Walter Burke

Walter Burke
on a 1959 episode of Peter Gunn
Born	Walter Lawrence Burke August 25, 1908(1908-08-25) Brooklyn, New York U.S.
Died	August 4, 1984 (aged 75) Woodland Hills, California U.S.
Years active	1925 - 1980

Walter Burke (August 25, 1908–August 4, 1984) was a prolific Irish-American character actor, of stage, film, and television. His small stature, and distinctive voice and face, made him easily recognizable in even the most minor of roles.

Early life

Walter Lawrence Burke was born in Brooklyn, New York to Irish immigrant parents Thomas Burke and Bedelia McNamara Burke. He had one brother and two sisters.

Career

Walter Burke began acting on stage as a teenager, making his Broadway debut in Dearest Enemy at the Knickerbocker Theatre during 1925-1926. The following year he performed in a musical revue, Padlocks of 1927 at the Shubert Theatre. He joined the American Opera Company's troupe in January 1928, performing a non-singing role in an English-language adaption of Faust.^[1] He continued with that company through January 1930, taking part in adaptions of Madame Butterfly and Yolanda of Cyprus at the Casino Theatre.^[2] He next appeared on Broadway with Help Yourself in 1936, and over the next ten years appeared in as many plays.

Burke debuted in Hollywood films in 1948, with The Naked City, and the following year had a memorable role in the Oscar-winning film All the King's Men. Burke would appear in twenty-two more films, and three more Broadway productions, but both film and the stage would soon take a backseat to his television work.

In 1951, Burke played a jockey in the early television series Martin Kane. From then until 1980, he would appear in episodes of 103 different television series, as well as three made for TV movies. Though never a series regular, he often played different roles in multiple episodes of the same shows. In 1959-60, he appeared five times as Tim Potter in the ABC western series Black Saddle starring Peter Breck. That same season, he appeared on John Cassavetes's detective series Johnny Staccato. He guest starred as Hatfield in the 1961 episode "The Drought" of the syndicated western series Two Faces West. In the 1962-1963 season, he appeared on the CBS anthology, The Lloyd Bridges Show. In the 1965-1966 season, Burke appeared on another ABC western, The Legend of Jesse James.

Personal life

Burke split most of his later life between Hollywood, where he worked, and his horse ranch in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. While back east, he would sometimes teach dramatics at a local college. A lifelong heavy smoker, he would succumb to emphysema in 1984, while living at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. He is buried in Laurelwood Cemetery in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.

Broadway stage credits

• Dearest Enemy, Knickerbocker Theatre, (1925-1926) ...as ensemble
• Padlocks of 1927, Shubert Theatre, (1927) ...as performer
• Faust, Gallo Theatre, (1928) ...as A Soldier
• Madame Butterfly, Casino Theatre, (1930) ...as Registrar
• Yolanda of Cyprus, Casino Theatre, (1930) ...as Tremitus
• Help Yourself, Manhattan Theatre, (1936) ...as Frederick Bittlesby
• Red Harvest, National Theatre, (1937) ...as Courier Rockman
• A Hero Is Born, Adelphi Theater, (1937) ...as William/A Gentleman of Uncertain Age
• The Old Foolishness, Windsor Theatre, (1940) ...as Dan Dorian
• Not in Our Stars, Biltmore Theatre, (1941) ...as Kevlin Hoolihan
• Under This Roof, Windsor Theatre, (1942) ...as Shawn O'Shaughnessy
• The Eve of St. Mark, Cort Theatre, (1942-1943) ...as Private Thomas Mulveroy
• The World's Full of Girls, Royale Theatre, (1943) ...as Nick
• Sadie Thompson, Alvin Theater, (1944-1945) ...as Quartermaster Bates
• Up in Central Park, New Century Theatre (1945-1946) ...as Danny O'Cahane
• Billy Budd, Biltmore Theatre, (1951) ...as O'Daniel
• Three Wishes for Jamie, Mark Hellinger Theatre, (1952) ...as Power O'Malley
• Major Barbara, Martin Beck Theatre, (1956-1957) ...as Snobby Price

Filmography

• The Naked City (1948) ...as Pete Backalis
• All the King's Men (1949) ...as Sugar Boy
• Mystery Street (1950) ...as Ornithologist
• Dark City (1950) ...as George the Bartender
• The Killer That Stalked New York (1950) ...as Danny the bellhop
• Double Deal (1950) ...as Wally, Karne's thug
• M (1951) ...as MacMahan
• The Guy Who Came Back (1951) ...as O'Mara
• Never Love a Stranger (1958) ...as Jimmy Keough
• The Crimson Kimono (1959) ...as Ziggy
• Let No Man Write My Epitaph (1960) ...as Wart
• Jack the Giant Killer (1962) ...as Garna
• Beauty and the Beast (1962) ...as Grimaldi
• How the West Was Won (1962) ...as poker player in wagon
• The Three Stooges Go Around the World in a Daze (1963) ...as Lory Fich
• The Wheeler Dealers (1963) ...as Billy Joe
• My Fair Lady (1964) ...as bystander
• The Plainsman (1966) ...as Abe Ireland
• Double Trouble (1967) ...as Mate
• The President's Analyst (1967) ...as Henry Lux, FBR Chief
• Support Your Local Sheriff! (1969) ...as Fred Johnson
• Support Your Local Gunfighter (1970) ...as Morris
• Chandler (1971) ...as Zeno
• The Stone Killer (1973) ...as JD, marijuana dealer

Television credits (partial)

• Martin Kane: "A Jockey Is Murdered" (1951) ....as Eddie Stevens
• Johnny Midnight as McVey in untitled episode
• The Lawless Years: "The Miles Miller Story" (1961) . . . as Miles Miller
• Mickey with Mickey Rooney: "For the Love of Grandpa Toddie (1964) .... as Grandfather Toddie
• Peter Gunn: "The Torch" (1959) ....as Ditto
• Perry Mason: "The Jaded Joker" (1959) ....as Eddie Green
• Hawaiian Eye: "Talk and You're Dead" (1961) ....as Kilgore
• Bewitched: "It's Magic" (Season 1/Episode 16) (1964).....as hapless magician, Zeno the Great
• Lost In Space: "The Toymaker" (Season 2/Episode 18) (1966)....as the Toymaker, Mr. O.M. (Old Man)
• The F.B.I.: "The Two Million Dollar Hit" (1974) ...as Arnie Hellings

Notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Walter Burke

• Walter Burke at the Internet Movie Database
• Walter Burke at the Internet Broadway Database
• Walter Burke at Find a Grave