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Tom Burke
Tom Burke, 2019
Born	Tom Liam Benedict Burke (1981-06-30) 30 June 1981 (age 43) London, England
Alma mater	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1999–present
Parents	David Burke (father) Anna Calder-Marshall (mother)
Relatives	Arthur Calder-Marshall (grandfather)

Tom Burke (born 30 June 1981) is an English actor. He played Athos in the 2014–2016 BBC TV series The Musketeers, Dolokhov in the 2016 BBC literary-adaptation miniseries War & Peace, the eponymous character Cormoran Strike in the BBC series Strike, Orson Welles in the 2020 film Mank, and Praetorian Jack in the 2024 film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

Early life

Burke was born in London and grew up in Kent. His parents, David Burke and Anna Calder-Marshall, are also actors, as were his godparents, Alan Rickman and Bridget Turner. His maternal grandparents were writers Arthur Calder-Marshall and Ara Calder-Marshall. Burke was born with a cleft lip and had reconstructive surgery.

Burke always wanted to become an actor. He attended the National Youth Theatre, the Young Arden Theatre in Faversham, and the Box Clever Theatre Company performing at the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, and participated in the plays his parents staged in their hometown.

As a child, Burke was diagnosed with dyslexia and struggled academically. He left school before his A-levels because he "couldn't stand the idea of that" and thought he "wouldn't survive it". As soon as he left school at 17, he wrote to an acting agency and got the first role he auditioned for. He attended dance school before being accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London when he was 18.

Career

Burke's first role was as Roland in 1999's Dragonheart: A New Beginning, a direct-to-video sequel of the 1996 film Dragonheart. That year he appeared in an episode of the series Dangerfield and the television film All the King's Men. After graduating from RADA, he started working steadily in television, film and theatre.

Television

His first television part after drama school was Syd in the Paul Abbott thriller series State of Play, starring John Simm, Bill Nighy and James McAvoy. In 2004, he played Lee in the television film Bella and the Boys. In 2005, he played the 20-year-old version of Giacomo Casanova's son, Giac, in the television adaptation of Casanova, starring David Tennant and Peter O'Toole.

In 2006, he played Dr. John Seward in the television film Dracula. In 2007, he played Napoleon Bonaparte in an episode of the BBC's docudrama Heroes and Villains and had a small part as a book publisher in the satirical drama The Trial of Tony Blair. In 2009, he played Lieutenant Race in an episode of the 12th series of Agatha Christie's Poirot. In 2011, he played Bentley Drummle in two episodes of the BBC's adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. In 2012, he became a regular cast member in the second series of BBC Two's The Hour as journalist Bill Kendall. From 2014 to 2016, he played Athos on the BBC One series The Musketeers, an adaptation of Alexandre Dumas' The Three Musketeers. He also plays Cormoran Strike in the BBC miniseries Strike, based on the detective novels of Robert Galbraith; and Rebrov in Sky TV's The Lazarus Project which will air in the U.S. on the TNT cable network. He played Father Derek 'Dazzle' Jennings, Princess Margaret's friend, in The Crown.

Film

In 2004, Burke had his first cinema part in The Libertine. In 2007, he played an aspiring filmmaker who ends up directing a porn film in the comedy I Want Candy. In 2008, he played Bluey in Donkey Punch, a horror thriller that debuted at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. In 2009, he played Geoff Goddard in Telstar: The Joe Meek Story, and had a small part in Stephen Frears' Chéri. In 2010, he played Davy in Third Star, a drama starring Benedict Cumberbatch, JJ Feild and Adam Robertson which follows a trip four friends, one of them terminally ill, make to Barafundle Bay in Wales.

In 2012, he played Mark in Cleanskin. In 2013, he played Billy, the older brother of Ryan Gosling's character in Only God Forgives, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. That year he had a supporting role in the Ralph Fiennes-directed film The Invisible Woman.

In 2020, he played American filmmaker Orson Welles in David Fincher's Netflix original film Mank, opposite Gary Oldman as Herman J. Mankiewicz. He also starred in English director and photographer Mitch Jenkins's 2020 film The Show (written by Alan Moore) as private investigator Fletcher Dennis. In November 2021, Burke joined Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth in the Mad Max: Fury Road spinoff film Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, replacing Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, who had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.

Theatre

As a theatre actor, Burke has worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and has appeared in plays at Shakespeare's Globe, playing Romeo in Romeo and Juliet in 2004; at the Old Vic in Noël Coward's Design for Living opposite Andrew Scott and Lisa Dillon in 2010; and at the Almeida Theatre playing Greg in reasons to be pretty in 2011. In 2002, he played Hamlet in Howard Barker's Gertrude – The Cry, a reworking of Shakespeare's Hamlet which focuses on the character of Gertrude, the protagonist's mother.

In 2006, he worked with Ian McKellen in the play The Cut. In 2008, he played Adolph in Creditors at the Donmar Warehouse. Actor Alan Rickman, Burke's godfather, staged the play which earned Burke an Ian Charleson Award. The play subsequently premiered at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in 2010. In 2012, he played Louis Dubedat in The Doctor's Dilemma at the National Theatre.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

1. ^ "At Home with Tom Burke", The English Home, April 2014 edition; accessed 28 March 2015.
2. ^ Scott, Danny (2 March 2014). "Little did I know my boy would become a Musketeer", The Sunday Times; retrieved 1 April 2014.
3. Cartwright, Gemma (30 September 2017), Alan Rickman Was His Godfather, and 9 More Things You Need to Know About Tom Burke, PopSugar, archived from the original on 30 June 2019, retrieved 30 June 2019
4. ^ Bennett, Emily. "The Creditors Are Coming: Actor Tom Burke on Blending Method, Technique & Madness", notesontheroad.com; retrieved 1 April 2014.
5. Tom Burke profile, cleftaware2013.wordpress.com; retrieved 1 April 2014.
6. ^ Tom Burke at IMDb
7. Sommers, Kat. "First Look: Tom Burke and Holliday Grainger in 'Cormoran Strike'". BBC America. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
8. Furness, Hannah (7 September 2016). "Confirmed: Tom Burke to play Cormoran Strike in BBC's JK Rowling dramas". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
9. "Tom Burke cast in JK Rowling TV drama". Bbc.com. 7 September 2016. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
10. Dane, Patrick (15 November 2020). "The Crown Season 4: Who was Derek 'Dazzle' Jennings?". Metro. Retrieved 19 March 2024.
11. Kroll, Justin; D'Alessandro, Anthony (29 November 2021). "Tom Burke Replaces Yahya Abdul-Mateen II In George Miller's 'Mad Max' Spinoff 'Furiosa'". Deadline.
12. "Gertrude – The Cry, Riverside Studios, London". The Independent. 30 October 2002. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
13. Billington, Michael (25 July 2012). "The Doctor's Dilemma – review". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 May 2019.
14. "Romeo and Juliet". Thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
15. "Theatre - The Cut". Thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
16. "Scenes from an Execution". Thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
17. "Theatre Review - Glass Eels". Thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
18. Billington, Michael (10 July 2007). "Theatre review: Glass Eels / Hampstead Theatre, London". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
19. "Design For Living, Old Vic Theatre - The Arts Desk". Theartsdesk.com. 16 September 2010. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
20. "Reasons To Be Pretty". Almeida Theatre. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
21. Billington, Michael (18 November 2011). "Reasons to be Pretty – review". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
22. "The Stage - Reasons To Be Pretty". Thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
23. "The Stage Review > The Doctor's Dilemma". Thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
24. Auld, Tim (6 August 2012). "The Doctor's Dilemma, at National Theatre, Seven magazine review". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
25. Billington, Michael (25 July 2012). "The Doctor's Dilemma – review". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 15 December 2018.
26. Billington, Michael (9 June 2016). "The Deep Blue Sea review – Helen McCrory blazes in passionate revival". Theguardian.com.
27. Maltby, Kate (18 October 2018). "Don Carlos review – Tom Burke strikes out with Schiller's tale of intrigue and incest".
28. Wood, Alex (1 February 2019). "Hayley Atwell and Tom Burke to star in Ibsen's Rosmersholm in the West End". WhatsOnStage.
29. Groom, Holly. "Tom Burke scoops Ian Charleson award". The Sunday Times. 17 May 2009.
30. Dalton, Ben. "‘The Personal History Of David Copperfield’, ‘Wild Rose’ head 2019 BIFA nominations". Screen Daily. 30 October 2019.
31. "The British Independent Film Awards 2022 Winners and Nominees — RADA".
32. "London Film Critics' Circle Nominees run gamut from 'Top Gun' to 'Aftersun'". 21 December 2022.

External links

• Tom Burke at IMDb
• Tom Burke at the British Film Institute

• Ian Charleson Award winners
• Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
• English male television actors
• English male stage actors
• English male voice actors
• English male Shakespearean actors
• Living people
• 20th-century English male actors
• 21st-century English male actors
• English male film actors
• Male actors from Kent
• National Youth Theatre members
• Actors with dyslexia
• English actors with disabilities
• Calder Marshall family
• Male actors from London
• 1981 births