Burn Gorman

Burn Hugh Gorman (born 1 September 1974) is an English actor. He is known for his television roles as Owen Harper in the BBC series ''Torchwood'' (2006–2008), Karl Tanner in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones'' (2013–14), Major Edmund Hewlett in the AMC series '' Turn: Washington's Spies'' (2014–2017), 'The Marshal' in the Prime Video series '' The Man in the High Castle'' (2015), and Adolphus Murtry in Prime Video series '' The Expanse'' (2019). His film roles include Phillip Stryver in Christopher Nolan’s ''The Dark Knight Rises'' (2012), Hermann Gottlieb in Guillermo del Toro’s ''Pacific Rim'' (2013) and its sequel '' Pacific Rim: Uprising'' (2018), Commander Hoff in '' The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes'', and Father Damien in Tim Burton's '' Beetlejuice Beetlejuice'' (2024).

Early life

Burn Hugh GormanHerman, Sarah: , ''Torchwood Magazine'' (August 2008): page 60. (wayback 20120313031654). Here, Burn states that the name on his birth certificate is "Burn Hugh Winchester Gorman". was born on 1 September 1974 in Los Angeles, California, the son of English parents. His father was a professor of linguistics at UCLA. He has three older sisters. He has reportedly claimed to be the nephew of Bartley Gorman, considered "King of the Gypsies". At the age of 7, he moved with his family back to England, where they settled in London. He later trained at the Manchester School of Theatre at Manchester Metropolitan University.

Gorman is also an accomplished beatboxer, having participated in the 2003 International Human Beatbox Convention (where he won the title of Radio 1Xtra's Human Beatbox Champion).

Career

One of Gorman's earliest television roles was in 1998 as Etheric Foundation cult leader Ben Andrews in Granada TV's ''Coronation Street''. He played William Guppy in the 2005 BBC One adaptation of Charles Dickens' ''Bleak House'', before being cast as Owen Harper in the BBC science fiction series ''Torchwood''. Gorman starred in the first two series of the show before his character was killed off in the series 2 finale, "Exit Wounds".

Other BBC television roles include '' Lark Rise to Candleford'', '' Funland'' and '' Bonekickers''; he also appeared in Channel 4's political thriller '' Low Winter Sun''.

Gorman played scriptwriter Ray Galton in the BBC Four television play '' The Curse of Steptoe''. He has also appeared in television series such as ''Dalziel and Pascoe'', ''Casualty'', ''Merseybeat'' and ''The Inspector Lynley Mysteries''.

Gorman played Jed on the soap opera ''EastEnders'' in March 2007. He starred as Hindley Earnshaw in the ITV adaptation of Emily Brontë's ''Wuthering Heights''. In 2011, he starred in Sky1's second Martina Cole adaptation, '' The Runaway'' and in 2014, portrayed Adam, the lead character's stalker and fellow immortal, in ABC's ''Forever''. He played Karl Tanner in seasons 3 and 4 of HBO's ''Game of Thrones'', Major Hewlett in the AMC miniseries ''Turn'' and Nicholas Farlow on the BBC miniseries '' Jamestown''.

On film, Gorman has had roles in ''Layer Cake'', '' The Best Man'', ''Penelope'', ''Fred Claus'', ''Cemetery Junction'' and ''The Dark Knight Rises''. He also appeared as Dr. Hermann Gottlieb in the film ''Pacific Rim'' and its sequel '' Pacific Rim: Uprising''.

On radio, Gorman played Elizabethan spy Robert Poley in Michael Butt's ''The Babington Plot'' (2008) and ''Unauthorized History: The Killing'' (2010) and Mike Walker's ''The Reckoning: The Death of Christopher Marlowe'' (2022).

Gorman's stage credits include ''Ladybird'' (Royal Court), ''Flush'' (Soho Theatre), and ''Gong Donkeys'' (Bush Theatre), prompting Michael Billington of ''The Guardian'' to write that "Gorman proves that he is one of the best young actors in Britain". He has performed in readings, workshops, and development initiatives with the National Theatre Studio, Young Vic, Royal Court, Oxford Stage Company, Paines Plough and Soho Theatre. Outside London, he has worked with Nottingham Playhouse, the Theatre Royal, Plymouth and the Royal Exchange and Contact Theatres, where he was nominated for a ''Manchester Evening News'' Best Newcomer Award.

From 2008 to 2009, Gorman played Bill Sikes in the West End revival of the musical ''Oliver!'' for which he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical in the 2010 Whatsonstage Theatre Awards.

Personal life

Gorman married schoolteacher Sarah Beard on 17 July 2004. They have three children, two girls and a boy. Their first child, Max, was born in Cardiff, where Gorman was filming the first series of ''Torchwood''. They later separated and divorced in 2017.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Radio

References

External links

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Burn Gorman Interview on Starpulse

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorman, Burn
1974 births
Living people
Alumni of the Manchester School of Theatre
British male film actors
British male radio actors
British male soap opera actors
British male stage actors
British male video game actors
British male voice actors
Male actors from Hollywood, Los Angeles
Male actors from London
20th-century British male actors
21st-century British male actors
American people of English descent