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).
2023
as Eddie Holland
2022
as Smitty
2022
as Captain Briggs
2022
as David
2021
as Detective Steven Morse
2020
as Sheriff Campbell
2019
as William Fairchild
2018
as Mr. Holcomb
2018
as Chief Bridges
2018
as Hal
2017
as General Sportwood
2017
as Captain Frascone
2015
as Uncle Mack
2015
as Greg Ganley
2015
as Chet
2015
as Special Agent Brock
2013
as Jessup
2013
as Andrew Lightstone
2013
as Salvatore Ferillo
2012
as Captain Wolf
2011
as Officer Patrick Simmons
2011
as Pierce
2010
as Himself
2010
as Jyle Hogan
2010
as State Trooper #1
2009
as Patrick O'Leary
2008
as General Ned Almond
2007
as Bart Bass
2006
as Colonel
2006
as David
2006
as Bellows
2006
as Det. Ron Banks
2006
as Binky Taylor
2005
as Belligerent American
2005
as Charlie Mack
2005
as Steven
2004
as Mickey Gavin
2004
as Rudy
2004
as Mr. Neck
2003
as Jim
2002
as Instructor Jenks
2002
as Jim Resdon
2002
as The Monster
2002
as Bob
2001
1999
as Ed Tucker
1999
as Officer Zmuida
1998
as Henry
1998
as Frankie
1998
as Walker Lewis
1998
as Paul Bacon
1998
as Frank Drummond
1998
as Bill Anders
1997
as Officer B
1997
as Special Agent Pierce Taylor
1997
as Tom Hutton
1996
as Billy Halleck
1996
as R.G. Greiser
1996
as Pat Schiller
1996
as Handsome Man
1995
as Men's Room Man #2
1995
as Steve
1993
as Paul
1993
as Frank McLaury
1993
as Men's Room Man
1993
as Paul Parker
1993
as Robocop
1992
as Bill McCabe
1992
as Dust Devil
1991
as Dave Wilkie
1990
as Milton Danbury
1990
as Arthur "Buzz" Palley
1990
as Ron Innes
1990
as Josh
1986
as Dave
1985
as O'Toole
1981
as Levi Saunders
1981
as Officer Reardon
1977
as Patrick