Ed Burns
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Edward P. Burns (born January 29, 1946) is an American screenwriter and television producer. He has worked closely with writing partner David Simon. For
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, they have collaborated on '' The Corner,'' ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...
,'' ''Generation Kill'', ''The Plot Against America'', and '' We Own This City''. Burns is a former
Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
detective for the homicide and narcotics divisions, and a public school teacher. He often draws upon these experiences for his writing.


Biography

Burns served in the U.S. Army
infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
during the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
. He then served in the Baltimore Police Department for twenty years. When he worked in homicide, his partner was Detective Harry Edgerton, who would later become the basis for Frank Pembleton on the television series '' Homicide: Life on the Street''. Following his retirement from the police force, Burns became a teacher in the Baltimore public school system. He has said that he stumbled into teaching with little preparation because of the intense demand for teachers in inner-city schools. He taught seventh and eight grade. Psychologically, he compared the experience of teaching to the Vietnam War. He found the experience profoundly challenging because of the emotional damage that the vast majority of his students had already experienced before reaching the classroom. He saw his primary role as instilling caring behavior in his pupils. He felt his major impact was in giving the children an example of an "adult who's consistent, who's always there, who always comes through with what he said, then that's a new world for them."


''The Corner''

In 1995, he co-authored, with Simon, '' The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood'', the true account of a West Baltimore community dominated by a heavy drug market. Simon credits his editor John Sterling with the notion that he observe a single drug corner. It was named a Notable Book of the Year by ''
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''. An adaptation of the book, also called '' The Corner'', was produced as a six-hour TV
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for
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. The show received three
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.


''The Wire''

Burns was a producer, writer, and co-creator (also with Simon) of the HBO series ''
The Wire ''The Wire'' is an American Crime fiction, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created and primarily written by the American author and former police reporter David Simon for the cable network HBO. The series premiered o ...
''. They originally set out to create a police drama loosely based on Burns's experiences working on protracted investigations of violent drug dealers using surveillance technology. He had often faced frustration with the bureaucracy of the police department, which Simon equated with his own ordeals as a police reporter for ''
The Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local, regional, national, and international news. Founded in 1837, the newspaper was owned by Tribune Publi ...
''. Writing against the background of current events, including institutionalized corporate crime at
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and institutional dysfunction in the
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, the show became "more of a treatise about institutions and individuals than a straight cop show." They chose to take ''The Wire'' to HBO because of their existing working relationship from the 2000
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''The Corner''. Owing to its reputation for exploring new areas, HBO was initially dubious about including a cop drama in their lineup, but eventually agreed to produce the
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. The theme of institutional dysfunction was expanded across different areas of the city as the show progressed. The second season focused on the death of white working class America through examination of the city ports. The third season "reflects on the nature of reform and reformers, and whether there is any possibility that political processes, long calcified, can mitigate the forces currently arrayed against individuals." Burns has called education the theme of the fourth season. The writing drew extensively on his experience as a teacher. Rather than solely focusing on the school system, the fourth season looks at schools as a porous part of the community that are affected by problems outside their boundaries. Burns states that education comes from many sources other than schools and that children can be educated by other means, including contact with the drug dealers they work for. The fifth and final season focuses on the media's coverage of crime and corruption in Baltimore, tapping into Simon's past with ''The Baltimore Sun''. Burns was nominated for the
Writers Guild of America Award The Writers Guild of America Awards is an award for film, television, and radio writing including both fiction and non-fiction categories given by the Writers Guild of America, East and Writers Guild of America West since 1949. Eligibility Th ...
for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for his work on the fifth season. Simon and Burns collaborated to write the series finale, " -30-". The show was nominated for several Emmys and numerous other awards.


''Generation Kill''

Burns traveled to Africa to film a miniseries as a producer and writer for '' Generation Kill'' (airdates July 13 to August 24, 2008) for HBO Network. The seven-part miniseries received 10 Emmy nominations. His influence on the show stems from the year he spent in Vietnam. Burns stated that as a writer "(He) can use the universal experience of war to create a realistic scenario for the viewers." He also drew from his experience as a writer for ''The Wire''. Simon and Burns wrote for both shows and had similar ideas in characterization for the show. Burns stated that he wanted "To make characters into characters, not cliches. Just as we did on ''The Wire''."


''The Plot Against America''

Burns co-created the HBO miniseries ''The Plot Against America'' with Simon. The six episode miniseries premiered in 2020.


''We Own This City''

Burns is an executive producer and writer for the HBO miniseries ''We Own This City''. The series was developed by Simon and George Pelecanos from the non-fiction book of the same name by former ''The Baltimore Sun'' reporter Justin Fenton. The series focuses on police corruption in the Baltimore Police Department and particularly the Gun Trace Taskforce.


References


External links

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Ed Burns
interviewed on '' Fresh Air'', 2006
Ed Burns interviewed on NYC-ARTS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burns, Ed 1946 births Living people American male television writers American television writers American police detectives Baltimore City College faculty Baltimore Police Department officers Military personnel from Baltimore Military personnel from Maryland Screenwriters from Maryland United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Writers from Baltimore Writers Guild of America Award winners