# Paul Burke (actor)

Paul Raymond Burke (July 21, 1926 – September 13, 2009) was an American actor, best known for his lead roles in two 1960s ABC television series, Naked City and 12 O'Clock High. He was twice nominated for an Emmy Award for his portrayal of New York Police Department detective Adam Flint in Naked City.

## Life and career

Burke was born in New Orleans, the son of Santa Maria (née Palermo) and Martin Joseph "Marty" Burke, a boxer who fought Gene Tunney and later owned a restaurant and nightclub known as Marty Burke's in the New Orleans French Quarter.
After training at the Pasadena Playhouse, Burke's film career began with a small role in the movie Golden Girl. Early in his career, Burke guest-starred in the syndicated series Highway Patrol and Men of Annapolis. In 1956–57, Burke was cast as Dr. Noah McCann in Noah's Ark, a weekly program produced by Jack Webb which aired on NBC, the story of a pair of dedicated veterinarians. Victor Rodman played the older colleague, Dr. Sam Rinehart.
After Five Fingers Burke was cast in the lead role of the police show Naked City, in which he appeared as Adam Flint from 1960 to 1963. Burke then appeared in the starring role of Captain (later Maj., then Col.) Joe Gallagher on 12 O'Clock High between 1964 and 1967, during which time he met his wife, Lyn. The 12 O'Clock High role was Burke's last lead television role.
In 1967, Burke starred in the film Valley of the Dolls as Lyon Burke, the young lawyer who befriended all three female stars and had a tempestuous relationship with Anne Welles. He also played a police officer who pursued a bank robber played by Steve McQueen in The Thomas Crown Affair. He appeared in supporting roles in a number of television series, including recurring roles in Dynasty from 1982 to 1988 and in Tom Selleck's Magnum, P.I., from 1981 to 1985 as Rear Admiral Hawkes. Burke also served as a television commercial spokesman for the electronics retailer RadioShack.

## Racketeering charges

In 1989, Burke and Harry Connick Sr., the New Orleans district attorney, were indicted on racketeering charges for aiding and abetting a gambling operation by returning gambling records to an arrested gambler. They were both acquitted of the charges.

## Later years and death

Burke is the grandfather of actress Alia Shawkat, whose mother is Burke's daughter, Dina. He retired from acting in the early 1990s. Suffering from leukemia and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, he died in 2009 at his home in Palm Springs, California, aged 83. His second wife, Lyn Peters, died in Palm Springs on September 10, 2013, at the age of 72.

## Filmography

Film :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
| 1951 | Call Me Mister | Soldier | Uncredited | |
| 1951 | Golden Girl | Bandit | Uncredited | |
| 1951 | Fixed Bayonets! | Doggie | Uncredited | |
| 1952 | Francis Goes to West Point | Sergeant Swazey | Uncredited | |
| 1952 | Fearless Fagan | Pvt. Hawkins | Uncredited | |
| 1953 | South Sea Woman | Ensign at court-martial | | |
| 1953 | Three Sailors and a Girl | Actor | Uncredited | |
| 1954 | Return from the Sea | Gunnery Officer | | |
| 1955 | Spy Chasers | Michael | Uncredited | |
| 1955 | Francis in the Navy | Tate | | |
| 1956 | Screaming Eagles | Cpl. Dreef | | |
| 1957 | The Disembodied | Tom Maxwell | | |
| 1964 | Della | Barney Stafford | Alternative title: Fatal Confinement | |
| 1967 | Valley of the Dolls | Lyon Burke | | |
| 1968 | The Thomas Crown Affair | Lt. Eddy Malone | | |
| 1969 | Daddy's Gone A-Hunting | Jack Byrnes | | |
| 1969 | Once You Kiss a Stranger | Jerry Marshall | | |
| 1975 | Psychic Killer | Lt. Jeff Morgan | | |
| 1987 | Maharlika | Bob Reynolds | Completed in 1970 International title: Guerilla Strike Force | |
| Television |||||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref |
| 1955 | Big Town | Gardiner | Episode: "The Blood Profiteer" | |
| 1955 | Navy Log | Sparks | Episode: "Sky Pilot" | |
| 1955 | Highway Patrol | Patrolman Halsey | Episode: "Prison Break" | |
| 1955 | Stage 7 | Tommy | Episode: "Fox Hunt" | |
| 1955-1956 | ‘’Adventures of Superman’’ | Moxy | Episode: “Superman Week and The Phantom Ring’’ | |
| 1957 | Men of Annapolis | Wesley Edmont | Episode: "Seawall" | |
| 1958 | Tales of Wells Fargo | Bud Crawford | Episode: "The Killer" | |
| 1959 | The Millionaire | Bill Nellis | Episode: "The Karl Miller Story" | |
| 1960 | Hawaiian Eye | Brad Finley | Episode: "Second Fiddle" | |
| 1960 | Hotel de Paree | Tad Frisbee | Episode: "Sundance and the Long Trek" | |
| 1960 | Wanted: Dead or Alive | Daniel Trenner | Episode: "The Trial" | |
| 1960-1963 | Naked City | Detective Adam Flint | 99 episodes | |
| 1963 | The Lieutenant | Captain Kenneth Thomson | Episode: "Captain Thomson" | |
| 1964 | The Great Adventure | Captain Richard Pratt | Episode: "The Special Courage of Captain Pratt" | |
| 1964 | Combat! | Sgt. O'Neill | Episode: "Point of View" | |
| 1964 | Slattery's People | Dr. Robert Harrison | Episode: "Question: What is a Genius Worth This Week?" | |
| 1964-1967 | 12 O'Clock High | Colonel Joseph Anson Gallagher | 48 episodes | |
| 1970 | Crowhaven Farm | Ben Porter | Television movie | |
| 1972 | The Rookies | Neil Montgomery | Television movie | |
| 1972 | Lieutenant Schuster's Wife | Lt. Lou Schuster | Television movie | |
| 1973 | Thriller | Brad Hunter | Episode: “An Echo of Theresa” | |
| 1973 | The New Perry Mason | Herbert Newton | Episode: "The Case of the Murdered Murderer" | |
| 1973 | Shaft | Elliot Williamson | Episode: "The Kidnapping" | |
| 1974 | Hawkins | Fred Hyatt | Episode: "Candidate for Murder" | |
| 1974 | Police Woman | Joe Fenner | Episode: "The End Game" | |
| 1974 | Harry O | Philip Ballinger | Episode: "Ballinger's Choice" | |
| 1974 | Mannix | Penn Anderson | Episode: "The Survivor Who Wasn't" | |
| 1975 | McMillan & Wife | Les Walker | Episode: "Night Train to L.A." | |
| 1976 | Petrocelli | John Fleming | Episode: "Any Number Can Die" | |
| 1976 | Starsky & Hutch | Lt. Ted Cameron | Episodes: "The Las Vegas Strangler" (Parts 1 & 2) | |
| 1977 | Little Ladies of the Night | Frank Atkins | Television movie | |
| 1978 | Wild and Wooly | Tobias Singleton | Television movie | |
| 1978 | What Really Happened to the Class of '65? | McDonald | Episode: "Mr. Potential" | |
| 1978 | Fantasy Island | Bill Fredricks | Episode: Lady Of The Evening/The Racer | |
| 1979 | Beach Patrol | Wes Dobbs | Television movie | |
| 1979 | The Littlest Hobo | Andy McClelland | Episode: "The Defector" | |
| 1980 | Charlie's Angels | Clifford Burke | Episode: "Of Ghosts and Angels" | |
| 1980 | Trapper John, M.D. | Dr. Malcolm | Episode: "Hot Line" | |
| 1981 | Vega$ | Curtis Green | Episode: "The Killing" | |
| 1982-1988 | Dynasty | Neal McVane | 23 episodes | |
| 1983 | T. J. Hooker | Capt. Frank Medavoy | Episode: "Blue Murder" | |
| 1984 | The Red-Light Sting | Brockelhurst | Television movie | |
| 1984 | Santa Barbara | C.C. Capwell | 21 episodes | |
| 1985 | Finder of Lost Loves | Richard Foster | Episode: "Deadly Silence" | |
| 1985 | Murder, She Wrote | Herbert Upton | Episode: "Murder in the Afternoon" | |
| 1986 | Hot Shots | Nicholas Broderick | 13 episodes | |
| 1988 | Cagney & Lacey | Winston Prentiss | Episode: "Yup" | |
| 1990 | Columbo | Horace Sherwin | Episode: "Uneasy Lies the Crown" (final appearance) | |