Robert John Burke

Robert John Burke

Birthday: 1960-09-12

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

Also known as: John Burke , Robert Burke

imdb_id: nm0121559

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).

Played in movies:

Tombstone

Score: 7.6

Gangster Wars

Score: 7.5

BlacKkKlansman

Score: 7.5

The Chosen

Score: 7.2

Limitless

Score: 7.2

Munich

Score: 7.1

Good Night, and Good Luck.

Score: 7.1

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Score: 7.1

Speak

Score: 7.0

Future '38

Score: 7.0

Cop Land

Score: 6.8

The Unbelievable Truth

Score: 6.8

Simple Men

Score: 6.7

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

Score: 6.7

Heaven & Earth

Score: 6.7

Boston Strangler

Score: 6.6

2 Guns

Score: 6.5

Safe

Score: 6.5

Boarding School

Score: 6.4

Hide and Seek

Score: 6.3

Dust Devil

Score: 6.3

Brooklyn's Finest

Score: 6.3

State Property

Score: 6.3

Looking for Mr. Goodbar

Score: 6.3

True Story

Score: 6.3

Flirt

Score: 6.2

Rambling Rose

Score: 6.2

A Far Off Place

Score: 6.2

Miracle at St. Anna

Score: 6.1

Intrusion

Score: 6.0

The Retaliators

Score: 5.9

Thinner

Score: 5.9

We Only Know So Much

Score: 5.9

Connie and Carla

Score: 5.9

Ned Rifle

Score: 5.9

Killer: A Journal of Murder

Score: 5.9

No Such Thing

Score: 5.9

Fled

Score: 5.6

A Bright Shining Lie

Score: 5.5

Mayday - Flug in den Tod

Score: 5.5

The Ex

Score: 5.2

The Oh in Ohio

Score: 5.2

If Lucy Fell

Score: 5.1

RoboCop 3

Score: 4.9

Midnight Flight

Score: 4.7

Being

Score: 4.3

First Love, Last Rites

Score: 4.3

Nightmare Weekend

Score: 3.6

Jack's Law

Score: 2.5

Piggie

Score: 2.0

Where There's Smoke

Score: 0.0

Years Later: The Unbelievable Truth and Its Consequences

Score: 0.0

Somewhere in the City

Score: 0.0

Bait

Score: 0.0

Crazy for a Kiss

Score: 0.0

Triggered

Score: 0.0

Flirt

Score: 0.0

Played in tv shows:

The Sopranos

Score: 8.7

The Last of Us

Score: 8.6

White Collar

Score: 8.2

Gossip Girl

Score: 8.2

Project Blue Book

Score: 8.1

From the Earth to the Moon

Score: 8.1

Person of Interest

Score: 8.1

Oz

Score: 8.0

Banshee

Score: 8.0

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Score: 7.9

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Score: 7.9

Blue Bloods

Score: 7.8

CSI: Miami

Score: 7.7

Rescue Me

Score: 7.7

Law & Order

Score: 7.4

Law & Order

Score: 7.4

Law & Order

Score: 7.4

Sex and the City

Score: 7.4

The Equalizer

Score: 7.2

Kidnapped

Score: 7.1

Allegiance

Score: 6.9

Witchblade

Score: 6.8

Golden Boy

Score: 6.1

Six Degrees

Score: 5.8