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

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Biography

Born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, 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, Ontario, Ainslie Wood and Westdale, Ontario, Westd ...

, 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

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

to work as a freelance journalist and photographer covering the war. His experience reporting on 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 ...

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 Canada First Novel Award, formerly the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and 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 p ...

. In 2018, the BBC listed the Paramount Pictures film ''

Top Secret! ''Top Secret!'' is a 1984 action comedy film written and directed by Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, and Jerry Zucker ( ZAZ) and Martyn Burke. It stars Val Kilmer (in his film debut) and Lucy Gutteridge alongside a supporting cast featuring Omar Sh ...

'', 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 language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

with his wife, Laura Morton.

Career

After Vietnam, Burke started writing, directing and producing documentaries for

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

winning a number of awards in Canada for his work. Among them are a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

for Best Documentary for ''

Connections Connections may refer to: * Connection (disambiguation), plural form Television * '' Connections: An Investigation into Organized Crime in Canada'', a documentary television series * ''Connections'' (British TV series), a 1978 documentary tele ...

'', a multi-part undercover report on the Mafia in Canada and America, and a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

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 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

and United States relations during the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

. Producing and directing a segment for

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

's '' West 57th'' about early black

R and B Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

legends

Ruth Brown Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a popular music, pop music ...

and

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

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, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

. 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 who is best known for his work in Hollywood (film industry), Hollywood films. Candy first rose to national prominence in the 1970s as a member of the Tor ...

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

Power Play "Power play" is a sporting term used to describe a period of play where one team has a numerical advantage in players, usually due to a rule violation by the opposing team. Temporary numerical advantage in players during a team sport In several ...

'' a.k.a. '' Coup d'Etat'' which starred

Peter O'Toole Peter Seamus O'Toole (; 2 August 1932 – 14 December 2013) was an English actor known for his leading roles on stage and screen. His numerous accolades include the Academy Honorary Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and four Golde ...

and

David Hemmings David Leslie Edward Hemmings (18 November 1941 – 3 December 2003) was an English actor, director, and producer of film and television. Originally trained as a boy soprano in operatic roles, he began appearing in films as a child actor in the ...

. He emigrated to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

when

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

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

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

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, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

and won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

in 2012 - his theatrical and cable television film career expanded in Los Angeles and includes the

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

nominated film for

TNT Troponin T (shortened TnT or TropT) is a part of the troponin complex, which are proteins integral to the contraction of skeletal and heart muscles. They are expressed in skeletal and cardiac myocytes. Troponin T binds to tropomyosin and helps ...

, ''

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 Freib ...

'' for which he was also nominated for a

DGA Award The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Categ ...

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 g ...

's Auteur award. He wrote a number of

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

and TNT films including ''

The Second Civil War ''The Second Civil War'' is a satirical black comedy television film directed by Joe Dante for the HBO cable television network, first aired on March 15, 1997. The film details the build-up to an ethnically fueled civil war in an alternate fut ...

'' starring

Beau Bridges Lloyd Vernet "Beau" Bridges III (born December 9, 1941) is an American actor. He is a three-time Emmy Award, Emmy, two-time Golden Globe Award, Golden Globe and one-time Grammy Award winner, as well as a two-time Screen Actors Guild Award nomine ...

(for which Bridges won an Emmy) and

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (January 17, 1931 – September 9, 2024) was an American actor. A pioneer for black actors in the entertainment industry, Jones is known for his extensive and acclaimed roles on stage and screen. Jones is one of the few perfor ...

and

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

, ''

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 varied roles in independent films, and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers and Spike Lee. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award a ...

about Chicago mafia 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 Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

's ''

Animal Farm ''Animal Farm'' (originally ''Animal Farm: A Fairy Story'') is a satirical allegorical novella, in the form of a beast fable, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic far ...

''. His feature film credits include co-writing the

Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...

cult classic comedy, ''

'' and directing ''

Avenging Angelo ''Avenging Angelo'' is a 2002 American action comedy film starring Sylvester Stallone (who also directed), Madeleine Stowe, and Anthony Quinn. The film follows bodyguard Frankie Delano (Stallone) who vows to protect Jennifer Allieghieri Barrett ( ...

'' starring

Sylvester Stallone Sylvester Gardenzio "Sly" Stallone (; born July 6, 1946) is an American actor and filmmaker. In a Sylvester Stallone filmography, film career spanning more than fifty years, Stallone has received List of awards and nominations received by Syl ...

Anthony Quinn Manuel Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known as Anthony Quinn, was an American actor. He was known for his portrayal of earthy, passionate characters "marked by a brutal and elemental virility" in over 100 ...

and Madeline Stowe.

Films

*''

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

'' - TNT (writer) *''

'' - TNT (writer/director) *'' Pentagon Wars'' - HBO (writer) *''

'' - HBO (writer) *''Sugartime'' - HBO (writer) *''

'' - Paramount Pictures (co-writer) *''

The Last Chase ''The Last Chase'' is a 1981 Canadian-American dystopian science fiction film directed by Martyn Burke who was also the producer on the film, produced for Argosy Films. The film stars Lee Majors, Chris Makepeace and Burgess Meredith in a futuris ...

'' - (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 ar ...

'', 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 The Mohawk, also known by their own name, (), are an Indigenous people of North America and the easternmost nation of the Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois Confederacy (also known as the Five Nations or later the Six Nations). Mohawk are an Iroquoi ...

and the

Mafia "Mafia", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the Sicilian Mafia, original Mafia in Sicily, to the Italian-American Mafia, or to other Organized crime in Italy, organiz ...

'' - 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 Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

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

Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada Oumee (, ; 30 May 192816 August 2003) was a Ugandan military officer and politician who served as the third president of Uganda from 1971 until Uganda–Tanzania War, his overthrow in 1979. He ruled as a Military dictatorship, ...

: 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 the mid-20th century banning of suspected Communists from working in the United States entertainment industry. The blacklisting, blacklist began at the onset of the Cold War and Red Scare#Second Red Scare (1947–1957 ...

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 AuthorHouse, formerly known as 1stBooks, is a self-publishing company based in the United States. AuthorHouse uses print-on-demand business model and technology. History Originally called 1stBooks, the company was founded in Bloomington, In ...

*''Tiara'' -

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

*''Ivory Joe'' -

Bantam Books Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by parent company Random House, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin Jr., Sidney B. K ...

*''The Commissar's Report'' -

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "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 vocalize it as ...

*''Laughing War'' -

Doubleday Doubleday may refer to: * Doubleday (surname), including a list of people with the name Publishing imprints * Doubleday (publisher), imprint of Knopf Doubleday, a subsidiary of Penguin Random House * Doubleday Canada, imprint of Penguin Random ...

Amazon book and film page for Martyn Burke
/ref>

Awards and nominations

*International Press Academy Special Achievement Auteur Award - 2015 *

- 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 The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

nomination for Outstanding Writing - TV film ''Pirates of Silicon Valley'' *

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 which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor ...

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

ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards are Canadian accolades presented since 1972 to celebrate excellence in cinema, television and radio industries.Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

for Best Documentary ''Witnesses'' *

for Best Documentary ''Connections'' *ANIK Award for Best Film ''Connections'' *

Prix Gemeaux Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who a ...

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 Canadian football people from Toronto Writers from Hamilton, Ontario Screenwriters 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 Best Screenplay Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Film directors from Hamilton, Ontario Novelists from Toronto