Martyn Burke (born 1952) is a Canadian director, novelist and screenwriter from

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

Biography

Born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a Canada 2016 Census, population of 569,353, and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington, ...

, to Freda and Les Burke who immigrated from England to Canada during World War II as part of the British Civilian Military Authority, Martyn Burke graduated from Royal York High School in Toronto, Ontario. He attended

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical Ga ...

, where he played on the football team, the McMaster Marauders, and graduated with a degree in Economics. After a brief stint working in television programming for a major advertiser, Burke paid his own way over to

Viet Nam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...

to work as a freelance journalist and photographer covering the war. His experience reporting on the Viet Nam War was the beginning of his writing and filmmaking career and served as the background for his first novel, ''Laughing War'' which was short-listed for a

Books in Canada First Novel Award The Amazon.ca First Novel Award, formerly the Books in Canada First Novel Award, is a Canadian literary award, co-presented by Amazon.ca and ''The Walrus'' to the best first novel in English published the previous year by a citizen or resident o ...

. In 2018, the BBC listed the Paramount Pictures film '' Top Secret!'', which Burke co-wrote, as one of the top one hundred film comedies of all time. In 2012 he won the Peabody Award and was short-listed for an Academy Award for the film Under Fire: Journalists In Combat; in 2015 he was named winner of the Auteur Award by the International Press Association in Los Angeles; and in 2018 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. Burke lives in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

with his wife, Laura Morton.

Career

After Viet Nam, Burke started writing, directing and producing documentaries for CBC Television winning a number of awards in Canada for his work. Among them are a Gemini Award for Best Documentary for '' Connections'', a multi-part undercover report on the Mafia in Canada and America, and a Genie Award for his documentary, ''Witnesses'', filmed inside the conflict zones of Afghanistan. Other conflict zone documentaries include ''The Week That Paddy Died'', about the sectarian violence in Northern Ireland. Often Burke's work as a documentary filmmaker inspired his novels or films. His documentary ''The KGB Connections'', resulted in his later novel, ''The Commissar's Report'', a satirical story about

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

and United States relations during the Cold War. Producing and directing a segment for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

's '' West 57th'' about early black R and B legends Ruth Brown and

Bo Diddley Ellas McDaniel (born Ellas Otha Bates; December 30, 1928 – June 2, 2008), known professionally as Bo Diddley, was an American guitarist who played a key role in the transition from the blues to rock and roll. He influenced many artists, inc ...

being cheated out of record royalties, led to his novel ''Ivory Joe'', the story of a 1950s family being caught up in the turmoil of the music industry at the dawn of

Rock and Roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm a ...

. While still living in Canada, Burke began writing and directing theatrical films, such as

John Candy John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its '' SCTV'' seri ...

's first film, '' The Clown Murders'', and ''

Power Play Power play or powerplay or their plurals may refer to: Sports * Power play (sporting term), a sporting term used in various games * Powerplay (cricket), a rule concerning fielding restrictions in one-day international cricket * Power play (cur ...

'' a.k.a. '' Coup d'Etat'' which starred Peter O'Toole and David Hemmings. He emigrated to

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

when

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

optioned his book ''The Commissar's Report'' and brought him to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

to write the screenplay. Continuing to produce and direct documentaries - his 2012 documentary ''Under Fire: Journalists in Combat'' was short-listed for an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

and won a Peabody Award in 2012 - his theatrical and cable television film career expanded in Los Angeles and includes the Emmy Award nominated film for

TNT Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...

, ''

Pirates of Silicon Valley ''Pirates of Silicon Valley'' is a 1999 American biographical drama television film directed by Martyn Burke and starring Noah Wyle as Steve Jobs and Anthony Michael Hall as Bill Gates. Spanning the years 1971–1997 and based on Paul Freiberge ...

'' for which he was also nominated for a DGA Award as director. In 2015 he was awarded the

International Press Academy The International Press Academy (IPA) is an American association of professional entertainment journalists, representing both domestic and foreign markets in print, television, radio, cable and new media outlets. Its members have annually been gi ...

's Auteur award. He wrote a number of HBO and TNT films including '' The Second Civil War'' starring Beau Bridges (for which Bridges won an Emmy) and

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...

and

Denis Leary Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. A native of Massachusetts, Leary first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song "Asshole") and throu ...

, ''

Sugartime "Sugartime" is a popular song written by Charlie Phillips and Odis Echols, and published in 1957. The biggest hit version was by the McGuire Sisters, whose recording of it topped the Most Played chart in February 1958. It was also the second ...

'' starring

John Turturro John Michael Turturro (; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, ...

about

Chicago mafia The Chicago Outfit (also known as the Outfit, the Chicago Mafia, the Chicago Mob, the Chicago crime family, the South Side Gang or The Organization) is an Italian-American organized crime syndicate or crime family based in Chicago, Illinois, tha ...

don

Sam Giancana Salvatore Mooney Giancana (; born Gilormo Giangana; ; May 24, 1908 – June 19, 1975) was an American mobster who was boss of the Chicago Outfit from 1957 to 1966. Giancana was born in Chicago to Italian immigrant parents. He joined the 42 ...

, and an adaptation of George Orwell's ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to c ...

''. His feature film credits include co-writing the Paramount Pictures cult classic comedy, '' Top Secret!'' and directing '' Avenging Angelo'' starring Sylvester Stallone,

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known professionally as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental v ...

and Madeline Stowe.

Films

*'' Avenging Angelo'' - Warner Bros. (director) *''

'' - TNT (writer/director) *''

'' - TNT (writer) - *'' Pentagon Wars'' - HBO (writer) *'' The Second Civil War'' - HBO (writer) *''Sugartime'' - HBO (writer) *'' Top Secret!'' - Paramount Pictures (co-writer) *'' The Last Chase'' - (co-writer/director) *''

'' a.k.a. ''Coup d'Etat'' - (writer/director) *'' The Clown Murders'' - (writer/director)

Documentaries

*''Under Fire: Journalists In Combat'' - CBC ''

documentary channel A documentary channel is a specialty channel which focuses on broadcasting documentaries. Some documentary channels further specialize by dedicating their television programming to specific types of documentaries or documentaries in a specific a ...

'', theatrical and television, Distributor: Mercury Media Entertainment, London *''Islam Vs. Islamists'' -

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

*''The Mohawks and the

Mafia "Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...

'' - CBC *''Battle Diary: A Day in the Life of Charlie Martin'' - CBC *''Cinq Defis'' - CBC/TF-1 *'' Witnesses: The Untold War in Afghanistan''- PBS/CBC *''The

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

Connections'' - CBC *''Connections: An Investigation Into Organized Crime'' - CBC *''

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. He ruled as a military dictator and is considered one of the most brutal despots in modern w ...

: My People Love Me'' - CBC *''The Politics of Lying'' - CBC *''The Legend of The Sleepy Grass'' (Ireland) - CBC *''The Week that Paddy Died'' (Ireland) - CBC *''Carnivals'' - feature documentary *''The California Movie'' - CBC *''The

Hollywood Ten The Hollywood blacklist was an entertainment industry blacklist, broader than just Hollywood, put in effect in the mid-20th century in the United States during the early years of the Cold War. The blacklist involved the practice of denying empl ...

and Others: A History of Politics in Film'' - CBC *''One Revolution Around the Sun (Peru)'' - CBC

Novels

*''Music for Love or War'' - Cormorant Books, Canada - Tyrus/Simon & Schuster, United States *''The Truth About the Night'' - HarperCollins Canada *''The Shelling of Beverly Hills'' - AuthorHouse *''Tiara'' -

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News ...

*''Ivory Joe'' - Bantam Books *''The Commissar's Report'' -

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

*''Laughing War'' - Doubleday Amazon book and film page for Martyn Burke
/ref>

Awards and nominations

*International Press Academy Special Achievement Auteur Award - 2015 * Peabody Award - 2012 ''Under Fire: Journalists in Combat'' *

short-list for Best Feature Documentary ''Under Fire: Journalists in Combat'' * DGA - Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television nomination ''Pirates of Silicon Valley'' * Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Writing - TV film ''Pirates of Silicon Valley'' * Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding TV film ''Pirates of Silicon Valley'' *

Edgar Allan Poe Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America, based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor the bes ...

nomination for Best Television ''Sugartime'' Feature or Miniseres *

ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards were first presented in 1972 to celebrate excellence in Canada's television and radio industries.

for Best Screenplay ''Power Play'' a.k.a. ''Coup d'Etat'' * Genie Award for Best Documentary ''Witnesses'' * Gemini Award for Best Documentary ''Connections'' *ANIK Award for Best Film ''Connections'' * Prix Gemeaux for Best Documentary ''Cinq Defis''

References

Sources

November 23, 2011 Globe and Mail article

McMaster University Alumni

CBC news radio interview

72nd Annual George F. Peabody Awards Announcement

IMDB Sugartime Award Page

International Press Academy Award Page

External links

* * *

''Under Fire: Journalists in Combat'' website {{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Martyn 1952 births Living people Canadian documentary film directors Film producers from Ontario Canadian male novelists Canadian male non-fiction writers Canadian male screenwriters Film directors from Toronto Journalists from Toronto McMaster Marauders football players Players of Canadian football from Ontario Sportspeople from Toronto Writers from Hamilton, Ontario Writers from Toronto 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian screenwriters Screenwriters from Ontario