Simon Burke
Australian actor (born 1961)
title: "Simon Burke" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1961-births", "australian-children's-television-presenters", "australian-gay-actors", "australian-male-child-actors", "australian-male-film-actors", "australian-male-stage-actors", "australian-male-television-actors", "best-actor-aacta-award-winners", "living-people", "male-actors-from-melbourne", "officers-of-the-order-of-australia", "television-personalities-from-melbourne"] description: "Australian actor (born 1961)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Burke" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Australian actor (born 1961) ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Simon Burke |
| honorific_suffix | |
| image | Simon Burke in June 2013.jpg |
| caption | Simon Burke, June 2013 |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Melbourne, Australia |
| occupation | Actor |
| yearsactive | 1973–present |
| :: |
| name = Simon Burke | honorific_suffix = | image = Simon Burke in June 2013.jpg | caption = Simon Burke, June 2013 | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Melbourne, Australia | death_date = | death_place = | othername = | occupation = Actor | yearsactive = 1973–present Simon Gareth Burke (born 8 October 1961) is an Australian actor, active in films, television and theatre.
Biography
Simon Burke began his career at the age of 12, starring in Michael Cove's Kookaburra (1974); a painful look at a dysfunctional working-class family, focusing particularly on an almost autistic young boy. Soon after at the age of 13, Burke starred in Fred Schepisi's acclaimed feature film The Devil's Playground for which he won the AFI Award for Best Actor at the Australian Film Institute Awards. He remains the youngest person ever to be honoured with this award. Since then he has enjoyed great success both in Australia and internationally in film, television, stage, concert appearances and cabaret.
In 2014, Burke starred in Matchbox Pictures/NBC-Universal's highly acclaimed miniseries Devil's Playground in which he reprised the role of Tom Allen that he created as a 13-year-old. He was the co-creator and executive producer of the project, and in the same year it won both the AACTA and Logie Award for Most Outstanding Telefeature or Miniseries.
He has since starred in numerous film, television and theatre productions in Australia and the UK. He starred as Captain Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music at the London Palladium alongside Connie Fisher and then Summer Strallen. He also played the role of Mr Banks in Mary Poppins in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Auckland.
Burke was Federal President of Actors Equity Australia (2004–14). He is currently a Vice President of the International Federation of Actors (FIA), a global federation of performers, trade unions, guilds and professional associations.
On 10 September 2015, at the Queens Birthday Honours ceremony presided over by the Governor of New South Wales, General David Hurley, Burke was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) with the following citation: For distinguished service to the performing arts as an actor, singer and producer, and through senior advocacy roles for performers' rights and access to professional development and education programs.
Simon Burke is also well remembered for his long term stint as a presenter on the children's television series Play School from 1988 to 2007 then 2013 and again in 2020.
Personal life
In 2016 he publicly identified himself as being gay.
Filmography
Film
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | ** | Tom Allen | |
| 1978 | ** | Michael Doolan | |
| 1982 | ** | Paul | |
| 1987 | Slate, Wyn & Me | Wyn Jackson | |
| 1999 | Passion | Herman Sandby | |
| 2000 | Pitch Black | Greg Owens | |
| 2003 | Preservation | Mr. Crewe | |
| 2003 | Travelling Light | Ray Sugars | |
| 2006 | Shuffle | Edgar | Short |
| 2015 | Super Awesome! | Jack Simpson | |
| 2017 | Dirt Tin | Burko | Short |
| :: |
Television
::data[format=table]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Matlock Police | Davey Evans | Episode: "Sky High" |
| 1977 | ** | Peter Robinson | Episode:,"1.37" |
| ** | Stephen Moran | ||
| 1979 | The Young Doctors | David McAllister | |
| 1980 | Slippery Slide | Steve | Television film |
| 1982 | ** | Roger Morrison | Episode: "The Push: Parts 1 & 2" |
| 1983 | Scales of Justice | Probationary Constable Leonard "Spider" Webber | Episode: "The Job" |
| 1987 | ** | Daryl Stokes | Episode: "Keeping Up Appearances" |
| 1988–2007, 2013 | Play School | Presenter | TV series |
| 1988 | Great Performances | John McCormack | "Melba" |
| Always Afternoon | Tom | ||
| 1991 | Brides of Christ | Jack Delahunty | Episode: "Paul" |
| Heroes II: The Return | Capt. Ellis | Television film | |
| 1992 | Six Pack | Miniseries | |
| 1996 | ** | Stan | Television film |
| 1997 | Water Rats | Det. Sgt. 'Mac' Phillips | Episode:,"Blood Trail", "Dead or Alive" |
| 1998 | Murder Call | Guy Searle | Season 2, episode 14: "Menu for Murder" |
| 2001 | South Pacific | Harbison | Television film |
| Blue Heelers | Mick Boyce | Episode: "Blood" | |
| 2002 | Heroes' Mountain | Euan Diver | Television film |
| Young Lions | Rob Watson | Episodes: "Boy School Bullies", "Asylum Seekers", "Nursing Home" | |
| 2003 | Grass Roots | Tony Ludovic | Episode: "Egomania" |
| The Postcard Bandit | Thomas | Television film | |
| After the Deluge | Michael | Television film | |
| 2004 | ** | Patrick | Television film |
| 2005–2006 | ** | Patrick | Main role |
| 2006 | Small Claims: The Reunion | Jon | Television film |
| 2007 | All Saints | Brad Douglas | Episode: "Balancing Act" |
| 2009 | Hustle | Nick | Episode: "The Road Less Travelled" |
| 2010 | Rescue: Special Ops | Warren Thompson | Episode: "Enemy Mine" |
| 2011 | I Shouldn't Be Alive | Mike Dillon | Episode: "Left for Dead on Everest" |
| 2013 | Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries | Nicholas Mortimer | Episode: "Murder Under the Mistletoe" |
| 2014 | Devil's Playground | Tom Allen | Miniseries |
| 2016 | Rake | Warwick Dormann | Episode "4.1" |
| Deep Water | Simon Mawbrey | Miniseries | |
| 2018 | Dead Lucky | Tom Hodge | 3 episodes |
| 2023 | Crazy Fun Park | Mark | 2 episodes |
| :: |
Theatre
::data[format=table]
References
Bibliography
- Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, p. 338.
References
- "Simon Burke".
- (7 June 2015). "Queen's Birthday honours: 519 recipients, with scientists the big winners". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
- Richard., Wherrett. (2000). "The floor of heaven : my life in theatre". Hodder Headline Australia.
- (6 September 2014). "The devil's in the detail for Simon Burke". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- (14 November 2014). "Simon Burke: from Devil's Playground to gilded Cage". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- Giles Hardie. (September 2014). "Devil's Playground is not solely about abuse: Simon Burke". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- (12 September 2014). "Simon Burke and The Devil's Playground demand attention". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- Nicole Elphick. (5 September 2014). "My secret Sydney: Simon Burke, actor". The Sydney Morning Herald.
- [http://gaynewsnetwork.com.au/news/national/lgbti-community-members-call-for-parliament-to-vote-down-plebiscite-22002.html Gay News Network]. Retrieved 12 September 2016 {{webarchive. link. (15 September 2016)
- [https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/lifestyle/stellar/simon-burke-i-didnt-hide-being-gay-so-much-as-i-didnt-talk-about-it/news-story/828ca849dc59637669db1e7b60f2f7c1 "Simon Burke: 'I didn't hide being gay so much as I didn't talk about it'"] by Nicholas Fonseca, ''[[The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). The Daily Telegraph]]'' (Sydney), 9 July 2017
- "Holding the Man - Cast & Creative".
- [https://www.australianstage.com.au/20070507351/reviews/sydney/october-%7C-griffin-theatre-company.html "''October'' – Griffin Theatre Company"] by Rebecca Whitton, Australian Stage, 7 May 2007
- (22 February 2017). "The Homosexuals, or Faggots (Malthouse, Melbourne)".
- [http://artsreview.com.au/noises-off/ ''Noises Off''] review, ''Arts Review'', 6 June 2017
- [http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/stage/melbourne-stage/strangers-in-between-review-comingofage-story--funny-tender-and-wild-20180126-h0ou01.html "Strangers In Between review: Coming-of-age story funny, tender and wild"] by Cameron Woodhead, ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'', 28 January 2018
- [https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/mary-stuart-review-feminist-take-on-a-gripping-game-of-thrones-20190210-h1b2r9.html "''Mary Stuart'' review: Feminist take on a gripping game of thrones"] by Joyce Morgan, ''[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]'', 11 February 2019
- Pitt, Helen. (23 January 2023). "From Ruth Bader Ginsburg to Mary Poppins: Sydney Theatre Awards winners".
- "Archive Simon Burke".
- "Holding the Man - Cast & Creative".
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