Stoney Burke (born January 17, 1953) is an American street performer and actor based in California.

Bio

Burke was born in Highland, Michigan, to a home he describes as "unstable." He was adopted at the age of 3 and grew up north of

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

in the village of Romeo with parents who were active in the civil rights movement. He took the name "Stoney" from the 1962–63 TV series about rodeo rider '' Stoney Burke'', portrayed by

Jack Lord John Joseph Patrick Ryan (December 30, 1920 – January 21, 1998), best known by his stage name, Jack Lord, was an American television, film and Broadway actor, director and producer. He starred as Steve McGarrett in the CBS television progra ...

Performing career

In 1975, Burke moved to

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

and enrolled as a dance and theater major at the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

. He moved to the San Francisco Bay area in 1977 to study mime with Leonard Pitt, and soon began performing and commenting on current events. He claims to have "been hassled or arrested so many times practicing my free speech, I would bore you with the truth of it all." Burke performs political comedy on college campuses, most notably at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

near

Sather Gate Sather Gate is a prominent landmark separating Sproul Plaza from the bridge over Strawberry Creek, leading to the center of the University of California, Berkeley campus. The gate was donated by Jane K. Sather, a benefactor of the university, i ...

. Burke routinely engages crowds throughout the day using conservative

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

perspectives as his primary satire subject matter. Burke hosts a TV show called ''Stoney Speaks'' on

public-access television Public-access television is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is narrowcast through cable television specialty channels. Public-access television was creat ...

cable TV. Burke was featured in a Swedish documentary called ''An American in America''. He played a soup kitchen server in the 2001 movie ''

Bartleby "Bartleby, the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street" is a short story by the American writer Herman Melville, first serialized anonymously in two parts in the November and December 1853 issues of '' Putnam's Magazine'' and reprinted with minor tex ...

'' and played a truck driver in the 2003 movie ''

The Matrix Reloaded ''The Matrix Reloaded'' is a 2003 American science-fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is a sequel to '' The Matrix'' (1999) and the second installment in the ''Matrix'' film series. The film stars Keanu Reeves, Lau ...

''. He had a major role playing Lockheed Martin in

Craig Baldwin Craig Baldwin (born 1952) is an American experimental filmmaker. He uses found footage from the fringes of popular consciousness as well as images from the mass media to undermine and transform the traditional documentary, infusing it with the ...

's ''

Mock Up on Mu ''Mock Up on Mu'' is a 2008 science fiction collage film directed by American experimental filmmaker Craig Baldwin. The film is a fictionalized continuation of the stories of L. Ron Hubbard, Jack Parsons, and Marjorie Cameron. Baldwin assembled it ...

''. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors in November 2006, passed a resolution that declared November 14, 2007 "Stoney, A Clown Who Rabble Rouses In Defense of Free Speech, Day". The

sailing team hosts an annual college sailing regatta named in Burke's honor. Burke has a B.A. from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...

References

External links

*
Stoney Speaks
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burke, Stoney American street performers American male comedians 21st-century American comedians Living people People from the San Francisco Bay Area University of California, Berkeley people San Francisco State University alumni People from Highland, Oakland County, Michigan Male actors from Eugene, Oregon 1953 births

Bio

Performing career

See also

References

External links