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Leo Burmester
American actor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Bernard Leo Burmester (February 1, 1944 – June 28, 2007) was an American actor of stage and screen.[1]
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Early life and education
Burmester was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky,[1] and studied at Western Kentucky University as a biology major before switching to drama. He worked summer stock at Shawnee Summer Theatre of Greene County, Indiana. After receiving an MFA from the University of Denver, he taught college for a year before becoming a working actor.
Career
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- Stage
Burmester appeared with the Actors Theatre of Louisville, originating roles in Marsha Norman's drama play Getting Out and James McLure's Lone Star, and eventually recreating them in his off-Broadway and Broadway debuts, respectively.[1]
On Broadway, he is known for performing as the booming villain General D. in Raggedy Ann: The Musical Adventure (1986). He played the role of Monsieur Thénardier in the original production of Les Misérables, the role of Bradley in the 1996 revival of Sam Shepard's drama Buried Child directed by Gary Sinise, and as Sid Davis in a 1998 revival of Eugene O'Neill's comedy Ah, Wilderness! at Lincoln Center.[1] He played the Police Sergeant in Harry Connick, Jr.'s musical Thou Shalt not (2001). Other Broadway roles include the award-winning musical The Civil War (1999), and the musical adaptation, Urban Cowboy (2003).[1]
Off-Broadway roles include Hucklebee in a revival of the 1960 musical The Fantasticks.[1]
- Screen
Burmester made his feature film debut in a big budget project with Cruising (1980), and had a featured role as the mortuary director in Honky Tonk Freeway (1981). Burmester played one of the FBI agents hounding the faux Rosenberg couple in Daniel (1983). He played Holly Hunter's character's father in the prologue of Broadcast News (1987), and the bum in front of The Plaza in Big Business (1988). Roles started to get larger with James Cameron's The Abyss (1989), as Catfish DeVries, decompression expert.[1] Burmester worked for director John Sayles several times, including in Passion Fish (1992) and Lone Star (1996), and also for directors such as William Friedkin, Clint Eastwood, Robert Altman, John Schlesinger and Sidney Lumet, and as the Apostle Nathaniel in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).[1]
On television, Burmester starred in the CBS sitcom Flo as Randy Stumphill, the mechanic who frequented the bar.
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Personal life and death
Burmester died at age 63 on June 28, 2007, in New York City, from complications from a tick bite and leukemia[2] after surgery to relieve pressure on his brain.[1] Burmester was survived by his wife, Lora Lee Echobelli, and children, Daniel and Colette.[1] His ashes were scattered in Kentucky.
Theatre
- Lone Star (1979)
- Big River (1985)
- Raggedy Ann (1986)
- Les Misérables (1987) – Thénardier
- Buried Child (1996)
- Ah, Wilderness (1998)
- The Civil War (1999)
- Thou Shalt Not (2001) – The Police Officer
- Urban Cowboy (2003)
- The Fantasticks (2006) – Hucklebee
Filmography
Film
Television
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References
External links
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