Robert John Burke

Robert John Burke

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).

Place of Birth: Not available

Birthday: September 12, 1960

Deathday: N/A

Popularity:

15.773

Known For

Thinner
Thinner

1996-10-25

Good Night, and Good Luck.
Good Night, and Good Luck.

2005-09-16

Flirt
Flirt

1993-09-11

Dust Devil
Dust Devil

1992-07-11

RoboCop 3
RoboCop 3

1993-01-21

Hide and Seek
Hide and Seek

2005-01-27

A Far Off Place
A Far Off Place

1993-03-12

Heaven & Earth
Heaven & Earth

1993-12-25

Rambling Rose
Rambling Rose

1991-09-10

No Such Thing
No Such Thing

2002-03-29

Speak
Speak

2004-01-20

Looking for Mr. Goodbar
Looking for Mr. Goodbar

1977-10-19

The Unbelievable Truth
The Unbelievable Truth

1990-07-20

Fled
Fled

1996-07-19

Flirt
Flirt

1995-09-14

Simple Men
Simple Men

1992-10-14

Limitless
Limitless

2011-03-17

Safe
Safe

2012-04-16

Killer: A Journal of Murder
Killer: A Journal of Murder

1996-09-06

Munich
Munich

2005-12-23

Triggered
Triggered

2022-04-03

2 Guns
2 Guns

2013-08-02

Crazy for a Kiss
Crazy for a Kiss

1995-04-23

Boston Strangler
Boston Strangler

2023-03-16

True Story
True Story

2015-04-17

Midnight Flight
Midnight Flight

1998-06-02

Ned Rifle
Ned Rifle

2015-04-01

Bait
Bait

2015-09-18

Connie and Carla
Connie and Carla

2004-04-16

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

2022-11-09

Somewhere in the City
Somewhere in the City

1998-06-11

First Love, Last Rites
First Love, Last Rites

1998-08-07

Years Later: The Unbelievable Truth and Its Consequences
Years Later: The Unbelievable Truth and Its Consequences

2010-11-01

Miracle at St. Anna
Miracle at St. Anna

2008-09-15

Tombstone
Tombstone

1993-12-25

Jack's Law
Jack's Law

2006-06-06

The Chosen
The Chosen

1981-08-20

Nightmare Weekend
Nightmare Weekend

1986-05-12

State Property
State Property

2002-01-18

Gangster Wars
Gangster Wars

1981-04-09

Mayday - Flug in den Tod
Mayday - Flug in den Tod

1997-01-01

BlacKkKlansman
BlacKkKlansman

2018-08-09

Future '38
Future '38

2017-12-01

Where There's Smoke
Where There's Smoke

2017-04-01

Piggie
Piggie

2003-06-13

If Lucy Fell
If Lucy Fell

1996-03-08

Brooklyn's Finest
Brooklyn's Finest

2010-03-04

Boarding School
Boarding School

2018-08-30

A Bright Shining Lie
A Bright Shining Lie

1998-05-30

We Only Know So Much
We Only Know So Much

2018-06-23

Being
Being

2020-01-07

Cop Land
Cop Land

1997-08-15

The Ex
The Ex

2006-12-01

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind

2002-12-31

The Oh in Ohio
The Oh in Ohio

2006-03-30

Intrusion
Intrusion

2021-09-22

The Retaliators
The Retaliators

2022-09-08

}