Robert John Burke
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).
Known For
Credits
- 2023 · Boston Strangler as Eddie Holland
- 2022 · Black Panther: Wakanda Forever as Smitty
- 2022 · The Retaliators as Captain Briggs
- 2022 · Triggered as David
- 2021 · Intrusion as Detective Steven Morse
- 2020 · Being as Sheriff Campbell
- 2019 · Project Blue Book as William Fairchild
- 2018 · Boarding School as Mr. Holcomb
- 2018 · BlacKkKlansman as Chief Bridges
- 2018 · We Only Know So Much as Hal
- 2017 · Future '38 as General Sportwood
- 2017 · Where There's Smoke as Captain Frascone
- 2015 · Bait as Uncle Mack
- 2015 · True Story as Greg Ganley
- 2015 · Ned Rifle as Chet
- 2015 · Allegiance as Special Agent Brock
- 2014 · Last Week Tonight with John Oliver as IAB Lieutenant Ed Tucker
- 2013 · 2 Guns as Jessup
- 2013 · Golden Boy as Andrew Lightstone
- 2013 · Banshee as Salvatore Ferillo
- 2012 · Safe as Captain Wolf
- 2011 · Person of Interest as Officer Patrick Simmons
- 2011 · Limitless as Pierce
- 2010 · Years Later: The Unbelievable Truth and Its Consequences as Himself
- 2010 · Blue Bloods as Jyle Hogan
- 2010 · Brooklyn's Finest as State Trooper #1
- 2009 · White Collar as Patrick O'Leary
- 2008 · Miracle at St. Anna as General Ned Almond
- 2007 · Gossip Girl as Bart Bass
- 2006 · The Ex as Colonel
- 2006 · Six Degrees as David
- 2006 · Kidnapped as Bellows
- 2006 · Jack's Law as Det. Ron Banks
- 2006 · The Oh in Ohio as Binky Taylor
- 2005 · Munich as Belligerent American
- 2005 · Good Night, and Good Luck. as Charlie Mack
- 2005 · Hide and Seek as Steven
- 2004 · Rescue Me as Mickey Gavin
- 2004 · Connie and Carla as Rudy
- 2004 · Speak as Mr. Neck
- 2003 · Piggie as Jim
- 2002 · Confessions of a Dangerous Mind as Instructor Jenks
- 2002 · CSI: Miami as Jim Resdon
- 2002 · No Such Thing as The Monster
- 2002 · State Property as Bob
- 2001 · Witchblade as
- 1999 · Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Ed Tucker
- 1999 · The Sopranos as Officer Zmuida
- 1998 · First Love, Last Rites as Henry
- 1998 · Somewhere in the City as Frankie
- 1998 · Sex and the City as Walker Lewis
- 1998 · Midnight Flight as Paul Bacon
- 1998 · A Bright Shining Lie as Frank Drummond
- 1998 · From the Earth to the Moon as Bill Anders
- 1997 · Cop Land as Officer B
- 1997 · Oz as Special Agent Pierce Taylor
- 1997 · Mayday - Flug in den Tod as Tom Hutton
- 1996 · Thinner as Billy Halleck
- 1996 · Killer: A Journal of Murder as R.G. Greiser
- 1996 · Fled as Pat Schiller
- 1996 · If Lucy Fell as Handsome Man
- 1995 · Flirt as Men's Room Man #2
- 1995 · Crazy for a Kiss as Steve
- 1993 · Tombstone as Frank McLaury
- 1993 · Heaven & Earth as Paul
- 1993 · Flirt as Men's Room Man
- 1993 · A Far Off Place as Paul Parker
- 1993 · RoboCop 3 as Robocop
- 1992 · Simple Men as Bill McCabe
- 1992 · Dust Devil as Dust Devil
- 1991 · Rambling Rose as Dave Wilkie
- 1990 · Law & Order as Milton Danbury
- 1990 · Law & Order as Arthur "Buzz" Palley
- 1990 · Law & Order as Ron Innes
- 1990 · The Unbelievable Truth as Josh
- 1986 · Nightmare Weekend as Dave
- 1985 · The Equalizer as O'Toole
- 1981 · The Chosen as Levi Saunders
- 1981 · Gangster Wars as Officer Reardon
- 1977 · Looking for Mr. Goodbar as Patrick