1960-09-12 ( 64 years old ) in New York City, New York, USA
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).
Movies
Boston Strangler
2023-03-16
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
2022-11-09
The Retaliators
2022-09-08
Triggered
2022-04-03
Intrusion
2021-09-22
Being
2020-01-07
Boarding School
2018-08-30
BlacKkKlansman
2018-08-09
We Only Know So Much
2018-06-23
Future '38
2017-12-01
Where There's Smoke
2017-04-01
Bait
2015-09-18
True Story
2015-04-17
Ned Rifle
2015-04-01
2 Guns
2013-08-02
Safe
2012-04-16
Limitless
2011-03-17
Brooklyn's Finest
2010-03-04
Miracle at St. Anna
2008-09-15
The Ex
2006-12-01
Jack's Law
2006-06-06
The Oh in Ohio
2006-03-30
Munich
2005-12-23
Good Night, and Good Luck.
2005-09-16
Hide and Seek
2005-01-27
Connie and Carla
2004-04-16
Speak
2004-01-20
Piggie
2003-06-13
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
2002-12-31
No Such Thing
2002-03-29
State Property
2002-01-18
First Love, Last Rites
1998-08-07
Somewhere in the City
1998-06-11
Midnight Flight
1998-06-02
A Bright Shining Lie
1998-05-30
Cop Land
1997-08-15
Mayday - Flug in den Tod
1997-01-01
Thinner
1996-10-25
Killer: A Journal of Murder
1996-09-06
Fled
1996-07-19
If Lucy Fell
1996-03-08
Flirt
1995-09-14
Crazy for a Kiss
1995-04-23
Heaven & Earth
1993-12-25
Tombstone
1993-12-25
Flirt
1993-09-11
A Far Off Place
1993-03-12
RoboCop 3
1993-01-21
Simple Men
1992-10-14
Dust Devil
1992-07-11
Rambling Rose
1991-09-10
The Unbelievable Truth
1990-07-20
Nightmare Weekend
1986-05-12
The Chosen
1981-08-20
Gangster Wars
1981-04-09
Looking for Mr. Goodbar
1977-10-19
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