
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.
170 acting credits
Acting · 170

Lassie
1954

Cheyenne
1955

I Love Lucy
1951

Wanted: Dead or Alive
1958

Dinah!
1974

The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955

Trackdown
1957

Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958

The DuPont Show with June Allyson
1959

Stagecoach West
1960

The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour
1957

My Little Margie
1952

The Maltese Falcon
1941

It Happened One Night
1934

You Can't Take It with You
1938

Anchors Aweigh
1945

Nightmare Alley
1947

Dead End
1937

Call of the Wild
1935

Dodge City
1939

Queen Christina
1934

Alias Jesse James
1959

Lone Star
1952

Treasure Island
1934

Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
1975

Twentieth Century
1934

California
1947

The Scarlet Empress
1934

Copper Canyon
1950

We're Not Married!
1952

Beau Geste
1939

All Through the Night
1942

Lady Killer
1933

Man on the Flying Trapeze
1935

The Big Clock
1948

Body and Soul
1947

Warpath
1951

Song of the Thin Man
1947

Pot o' Gold
1941

Texas, Brooklyn & Heaven
1948

At the Circus
1939

Alias Nick Beal
1949

Ruggles of Red Gap
1935

Red, Hot and Blue
1949

His Kind of Woman
1951

Toughest Man in Arizona
1952

The Last Outpost
1951

The Virginian
1946

Sadie McKee
1934

Dinky
1935

The Mad Miss Manton
1938

June Bride
1948

Fast and Furious
1939

Rhythm on the Range
1936

Two Years Before the Mast
1946

Klondike Annie
1936

The Bowery
1933

Thank Your Lucky Stars
1943

Bombshell
1933

Mississippi
1935

To the Last Man
1933

The Saint Takes Over
1940

On Borrowed Time
1939

The Unholy Wife
1957

The Kennel Murder Case
1933

Casanova Brown
1944

Raton Pass
1951

The Farmer Takes a Wife
1935

Life Begins with Love
1937

It Happened in Flatbush
1942

The Saint Strikes Back
1939

Charlie Chan's Murder Cruise
1940

A Desperate Chance for Ellery Queen
1942

Million Dollar Baby
1941

Young Widow
1946

Lucky Me
1954

Friends of Mr. Sweeney
1934

The Timber Trail
1948

The Golden Fleecing
1940

Down to Earth
1947

Mrs. O'Malley and Mr. Malone
1950

The Affairs of Annabel
1938

Riding High
1943

Ellery Queen's Penthouse Mystery
1941

The Way of All Flesh
1940

Philo Vance's Gamble
1947

Men with Wings
1938

All of Me
1934

Laughing at Trouble
1936

Double Alibi
1940

Torch Singer
1933

No Time for Comedy
1940

A Night to Remember
1942

Denver and Rio Grande
1952

Case of the Missing Man
1935

Champagne Waltz
1937

Great Guy
1936

Ellery Queen and the Perfect Crime
1941

Joy of Living
1938

The Dawn Patrol
1938

The Perfect Specimen
1937

The Leathernecks Have Landed
1936

Public Pigeon No. 1
1957

A Close Call for Ellery Queen
1942

Face in the Sky
1933

Here Comes the Groom
1951

Gambling Lady
1934

A Very Honorable Guy
1934

36 Hours to Kill
1936

Coronado
1935

The Girl in 419
1933

Love Time
1934

So Red the Rose
1935

Reaching for the Sun
1941

3 Men in White
1944

Welcome Home
1935

Such Women Are Dangerous
1934

I'm from Missouri
1939

High, Wide and Handsome
1937

Beyond Glory
1948

Let's Dance
1950

Little Nellie Kelly
1940

The Horn Blows at Midnight
1945

Ellery Queen, Master Detective
1940

The Mystery Man
1935

My Favorite Blonde
1942

Ellery Queen and the Murder Ring
1941

No Place for a Lady
1943

College Humor
1933

Little Miss Marker
1934

The Family Next Door
1939

Can This Be Dixie?
1936

Easy Come, Easy Go
1947

Bowery Bombshell
1946

Wharf Angel
1934

Sudden Money
1939

Dixie
1943
Little Orphan Annie
1938

Flight Into Nowhere
1938

Hot Money
1935

Within the Law
1939

How DOooo You Do
1945

Forgotten Faces
1936

Six of a Kind
1934

Enemy Agents Meet Ellery Queen
1942

Buck Benny Rides Again
1940

The Merry Frinks
1934

Shady Lady
1945

Opened by Mistake
1940

Frisco Waterfront
1935

Here Comes Cookie
1935

Broadway Gondolier
1935

Lady by Choice
1934

City Limits
1934

Night Wind
1948

Ticket to a Crime
1934

After the Dance
1935

The Cisco Kid and the Lady
1939

Music Is Magic
1935

Dancing Feet
1936

Shamrock Hill
1949

The Gas House Kids in Hollywood
1947

Song and Dance Man
1936

The Affair of Susan
1935

Army Surgeon
1942

Make a Million
1935
The Hollywood Handicap
1932

I Love a Bandleader
1945

Sisters Under the Skin
1934

A Lady's Profession
1933