Advanced search
- TITLES
- NAMES
- COLLABORATIONS
Search filters
Enter full date
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
Only includes names with the selected topics
to
or just enter yyyy, or yyyy-mm below
to
1-11 of 11
- Actor
- Soundtrack
Tall, dark, and handsome is how Hollywood liked their leading men back in the 1950s and 1960s, and actor Paul Burke certainly fitted the bill. While his career fell short of outright stardom, he managed to stand out in a couple of acclaimed TV cop series in the 1960s and "enjoyed" semi-cult status by co-starring in one of the screen's most celebrated "turkeys" of all time.
The New Orleans-born actor was born on July 21, 1926, the son of Martin Burke, a prizefighter who later became a well-known promoter and French Quarter nightclub owner ("Marty Burke's"). Educated at prep schools, he was drawn to acting and moved to Hollywood in the late 1940s, studying at the Pasadena Playhouse for a couple of years. Screen director Lloyd Bacon, a friend of his father Marty, helped the fledgling actor along by giving him an unbilled part in the Betty Grable musical Call Me Mister (1951). From there, he managed to scrounge up bit/uncredited parts in such 1950s films as Fearless Fagan (1952); Francis Goes to West Point (1952), Three Sailors and a Girl (1953), South Sea Woman (1953), and Spy Chasers (1955). He moved up the ladder a bit to featured status in another Francis the talking mule picture, Francis in the Navy (1955), and in Screaming Eagles (1956), then earned a starring role in the voodoo/jungle horror flick The Disembodied (1957), opposite the "50-Foot Woman," herself, Allison Hayes.
Better yet, Burke found steady work on the small tube with grim-faced roles in a number of crime series such as Highway Patrol (1955),
The Lineup (1954), M Squad (1957), and Dragnet (1951). He also appeared in Adventures of Superman (1952). Via an association with "Dragnet" producer/director Jack Webb, he received his own TV series, albeit short lived, in the form of Noah's Ark (1956), portraying veterinarian "Dr. Noah McCann." He followed that by co-starring with Barry Sullivan in another one-season series, Harbourmaster (1957), a New England coast adventure yarn, and then in Five Fingers (1959), a spy drama headlining David Hedison. Another hit series came with 12 O'Clock High (1964), based on the hit film drama of the same name.
Burke's best-known TV role, however, was as "Detective Adam Flint" in the highly praised police series Naked City (1958), replacing James Franciscus. He joined the cast in the second season as the young partner of "Lt. Mike Parker" (portrayed by Horace McMahon), just as the half-hour show format was being extended to an hour. Based on the gritty, groundbreaking cop movie The Naked City (1948), the series did the film more than justice with excellent story lines, and Burke walked away with two Emmy nominations out of the three seasons he appeared.
His only movie role in the early 1960s was Della (1965) (aka Fatal Confinement) starring Joan Crawford which was actually a failed pilot to a prospective TV series. Winning the co-lead role of fledgling writer "Lyon Burke" in the highly-anticipated film adaptation of Jacqueline Susann's monstrous best seller, Valley of the Dolls (1967). It could have been the break to turn things around on film. It did not...far from it. The Susann book was, if anything, a guilty pleasure as readers were reeled in by the trashy Hollywood themes of drugs, fame, and sex. The movie was a laughable misfire-riddled with bad acting, bad dialogue and inept directing. It earned instant cult infamy, making many "top 10" lists for worst movie ever. It also damaged the screen careers of many of the actors involved. In reality, Burke and Barbara Parkins, who played his paramour in the movie, actually came off better and more grounded than most. Unfortunately, good or bad, they were identified with a huge "turkey", and it stuck.
Despite Burke's co-star cop role, opposite Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, in the stylish thriller The Thomas Crown Affair (1968), the very next year, it was not able to right the wrong of "Dolls". Thereafter, Burke tended to be overlooked in his later film career, which included standard starring roles both in the U.S. and abroad in such fare as Daddy's Gone A-Hunting (1969), Once You Kiss a Stranger... (1969), and Maharlika (1970). TV crime, however, proved again to be reliable income for Burke with guest roles in such popular 70s series as The Rookies (1972), The New Perry Mason (1973), Police Woman (1974), Harry O (1973), Mannix (1967), Ironside (1967), and the acclaimed Police Story (1973) series. TV movies also came his way, as well, with the starring role of tycoon "C.C. Capwell" (replacing Peter Mark Richman), in the daytime soap opera, Santa Barbara (1984). Burke himself was replaced after a relatively brief time.
Following assured roles in the series Hot Shots (1986) and Dynasty (1981), the latter as scheming "Congressman Neal McVane", who frames Joan Collins' character for murder, Burke's career hit an irreversible snag in 1989, when he and three others, including New Orleans' district attorney Harry Connick Sr. (yes, father of the crooning junior, Harry Connick Jr.), were tried on federal racketeering charges, aiding and abetting a gambling operation, and committing perjury before a grand jury. The seven-week trial in 1990 resulted in his and Connick's acquittal (the other two were found guilty) but the damage was done and he wasn't able to find work when he returned to California. Burke's last film, (The Fool (1990), shot in England, and his last TV guest role (in an episode of Columbo (1971)) both came out in 1990.
Divorced from Peggy Pryor, the mother of his three children, Burke married actress Lyn Peters in 1979. They met while she was appearing in the 12 O'Clock High (1964) episode Siren Voices (1966). The couple eventually retired to Palm Springs, where the actor died at age 83 of leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in September of 2009.- Thomas O'Rourke was a war baby, born in New York City in Greenwich Village. He was raised in Indiana,until his parents divorced and he returned to New York City's Upper Westside to live with his grandparents. He was ambitious and hardworking even at this young age. To help out with expenses, he bought a bike and delivered newspapers and laundry to the large, fancy apartments on Central Park West and Park Avenue. He always dreamed of someday living on Central Park West, and he was later able to achieve that dream, when he worked on a soap opera.
He joined the Army at age eighteen and became a Paratrooper in the 101st Airborne. He served in Germany in the Military Police. While in the Army, he hitchhiked all over Europe. Running out of money in Italy, he sold his American jeans on the Spanish Steps for an outrageous sum, and went back to Germany in style.
After the Army, he had many different jobs as he tried to figure out what to do with his life. But once he attended a performance of live theater, he knew exactly where he belonged.
He got a scholarship to Goodman Theater School, then a part of the University of Chicago. And before he even graduated, he was cast in David Merrick's "Promises, Promises", got his Equity card and was on his way as an actor.
He ended his tour in New York City. Here he did many commercials, more theater, met and married Marcy Casterline, a model with Eileen Ford, got cast on "The Guiding Light", and made many wonderful friends.
After leaving the world of soap opera, Tom and his wife moved to Los Angeles, where his only son, Preston, was born on March 18, 1987. Here, also, he was lucky enough to work with many wonderful and talented people, and to call some of them friends.
Tom did many serious roles, but his wit and sense of humor were also widely appreciated. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Marcy Casterline O'Rourke
Tom's amazing journey in life from paratrooper to successful actor on TV and in film is now available in easy to read format on Kindle, "Don't Quit Your Day Job" "The Blue Flame"
He has played well-heeled defense attorney Peter Behrens on episodes of Law & Order, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and Law & Order: Trial by Jury. He also has a recurring role as Judge Mark Seligman on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, making him one of only a handful of actors to have appeared on all four Law & Order series. He played the same character (Peter Behrens) on three different series: Law & Order (1990), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001) and Law & Order: Trial by Jury (2005). - Producer
- Director
- Script and Continuity Department
Laven, Jules V. Levy and Arthur Gardner met in 1943 in the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Force. They were stationed at the Hal Roach Studio in Culver City, California (with other notables such as Capt. Ronald Reagan, Capt. Clark Gable and Lt. William Holden), making training films. Levy, Gardner and Laven resolved that they would start their own independent motion picture company after they got out of the Air Force; all were discharged in 1945, but their company wasn't formed until 1951 (in the interim, Levy and Laven worked as script supervisors and Gardner as an assistant director and production manager). The first Levy-Gardner-Laven film was Without Warning! (1952). In the decades since they have produced dozens of additional features and several TV series (including The Rifleman (1958), Law of the Plainsman (1959), The Detectives (1959) and The Big Valley (1965)).- Felix wanted to go into show business from school but his parents persuaded him to take an apprenticeship as a shop fitter which he finished in 1946t then he was called up to the Royal Berkshire Regiment.He enjoyed boxing and was an amateur Flyweight champion for London and the Southern Counties .He entered a talent contest in Reading in 1944 and encouraged by Elsie and Doris Waters when they were on the same radio show he became a warm up man on the Morecambe and Wise television show for 20 years , He married Mavis in October 1950 and had a son Robert ho became a policeman
- Dallas Mitchell was born on 8 October 1927 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. He was an actor, known for Star Trek (1966), Mission: Impossible (1966) and The Six Million Dollar Man (1974). He was married to Elsa Urbina and Elaine Neblett. He died on 13 September 2009 in Los Alamitos, California, USA.
- Writer
- Additional Crew
- Actor
Norman Katkov was born on 26 July 1918 in Ukraine. He was a writer and actor, known for Ben Casey (1961), Studio One (1948) and Mission: Impossible (1966). He was married to Betty. He died on 13 September 2009 in Los Angeles, California, USA.- Actress
- Casting Department
- Additional Crew
Meg Mazursky was born on 27 August 1957 in New York City, New York, USA. She was an actress, known for Alex in Wonderland (1970), Moscow on the Hudson (1984) and Tempest (1982). She was married to Jeb Brien and John Wrobel. She died on 13 September 2009 in Santa Monica, California, USA.- Nicolina Papetti was born on 16 July 1928 in Boville Ernica, Italy. She was an actress, known for Ladyhawke (1985), The Girl with a Pistol (1968) and I ragazzi della 3 C (1987). She died on 13 September 2009 in Rome, Italy.
- Horst Ulrich Wendler was born on 5 March 1926 in Berlin, Germany. He was a writer and actor, known for Schauspielereien (1978), Ein Zimmer mit Ausblick (1978) and Rentner haben niemals Zeit (1978). He died on 13 September 2009.
- Cinematographer
- Camera and Electrical Department
- Special Effects
Atanas Tasev Ivanov is a Bulgarian operator . He was born in Sofia, Bulgaria on October 2, 193. In 1951, he graduated from the State Cinema Cshool in Sofia. The next year he became to work as an assistant camera, and in 1966 - as a cinematographer. He graduated National Academy for Theatre and Film Art, Sofia, Bulgaria in 1979 with a degree in cinematography. He was one of the most powerful cinematographer in the history of Bulgarian cinema. Whether he shoots in black and white or color, contemporary or costume film, Atanas Tasev was always an artist. His camera was shooting some of the most important Bulgarian films: "Knight without Armor," "Dear Almonds", "Iconostasis", "Goodbye, Friends", "Tree Without Roots". Although he worked with different directors (Borislav Sharaliev, Lyubomir Sharlandziev, Lyudmil Kirkov, Todor Dinov, Dimitar Petrov) most firmly Atanas Tasev was connected with Christo Christov. They were not just creative tandem, but strong human bond, two poles of chivalry - in living, teaching, creativity. Atanas Tasev had worked with the students at New Bulgarian University. He died on September 14, 2009 in Sofia.- Costume and Wardrobe Department
Pauline Lewis was born on 31 July 1915 in Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. She is known for Roadracers (1959), Attack of the Puppet People (1958) and Unwed Mother (1958). She was married to Peter Saltman. She died on 13 September 2009 in Sunnyvale, California, USA.