Robert John Burke
Robert John Burke (born September 12, 1960) is an American actor.[1]
Robert John Burke | |
---|---|
Born | [1] | September 12, 1960
Alma mater | State University of New York at Purchase |
Occupation | Actor, Firefighter [2] |
Years active | 1981–present |
Children | 2 |
Early life and education
Burke was born in Washington Heights, Manhattan, the son of immigrants from Galway, Ireland. He attended the Acting Conservatory at State University of New York at Purchase.[1] Burke holds a second degree black belt in Matsubayashi, Shorin-ryu Okinawa karate. He is a certified and active New York State firefighter, volunteers as a Fire Captain.
Career
Burke was a cast member on Denis Leary's Rescue Me and played Bart Bass on The CW's Gossip Girl. He was working on the TV series Kidnapped for NBC and was a featured character on ABC's series Six Degrees. Burke has had recurring roles on Law & Order and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (where he has the recurring role of retired NYPD Internal Affairs Captain Ed Tucker, a frequent nemesis for the SVU detective squad and Captain Olivia Benson's former lover) and has appeared in Person of Interest (as a crooked cop working for the mob), and The Sopranos in 2004. Burke was on Sex and the City in seasons four and five, playing Miranda's hookup. Also in 2004, Burke played the role of Mr. Neck in the independent film Speak. Opposite Laura Dern’s Academy Award for Best Actress nominated role in Ramblin’ Rose .
Burke's largest mainstream role to date has been taking over the lead from Peter Weller in RoboCop 3.[1] He is notable for being a regular performer in fellow Purchase alumnus Hal Hartley's indie films, such as 1989's The Unbelievable Truth[1] and 1992's Simple Men.[1] He had a small role in Hartley's 1995 film Flirt.[1]
He starred in Richard Stanley's 1993 film Dust Devil,[3] and in 2001's No Such Thing.[3] In 1996, he played the lead role in the film adaptation of Stephen King’s Thinner.[1]
In 2005, Burke had a role in the John Polson film Hide and Seek,[3] a psychological thriller starring Robert De Niro and Dakota Fanning. He had roles in the Academy Award-nominated films Munich[3] directed by Steven Spielberg and Good Night, and Good Luck,[3] directed by George Clooney.
In 2008, he portrayed Major General James Mattis, Commanding General of 1st Marine Division in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill. Burke also portrayed General Ned Almond, commanding general of the 92nd Division, Buffalo Soldiers, in the 2008 Spike Lee film Miracle at St. Anna.[3] He appeared in the 2012 film Safe.[3]
In 2015 and 2017, he appeared in three episodes of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, once parodying his role on Law & Order.[4] He played the Colorado Springs chief of police in Spike Lee's Academy Award for Best Screenplay BlacKkKlansman in 2018.
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1986 | Nightmare Weekend | Dave | |
1989 | The Unbelievable Truth | Josh | |
1991 | Rambling Rose | Dave Wilkie | |
1992 | Dust Devil | Dust Devil | |
Simple Men | Bill McCabe | ||
1993 | A Far Off Place | Paul Parker | |
RoboCop 3 | Alex J. Murphy / RoboCop | replacing Peter Weller | |
Heaven & Earth | G.I. Paul | ||
Tombstone | Frank McLaury | ||
1995 | Flirt | Men's Room Man # | |
Killer: A Journal of Murder | R.G. Greiser | ||
1996 | If Lucy Fell | Handsome Man | |
Fled | U.S. Marshal Pat Schiller | ||
Thinner | Billy Halleck | ||
1997 | May day – Flag in den Tod | Tom Hutton | |
Cop Land | Officer B | ||
First Love, Last Rites | Henry | ||
1998 | Somewhere in the City | Frankie | |
2001 | No Such Thing | Monster | |
2002 | For Earth Below | Automated Bank Voice (voice) | Short film |
State Property | Bob | ||
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind | Inspector Jenks | ||
2003 | Tea Time with Roy & Sylvia | Roy | Short film |
Piggie | |||
2004 | Speak | Mr. Neck | |
Connie and Carla | Rudy | ||
2005 | Hide and Seek | Steven | |
Good Night, and Good Luck. | Charlie Mack | Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (shared with cast) | |
Munich | Belligerent American | ||
2006 | The Oh in Ohio | Binky Taylor | |
Jack's Law | Det. Ron Banks | ||
The Ex | Colonel | Previously titled Fast Track | |
2008 | Miracle at St. Anna | General Ned Almond | |
2010 | Brooklyn's Finest | State Trooper #1 | |
2011 | Limitless | Pierce | |
2012 | Safe | Captain Wolf | |
2013 | 2 Guns | Jessup | |
2015 | True Story | Detective Greg Ganley | |
2017 | Future '38 | General Sportwood | |
2018 | BlacKkKlansman | Chief Bridges | |
Boarding School | Mr. Holcomb |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1986 | The Equalizer | O'Toole | Episode: "Torn" |
1995 | Crazy for a Kiss | Steve | Television film |
1995–2004 | Law & Order | Arthur "Buzz" Palley, FBI Agent Ron Innes, Lt. Colonel Milton Danbury | 3 episodes |
1998 | Homicide: Life on the Street | Jeffrey Andrews | Episode: "Abduction" |
From the Earth to the Moon | William Anders | 2 episodes | |
A Bright Shining Lie | Frank Drummond | Television film | |
Alptraum im Airport | Paul Bacon | ||
2000 | Falcone | Jules Weller | Episode: "Windows" |
2000–2003 | Oz | Special Agent Pierce Taylor | 8 episodes |
2002 | Witchblade | Det. Dean Gorner | Episode: "Agape" |
Sex and the City | Walker Lewis | 2 episodes | |
2002 | CSI: Miami | FBI Agent Jim Resdon | 1 episode |
2002–2020 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | IAB Captain Ed Tucker | 30 episodes |
2004 | The Sopranos | Officer Zmunda | Episode: "Two Tonys" |
2004–2011 | Rescue Me | Mickey Gavin | 54 episodes |
2006 | Six Degrees | David | 2 episodes |
2006–2007 | Kidnapped | Bellows | 10 episodes |
2007 | Queens Supreme | Special Agent Jeff Donaldson | Episode: "Permanent Markers" |
2007–2012 | Gossip Girl | Bart Bass | 27 episodes |
2008 | Generation Kill | Major General James "Chaos" Mattis | 3 episodes |
2010 | Blue Bloods | Jyle Hogan | |
2011 | White Collar | Patrick O'Leary | Episode: "The Dentist of Detroit" |
2011–2013 | Person of Interest | Officer Patrick Simmons | 16 episodes |
2012 | NYC 22 | Deputy Inspector Dennis McClaren | Episode: "Thugs and Lovers" |
2012–2013 | Army Wives | General Kevin Clarke | 16 episodes |
2013 | Golden Boy | Andrew Lightstone | Episode: "Next Question" |
2014 | Nurse Jackie | Dick Richards | 2 episodes |
2015 | Allegiance | Special Agent Brock | 8 episodes |
2015–2017 | Last Week Tonight with John Oliver | Forensic Scientist, Cop | 2 episodes |
2019 | Project Blue Book | William Fairchild |