Commander'' Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe'' Samuel "Sam" Axe, USN ( ret.) is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, Play (theatre), play, Radio series, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or b ...

in the television series ''

Burn Notice ''Burn Notice'' is an American espionage television series created by Matt Nix, which originally aired on the USA Network for a total of seven seasons from June 28, 2007, to September 12, 2013. The show stars Jeffrey Donovan, Gabrielle Anwa ...

'' and TV movie '' Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe'', and is played by

Bruce Campbell Bruce Lorne Campbell (born June 22, 1958) is an American actor and director. He is known for portraying Ash Williams in Sam Raimi's ''Evil Dead'' franchise, beginning with the 1978 short film '' Within the Woods''. He has starred in many low- ...

. He is the best friend of "burned" ex-spy

Michael Westen Michael Alan Westen is a fictional character played by Jeffrey Donovan in the television series ''Burn Notice'', created by Matt Nix. Westen, a spy and former U.S. Army soldier serving in special operations, is widely known as a top CIA oper ...

, the main character in ''

''.

Overview

Sam served over 20 years as a U.S. Navy SEAL and "retired" with full benefits at the rank of

Commander Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain ...

in February 2005, as part of a

graymail Graymail is the threatened revelation of state secrets in order to manipulate legal proceedings. It is distinct from blackmail, which may include threats of revelation against, and manipulation of, any private individual. Graymail is used as a de ...

deal which kept the true events of potentially embarrassing Operation PROVIDE SUPPORT in Colombia a secret. The deal included a first-class air ticket to

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

, a change of clothing, and an ice-cold beer. In Miami, Axe helps Michael Westen with freelance work, having known him since at least 1992, and a job they did together in Poland. Sam's value to Westen often involves his seemingly infinite list of contacts. With a low amount of cash to his name, Sam has a string of "sugar mommas" with whom he connects in exchange for shelter and spending money. Sam frequently uses the cover name "Chuck Finley" after the

California Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the Baseball (ball), baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of out (baseball), retiring a batter (baseball), batter, who attempts to e ...

, whom he frequently and successfully wagered upon; coincidentally it is also the name of a coworker of

's father, who also was, according to ''

The Press Democrat ''The Press Democrat'', with the largest circulation in California's North Bay, is a daily newspaper published in Santa Rosa, California. History The newspaper was founded in 1897 by Ernest L. Finley who merged his ''Evening Press'' and Thomas ...

'', once friends with the real-life baseball player.

Sam Axe as Chuck Finley

"Chuck Finley" is an alias and cover identity Sam Axe uses in many episodes of ''Burn Notice''. "Chuck Finley" also turns into "Charles Finley" when Sam feels that his cover needs to be more sophisticated and up-scale, and is often a con-artist as well as a "legit" persona.

Overview of Chuck Finley

Chuck Finley made the first appearance in the third episode of the first season of ''Burn Notice'', "Fight or Flight" as the attorney of character Cara Stagner, a waitress at the nightclub below Michael's loft. However, chronologically as per the series, Chuck Finley appears first in the prequel '' The Fall of Sam Axe''. Axe adopts the Chuck Finley alias for the first time at a "secret CIA intelligence facility" in Colombia while calling for help from a military base in Santa Marta; in this case, the alias is "Deputy Assistant Intelligence Director Chuck Finley" from the

NSA The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collectio ...

headquarters. When Axe is asked by aid worker Amanda Maples why he chose the name "Chuck Finley", Sam replies: "Made a lot of money betting on him back in the day. I'm thinking it's a lucky name," while Sam holds up an undated edition of a fictitious magazine called ''Sports Action'', with the cover reading displaying the baseball pitcher

Chuck Finley Charles Edward Finley (born November 26, 1962) is an American retired professional baseball pitcher. He pitched from 1986 to 2002 for three teams in Major League Baseball (MLB), primarily with the California Angels (later renamed the Anaheim Ange ...

Chuck Finley: The Character

In an interview, Bruce Campbell has stated that Sam Axe uses Chuck Finley to convince people without dragging the Sam Axe character, who has a past career as a U.S. Navy SEAL, into the matter.

has mentioned that, coincidentally, it is also the name of a former co-worker of his real-life father. In an interview about ''Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe'' to Darryl Morden of Buzzine, Bruce Campbell has mentioned the following: :Morden: "What about Sam's con-artist persona Chuck Finley? Will we see more of him on the show or in the prequel movie?" :Campbell: "Oh yeah, Chuck is all over the place. Chuck Finley is forever." nd Chuck was also on giveaway Burn Notice t-shirts handed out to fans attending the panel.

Appearances of Chuck Finley in episodes of ''Burn Notice''

Chuck Finley has made appearances in numerous episodes throughout the entire run of ''

'': In all the episodes, Chuck has taken different professions which suited the situation, ranging from a lawyer or police officer or doctor, to motivational speaker or Glades homeowners association member.

References

External links

USA Burn Notice: Sam Axe Character Bio
at USA.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Axe, Sam Burn Notice characters Fictional characters from California Fictional United States Navy SEALs personnel Television characters introduced in 2007