
2011 Officer Patrick Simmons
Pierce
2010 Himself
Jyle Hogan
State Trooper #1
2009 Patrick O'Leary
2008 General Ned Almond
2007 Bart Bass
2006 Colonel
David
Bellows
Det. Ron Banks
Binky Taylor
2005 Belligerent American
Charlie Mack
Steven
2004 Mickey Gavin
Rudy
Mr. Neck
2003 Jim
2002 Instructor Jenks
Jim Resdon
2001 N/A
The Monster
1999 Ed Tucker
Officer Zmuida
1998 Henry
Frankie
Walker Lewis
Paul Bacon
Frank Drummond
Bill Anders
1997 Officer B
Special Agent Pierce Taylor
Tom Hutton
1996 Billy Halleck
R.G. Greiser
Pat Schiller
Handsome Man
1995 Men's Room Man #2
Steve
1993 Paul
Frank McLaury
Men's Room Man
Paul Parker
Robocop
1992 Bill McCabe
Dust Devil
1991 Dave Wilkie
1990 Milton Danbury
Arthur "Buzz" Palley
Ron Innes
Josh
1986 Dave
1985 O'Toole
1981 Levi Saunders
Officer Reardon
1977 Patrick
Year Character Movie/Tv

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