James Burke

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia James Burke (September 24, 1886 – May 23, 1968) was an American film and television actor born in New York City. He made his stage debut in New York around 1912 and went to Hollywood in 1933. He made over 200 film appearances during his career, which ranged from 1932 to 1964; he was more often than not cast as a cop, usually a none-too-bright one, most notably as Sgt. Velie in Columbia's Ellery Queen mysteries in the early 1940s. He appeared in The Maltese Falcon, At the Circus, Lone Star, and many others. One of his best roles was as Charles Ruggles' rowdy rancher pal in Ruggles of Red Gap. In the early 1950s, Burke appeared with Tom Conway in the ABC detective drama series then called Inspector Mark Saber -- Homicide Detective, later renamed, reformatted, and switched to NBC under the title Saber of London. From 1960-1961, Burke appeared in the role of Zeke Bonner in seven episodes of the ABC western television series Stagecoach West, starring Wayne Rogers, Robert Bray, and Richard Eyer. Burke suffered from a heart condition, which took his life at the age of eighty-one.

Known For: Acting

Born: New York City, New York, USA, 1886-09-23

Died: 1968-05-23

Film

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1933	Face in the Sky	Cop (uncredited)	45
2	1933	A Lady's Profession	Mulroy	0
3	1933	The Girl in 419	Detective Jackson	43
4	1933	College Humor	Cromwell Dexter	56
5	1933	Torch Singer	Taxi Driver	52
6	1933	To the Last Man	Kentucky Sheriff (uncredited)	59
7	1933	Bombshell	First Immigration Officer (uncredited)	65
8	1933	The Kennel Murder Case	Policeman Who Lets Dog Out (uncredited)	62
9	1933	Lady Killer		67
10	1933	Queen Christina	Blacksmith - 4th Rabble Rouser (uncredited)	68
11	1934	All of Me	Welfare Island Guard (uncredited)	60
12	1934	Six of a Kind	Detective (uncredited)	58
13	1934	It Happened One Night	Detective (uncredited)	78
14	1934	Gambling Lady	Detective Making Raid (uncredited)	63
15	1934	Wharf Angel	Brooklyn Jack	37
16	1934	City Limits	King, a Hobo	40
17	1934	A Very Honorable Guy	Sergeant	20
18	1934	The Scarlet Empress		69
19	1934	Sadie McKee	Motorcycle Cop (uncredited)	70
20	1934	Twentieth Century	Sheriff (uncredited)	68
21	1934	The Merry Frinks	3rd Expressman (uncredited)	37
22	1934	Little Miss Marker	Detective Reardon (uncredited)	64
23	1934	Such Women Are Dangerous	Detective	0
24	1934	Friends of Mr. Sweeney	Policeman Arresting Wynn	60
25	1934	Treasure Island	Pirate of the Spanish Main	65
26	1934	Lady by Choice	Brannigan	62
27	1934	Love Time	Emperor Francis I	0
28	1934	Ticket to a Crime	Detective Lt. John Aloysius McGinnis	40
29	1935	The Mystery Man	Managing Editor Marvin	60
30	1935	Ruggles of Red Gap	Jeff Tuttle	71
31	1935	Mississippi	Skeptical Passenger in Pilot House (uncredited)	67
32	1935	Dinky	Truck Driver	67
33	1935	After the Dance	Police Lieutenant	60
34	1935	The Farmer Takes a Wife	Man Hauling Rifles and Bullets	61
35	1935	Make a Million	Pete	57
36	1935	Broadway Gondolier	Uncle Andy	54
37	1935	Man on the Flying Trapeze	Patrolman	59
38	1935	Welcome Home	Michael Shaughnessy	0
39	1935	Call of the Wild	Ole	63
40	1935	The Affair of Susan	Hogan	0
41	1935	Here Comes Cookie	Broken-Nose Reilly	72
42	1935	Case of the Missing Man	Police Sergeant Rorty	0
43	1935	Music Is Magic	Mickey (uncredited)	40
44	1935	Hot Money	Police Sgt. Burke	0
45	1935	Coronado	Slug Moran	30
46	1935	Frisco Waterfront	Corrigan	0
47	1935	So Red the Rose	Major Rushton	65
48	1936	Dancing Feet	Phil Moore	52
49	1936	The Leathernecks Have Landed	Corrigan	50
50	1936	Klondike Annie		64
51	1936	Song and Dance Man	Lt. Mike Boyle	0
52	1936	Forgotten Faces	Sgt. Johnny Donovan / Harry's friend	0
53	1936	Rhythm on the Range	Wabash	40
54	1936	36 Hours to Kill	Doyle - Process Server	53
55	1936	Can This Be Dixie?	Sheriff N.B.F. Rider	0
56	1936	Great Guy	Patrick James Aloysius 'Pat' Haley	62
57	1936	Laughing at Trouble	Bill Norton	60
58	1937	Champagne Waltz	Mr. Scribner	0
59	1937	High, Wide and Handsome	Stackpole	63
60	1937	Dead End	Police Officer Mulligan	70
61	1937	Life Begins with Love	Darby McGraw	50
62	1937	The Perfect Specimen	Constable Snodgrass	57
63	1938	Flight Into Nowhere	Ike Matthews	40
64	1938	Joy of Living	Mac	57
65	1938	Men with Wings	J.A. Nolan	60
66	1938	You Can't Take It with You	Chief Detective (uncredited)	75
67	1938	The Affairs of Annabel	Muldoon	40
68	1938	The Mad Miss Manton	Sullivan	64
69	1938	Little Orphan Annie	Mike Moriarty	0
70	1938	The Dawn Patrol	Flaherty - Motorcycle Driver	68
71	1939	The Saint Strikes Back	Headquarters Police Officer	56
72	1939	Within the Law	'Red'	60
73	1939	The Family Next Door	Policeman	52
74	1939	Sudden Money	McPherson	50
75	1939	Dodge City	Cattle Auctioneer (uncredited)	69
76	1939	On Borrowed Time	Sheriff Burlingame	75
77	1939	Beau Geste	Lieutenant Dufour	70
78	1939	Fast and Furious	Clancy	51
79	1939	At the Circus	John Carter	63
80	1939	The Cisco Kid and the Lady	Pop Saunders	49
81	1940	Double Alibi	Police Captain Orr	45
82	1940	Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise	Wilkie, house detective	67
83	1940	Opened by Mistake	Police Sergeant Wilkins	0
84	1940	Buck Benny Rides Again	Taxi Driver	0
85	1940	The Saint Takes Over	Patrolman Mike	63
86	1940	The Way of All Flesh	Frisco	40
87	1940	The Golden Fleecing	Sibley	53
88	1940	No Time for Comedy	Police Sergeant (uncredited)	54
89	1940	Little Nellie Kelly	Sergeant McGowan	60
90	1940	Ellery Queen, Master Detective	Sgt. Velle	57
91	1941	Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery	Sgt. Velie	53
92	1941	Pot o' Gold	Lt. Grady	55
93	1941	Reaching for the Sun	Norm	60
94	1941	Million Dollar Baby	Callahan	60
95	1941	Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime	Sgt. Velie	58
96	1941	The Maltese Falcon	Luke	77
97	1941	Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring	Sgt. Velie	57
98	1942	All Through the Night	Police Lt. Forbes	70
99	1942	A Close Call for Ellery Queen	Sgt. Velie	52
100	1942	My Favorite Blonde	Union Secretary	64
101	1942	A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen	Sgt. Velie	57
102	1942	It Happened in Flatbush	Umpire Shaunnessy	48
103	1942	Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen	Police Sergeant Velie	55
104	1942	Army Surgeon	Brooklyn	58
105	1942	A Night to Remember	Pat Murphy (uncredited)	65
106	1943	No Place for a Lady	Police Substation Chief Moriarty	60
107	1943	Dixie	Riverboat Captain	30
108	1943	Thank Your Lucky Stars	Bill, Intern Guard (uncredited)	61
109	1943	Riding High	Pete	40
110	1944	3 Men in White	First Policeman (uncredited)	60
111	1944	Casanova Brown	O'Leary (uncredited)	63
112	1945	The Horn Blows at Midnight	Policeman (uncredited)	58
113	1945	Anchors Aweigh	Studio Cop	68
114	1945	Shady Lady	Crane	58
115	1945	I Love a Bandleader	Charles Gibley	0
116	1945	How DOooo You Do	Detective	0
117	1946	Young Widow	Motorcycle Cop (Uncredited)	48
118	1946	The Virginian	Andy Jones (uncredited)	61
119	1946	Bowery Bombshell	Detective O'Malley	60
120	1946	Two Years Before the Mast	Carrick	62
121	1947	California	Pokey	65
122	1947	Easy Come, Easy Go	Harry Weston	0
123	1947	Philo Vance's Gamble	Lt. Burke	57
124	1947	Down to Earth	Detective Kelly	60
125	1947	The Gas House Kids in Hollywood	Police Lt. Burke	60
126	1947	Song of the Thin Man	Policeman Callahan (uncredited)	68
127	1947	Nightmare Alley	Rural Marshal (uncredited)	71
128	1947	Body and Soul	Arnold (uncredited)	67
129	1948	The Big Clock	O'Brien	73
130	1948	The Timber Trail	Jed Baker	0
131	1948	Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven	Cop (uncredited)	60
132	1948	Beyond Glory	Jim, the Bartender (uncredited)	73
133	1948	Night Wind	Sheriff Hamilton	0
134	1948	June Bride	Luke Potter	72
135	1949	Shamrock Hill	Michael Rogan	10
136	1949	Alias Nick Beal	Bum	69
137	1949	Red, Hot and Blue	Doorman (uncredited)	58
138	1950	Copper Canyon	Jeb Bassett	53
139	1950	Let's Dance	George (uncredited)	55
140	1950	Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone	The Train Conductor	60
141	1951	The Last Outpost	Stagecoach driver (uncredited)	55
142	1951	Raton Pass	Hank	48
143	1951	His Kind of Woman	Barkeeper in Nogales (uncredited)	67
144	1951	Warpath	Oldtimer	58
145	1952	Denver and Rio Grande	Sheriff Ed Johnson	55
146	1952	We're Not Married!	Willie's Sergeant (uncredited)	59
147	1952	Toughest Man in Arizona		0
148	1952	Lone Star	Luther Kilgore	56
149	1954	Lucky Me	Mahoney	67
150	1957	Public Pigeon No. 1	Harrigan	60
151	1957	The Unholy Wife	Sheriff Tom Watling	46
152	1959	Alias Jesse James	Charlie (uncredited)	59
153	1975	Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?	Self (archive footage)	57

Television

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1951	I Love Lucy	Mr. Watson	79
2	1952	My Little Margie		30
3	1954	Lassie		61
4	1955	Cheyenne	Buckshot	58
5	1955	The 20th Century Fox Hour		52
6	1957	Trackdown		64
7	1957	The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour	Horse Handler (uncredited)	86
8	1958	Wanted: Dead or Alive	Sheriff John Tatum	69
9	1958	Wanted: Dead or Alive	Sheriff M. Comstock	69
10	1958	Wanted: Dead or Alive	Sheriff Blore	69
11	1958	Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse		53
12	1959	The DuPont Show with June Allyson	Policeman	63