Walter Lawrence Burke

 Walter Lawrence Burke (August 25, 1908 – August 4, 1984)

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 He continued with that company through January 1930, taking part in adaptions of Madame Butterfly and Yolanda of Cyprus at the Casino Theatre. 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 (Peter Gunn, Perry Mason, The Outer Limits, The Twilight Zone, and Bewitched, for example), as well as three made-for-television movies. 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. On August 4, 1984, Burke died from emphysema while living at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital. He is buried at Laurelwood Cemetery in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.