Alfred Burke


Alfred Burke was an English actor who played Frank Marker in the drama series Public Eye, which ran on television for ten years.

Early life

Born in London's southeast district of Peckham, the son of Irish parents Sarah Ann O'Leary and William Burke, Burke was educated at Leo Street Boys' School and Walworth Central School. Burke started work aged 14, working in a railway repair firm in the City of London after leaving school. He became a club steward and also worked in a silk warehouse, joining a local amateur dramatics group before moving to Morley College and winning a scholarship to RADA in 1937.
Burke's acting career started two years later at the Barn Theatre in Shere, Surrey. His budding career was interrupted by the Second World War, when he registered as a conscientious objector, and was directed to work on the land.

Career

In the late 1940s, Burke worked with the Young and Old Vic and other companies. His London debut was in 1950 at the Watergate Theatre, appearing in Pablo Picasso's play Desire Caught by the Tail. He then spent three years with Birmingham Repertory Theatre and appeared in the 1954 West End hit Sailor Beware!.
Burke built a solid reputation across a wide range of character roles in films and on television. His acting career included: The Angry Silence, Touch and Go, Interpol, Yangtse Incident and Buccaneers, as well as such televised plays as The Tip and Treasure Island.
Burke's most famous role was the enquiry agent Frank Marker in the ABC/Thames television series Public Eye, which ran from 1965 to 1975. His low-key, understated but always compelling portrayal of the down-at-heel private eye made the series one of the most popular and highly rated detective dramas on British television.
After Public Eye ended Burke appeared in a host of guises, from Long John Silver to Pope John Paul II's father. In the television series Minder he appeared in the episode Come in T-64, Your Time Is Ticking Away as Kevin, partner to Arthur Daley in his latest scheme, a minicab service. He was also the formidable headmaster "Thrasher" Harris in Home To Roost. He played Major Richter in both series of Enemy at the Door and Dr Anderson in the Bergerac episode "Poison". Later he was seen as Armando Dippet in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
On stage Burke appeared in several productions by the Royal Shakespeare Company, including Richard II, Romeo and Juliet, Roberto Zucco, The Tempest, Peer Gynt, Measure for Measure, Troilus and Cressida, Two Shakespearean Actors, All's Well That Ends Well and Antony and Cleopatra. In 2008 he appeared at the National Theatre as the Shepherd in a new version of Sophocles' Oedipus by Frank McGuinness.
In 2022 a documentary tribute to Burke was released entitled .

Death

Burke died from a chest infection on 16 February 2011, twelve days before his 93rd birthday, and was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium. He was survived by his wife, Barbara and their four children: Jacob and Harriet, and Kelly and Louisa.

Filmography

  • The Kid from Brooklyn – dancer
  • The Constant Husband – porter
  • Touch and Go – man on the bridge
  • Yangtse Incident: The Story of H.M.S. Amethyst – Petty Officer
  • Interpol – Vincent Cashling
  • Let's Be Happy – French Ticket Clerk
  • The Long Haul – drunk in club
  • Bitter Victory – Lt. Colonel Callander
  • High Flight – Controller, Operations Room
  • No Time to Die – Captain Ritter
  • Law and Disorder – Willis Pugh, poacher
  • The Man Inside – Mr Pritchard
  • The Man Upstairs – Mr Barnes
  • Operation Amsterdam – dealer
  • Model for Murder – Podd
  • The Crowning Touch – Reg
  • Moment of Danger – Shapley
  • The Angry Silence – Travers
  • The Trials of Oscar Wilde – reporter
  • Dead Lucky – Knocker Parsons
  • The Pot Carriers – Lang
  • Crooks Anonymous – Caulfield
  • She Knows Y'Know – Mr Fox
  • Mix Me a Person – Lumley
  • On the Beat – Trigger O'Flynn
  • The Small World of Sammy Lee – Big Eddie
  • The Man Who Finally Died – Heinrich
  • Farewell Performance – Marlon
  • Children of the Damned – Colin Webster
  • The Nanny – Dr Wills
  • Night Caller from Outer Space – Detective Superintendent Hartley
  • Guns in the Heather – Kersner
  • One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich – Alyosha
  • The House on Garibaldi Street – Adolf Eichmann
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream, filmed adaptation of the Royal Shakespeare Company's production – Egues
  • Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – Professor Armando Dippet

    Television roles

Comedy

Documentary/Arts

Drama

Selected radio appearances

Sources for this section include the BBC Archive.
YearTitleRoleNotes
1951Portrait of an AirmanNeriBBC Third Programme
1962Mr. Larkspur rings the BellFred BakerAfternoon Theatre, BBC Home Service
1975Proms '75NarratorBBC Radio 3
1976Murder InternationalDr Lancret"The Fall", BBC Radio 4
1976Cardinal RichelieuCardinal RichelieuAfternoon Theatre, BBC Radio 4
1977Proms '77ReaderBBC Radio 3
1977In Rehearsal: Uncle VanyaAstrovBBC Radio 4
1977SchoenbergReaderBBC Radio 3
1978Call for the DeadMendelFive episodes, BBC World Service
1979Cirrhosis ParkPeter HardingeThe Monday Play, BBC Radio 4
1980The Sitting TenantGrangerAfternoon Theatre, BBC Radio 4
1980Haydn Quartet / Schoenberg TrioIntroductionBBC Radio 3
1980GeometryGeorgeAfternoon Theatre, BBC Radio 4
1980Certain SouvenirsNarratorAfternoon Theatre, BBC Radio 4
1982Mainly for PleasureIntroductionBBC Radio 3
1982Nothing To DeclarePeter PiperBBC Radio 3
1983A Small ApocalypseThe WriterBBC Radio 3
1986The Holy ExperimentSenor QueriniThe Monday Play, BBC Radio 4
1986La PesteFr PanalouxBBC Radio 3
1986All's Well That Ends WellLafewBBC Radio 3
1986Master OlofGertBBC Radio 3
1987Mr BeluncleThree episodes, BBC Radio 4
1987The Spy Who Came In from the ColdKardenBBC Radio 4
2003The Six Mothers-In-Law Of Henry VIIIChroniclerSix episodes, BBC Radio 4
2003Nathan the WiseThe PatriarchDrama on 3, BBC Radio 4

Selected theatre roles

For a detailed list of Burke's many stage appearances 1947-2008 see his entry at Theatricalia.