Robert John Burke

Robert John Burke

Birth : 1960-09-12, New York City, New York, USA

History

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).

Profile

Robert John Burke
Robert John Burke
Robert John Burke
Robert John Burke

Movies

Boston Strangler
Eddie Holland
Reporters Loretta McLaughlin and Jean Cole bravely pursue the story of the Boston Strangler at great personal risk, putting their own lives on the line in their quest to uncover the truth.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Smitty
Queen Ramonda, Shuri, M’Baku, Okoye and the Dora Milaje fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death. As the Wakandans strive to embrace their next chapter, the heroes must band together with the help of War Dog Nakia and Everett Ross and forge a new path for the kingdom of Wakanda.
The Retaliators
Captain Briggs
An upstanding pastor uncovers a dark and twisted underworld as he searches for answers surrounding his daughter's brutal murder.
Triggered
David
A US Senator faces her greatest challenge when a home invasion takes a shocking turn.
Intrusion
Detective Steven Morse
When a husband and wife move to a small town, a home invasion leaves the wife traumatized and suspicious that those around her might not be who they seem.
Being
Sheriff Campbell
A festive gathering in a secluded small-town farmhouse in the mountains is brought to a halt when a bright burst of light explodes from the barn. Stranded in the middle of nowhere, they carefully investigate, making a discovery not of this world.
Boarding School
Mr. Holcomb
When troubled 12-year-old Jacob Felsen is sent away to boarding school, he enters every kid’s worst nightmare: a creepy old mansion, deserted except for six other teenage misfits and two menacing and mysterious teachers. As events become increasingly horrific, Jacob must conquer his fears to find the strength to survive.
BlacKkKlansman
Chief Bridges
Colorado Springs, late 1970s. Ron Stallworth, an African American police officer, and Flip Zimmerman, his Jewish colleague, run an undercover operation to infiltrate the Ku Klux Klan.
We Only Know So Much
Hal
A married woman has an affair with a suicidal lover while caring for her husband's sick relatives.
Future '38
General Sportwood
An American Agent from 1938 travels through time to hamstring Hitler! Transported to the year 2018, he hoodwinks hoodlums, infuriates the Fuhrer, and goes gaga for a gal 80 years his junior!
Where There's Smoke
Captain Frascone
After a tragic accident, a firefighter must convince the city commissioner he's able to return to the line of duty.
Bait
Uncle Mack
TJ's day takes an unexpected turn when he visits his Uncle Mack at his hotel in Montauk...
True Story
Greg Ganley
A drama centered around the relationship between journalist Michael Finkel and Christian Longo, an FBI Most Wanted List murderer who for years lived outside the U.S. under Finkel's name.
Ned Rifle
Chet
Henry and Fay's son Ned sets out to find and kill his father for destroying his mother's life. But his aims are frustrated by the troublesome Susan, whose connection to Henry predates even his arrival in the lives of the Grim family.
2 Guns
Jessup
A DEA agent and an undercover Naval Intelligence officer who have been tasked with investigating one another find they have been set up by the mob -- the very organization the two men believe they have been stealing money from.
Safe
Captain Wolf
After a former elite agent rescues a 12-year-old Chinese girl who's been abducted, they find themselves in the middle of a standoff between Triads, the Russian Mafia and high-level corrupt New York City politicians and police.
Limitless
Pierce
A paranoia-fueled action thriller about an unsuccessful writer whose life is transformed by a top-secret "smart drug" that allows him to use 100% of his brain and become a perfect version of himself. His enhanced abilities soon attract shadowy forces that threaten his new life in this darkly comic and provocative film.
Years Later: The Unbelievable Truth and Its Consequences
Himself
A series of impromptu interviews with Hal Hartley, Adrienne Shelly, and some of Hartley's other most frequent collaborators on his style, career, and process.
Brooklyn's Finest
State Trooper #1
Enforcing the law within the notoriously rough Brownsville section of the city and especially within the Van Dyke housing projects is the NYPD's sixty-fifth precinct. Three police officers struggle with the sometimes fine line between right and wrong.
Miracle at St. Anna
General Ned Almond
Miracle at St. Anna chronicles the story of four American soldiers who are members of the all-black 92nd "Buffalo Soldier" Division stationed in Tuscany, Italy during World War II.
The Ex
Colonel
When his lawyer wife, Sofia, becomes pregnant, chronic underachiever Tom Reilly must take a job at his father-in-law's advertising firm. Tom has to adjust to the demands of a very high-powered job, and he finds himself in an increasingly hostile office rivalry with Chip, Sofia's paraplegic former lover.
The Oh in Ohio
Binky Taylor
Priscilla and Jack appear to be the perfect couple, but they have a secret: She is sexually frustrated. They separate in the hope of resolving the situation. While Jack moves into a bachelor pad and begins an affair with a student, Priscilla discovers the joys of self-pleasuring and finds an unusual bed-mate.
Munich
Belligerent American
During the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, eleven Israeli athletes are taken hostage and murdered by a Palestinian terrorist group known as Black September. In retaliation, the Israeli government recruits a group of Mossad agents to track down and execute those responsible for the attack.
Good Night, and Good Luck.
Charlie Mack
The story of journalist Edward R. Murrow's stand against Senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-communist witch-hunts in the early 1950s.
Hide and Seek
Steven
David Callaway tries to piece together his life in the wake of his wife's suicide and has been left to raise his nine-year-old daughter, Emily on his own. David is at first amused to discover that Emily has created an imaginary friend named 'Charlie', but it isn't long before 'Charlie' develops a sinister and violent side, and as David struggles with his daughter's growing emotional problems, he comes to the frightening realisation that 'Charlie' isn't just a figment of Emily's imagination.
Connie and Carla
Rudy
After accidentally witnessing a mafia hit in the Windy City, gal pals Connie and Carla skip town for L.A., where they go way undercover as singers working the city's dinner theater circuit ... as drag queens. Now, it's not enough that they become big hits on the scene; things get extra-weird when Connie meets Jeff -- a guy she'd like to be a woman with
Speak
Mr. Neck
Freshman high-school student Melinda has refused to speak ever since she called the cops on a popular summer party. With her old friends snubbing her for being a rat, and her parents too busy to notice her troubles, she folds into herself, trying to hide her secret: that star senior Andy raped her at the party. But Melinda does manage to find solace in her art class headed by Mr. Freeman.
Piggie
Jim
An unbalanced young girl in upstate New York dairy country falls for a petty criminal from NYC and tries to manipulate him into being her boyfriend.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Instructor Jenks
Television made him famous, but his biggest hits happened off screen. Television producer by day, CIA assassin by night, Chuck Barris was recruited by the CIA at the height of his TV career and trained to become a covert operative. Or so Barris said.
No Such Thing
The Monster
Beatrice's fiancé is killed by a monster in Iceland. The monster is immortal, but longs to die. Beatrice helps him achieve this by contacting a scientist who can destroy matter painlessly.
First Love, Last Rites
Henry
Joey and Sissel are two misfits spending most of their time together talking or having sex. Gradually and slowly their relationships are becoming boring for them.
Somewhere in the City
Frankie
The film portrays life of New York City's Lower East Side inhabitants. Introvert therapist Betty is befriended with Chinese immigrant Lu Lu, leftist radical Che is also Lu Lu's friend. Italian immigrant and wife of supervisor of building where they all live, Marta, is having an affair with her neighbour Frankie who likes scams. One of his scams goes terribly wrong.
Alptraum im Airport
Paul Bacon
An American woman is stranded in a German airport when she witnesses someone sabotaging a plane.
A Bright Shining Lie
Frank Drummond
Something in his past keeps career Army man John Paul Vann from advancing past colonel. He views being sent to Vietnam as part of the US military advisory force a stepping stone to promotion. However, he disagrees vocally (and on the record) with the way the war is being run and is forced to leave the military. Returning to Vietnam as a civilian working with the Army, he comes to despise some South Vietnamese officers while he takes charge of some of the U.S. forces and continues his liaisons with Vietnamese women.
Cop Land
Officer B
Freddy Heflin is the sheriff of a place everyone calls “Cop Land” — a small and seemingly peaceful town populated by the big city police officers he’s long admired. Yet something ugly is taking place behind the town’s peaceful facade. And when Freddy uncovers a massive, deadly conspiracy among these local residents, he is forced to take action and make a dangerous choice between protecting his idols and upholding the law.
Mayday - Flug in den Tod
Tom Hutton
Thinner
Billy Halleck
An obese lawyer finds himself growing "Thinner" when an old gypsy man places a hex on him. Now the lawyer must call upon his friends in organized crime to help him persuade the gypsy to lift the curse. Time is running out for the desperate lawyer as he draws closer to his own death, and grows ever thinner.
Killer: A Journal of Murder
R.G. Greiser
Carl Panzram is sent to Leavenworth Prison for burglary. While there, he is brutally beaten by a guard. Neophyte guard Henry Lesser feels sympathy for Panzram, befriends him, and gets him to write his life story. Lesser learns that Panzram's past is much more violent than he thought, but also that he's capable of being a much better person than the rest of the prison staff believes - or so Lesser thinks.
Fled
Pat Schiller
During a routine prison work detail, convict Piper is chained to Dodge, a cyberhacker, when gunfire breaks out. Apparently, the attack is related to stolen money that the Mafia is after, and some computer files that somebody wants desperately to bury. The pair, who don't exactly enjoy each other's company, escape and must work together if they are to reach Atlanta alive. Luckily, they meet a woman who may be willing to help them.
If Lucy Fell
Handsome Man
Joe and Lucy are roommates and best friends. Lucy, whose love life is embarrassingly dull, convinces Joe, who is infatuated with a neighbor he's never met, that if they don't have stable romances within a month, they must jump off the Brooklyn Bridge.
Flirt
Men's Room Man #2
The same situation is played out in different cities (New York, Berlin and Tokyo). A lover has to choose whether to commit to a partner who is returning home. In each case there are other people involved, an ex-partner and someone else in a "permanent" relationship, what do they choose to do?
Crazy for a Kiss
Steve
On a hot sunny day in Kansas, 1973, Mike Kinross's parents tell him he's going on holiday to his Uncle Dan's house. But instead they drop him off at the juvenile unit of the local mental institution.
Tombstone
Frank McLaury
Legendary marshal Wyatt Earp, now a weary gunfighter, joins his brothers Morgan and Virgil to pursue their collective fortune in the thriving mining town of Tombstone. But Earp is forced to don a badge again and get help from his notorious pal Doc Holliday when a gang of renegade brigands and rustlers begins terrorizing the town.
Heaven & Earth
Paul
Le Ly lives in a small Vietnamese village whose serenity is shattered when war breaks out. Caught between the Viet Cong and the South Vietnamese army, the village is all but destroyed. After being both brutalized and raped, Le Ly resolves to flee. She leaves for the city, surviving desperate situations, but surviving nonetheless. Eventually she meets a U.S. Marine named Steve Butler who treats her kindly and tells her he would like to be married -- maybe to her.
RoboCop 3
Robocop
The mega corporation Omni Consumer Products is still bent on creating their pet project, Delta City, to replace the rotting city of Detroit. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the area have no intention of abandoning their homes simply for desires of the company. To this end, OCP have decided to force them to leave by employing a ruthless mercenary army to attack and harass them. An underground resistance begins and in this fight, Robocop must decide where his loyalties lie.
Flirt
Men's Room Man
In New York, Bill struggles to decide whether he has a future with Emily, while attempting to restrain Walter, the angry husband of a woman he thinks he might be in love with. Later incorporated into a feature film of the same name.
A Far Off Place
Paul Parker
Thrown together under incredible circumstances, two strangers must discover courage and strength when they begin a journey across the treacherous African desert! Equipped only with their wits and the expertise of a native bushman who befriends them, they are determined to triumph over impossible odds and reach their destination. But along the way, the trio face a primitive desert wilderness.
Simple Men
Bill McCabe
Bitter about being double-crossed by the women he loved, (and with the police after him to boot), Bill vows to seduce the next woman he sees, then throw her away. His brother Dennis, meanwhile, is equally determined to track down their long lost father, a revolutionary who has been in hiding for 20 years. For different reasons, both leave New York and head for Long Island, out of money, and short on ideas.
Dust Devil
Dust Devil
A woman on the run from her abusive husband encounters a mysterious hitch-hiker.
Rambling Rose
Dave Wilkie
Rose is taken in by the Hillyer family to serve as a 1930s housemaid so that she can avoid falling into a life of prostitution. Her appearence and personality is such that all men fall for her, and she knows it. She can't help herself from getting into trouble with men.
The Unbelievable Truth
Josh
After serving time for murder, Josh Hutton returns to his home town where he meets Audry Hugo. No one can remember exactly what Josh did...
Nightmare Weekend
Dave
A female scientist performs experiments on three college girls that turn them into drooling, murderous mutants.
The Chosen
Levi Saunders
In a 1940s New York, two Jewish teenage boys are determined to remain friends despite the deep differences between their two families.
Gangster Wars
Officer Reardon
The film tells the story of three teenagers, based on real life gangsters Charles "Lucky" Luciano (Michael Nouri), Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel (Joe Penny) and Michael Lasker (Brian Benben) (a fictional character who was most likely modeled after Meyer Lansky), growing up in New York's ghettos during the early 1900s to their rise though organized crime.
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Patrick
A dedicated schoolteacher spends her nights cruising bars, looking for abusive men with whom she can engage in progressively violent sexual encounters.