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This article is about the actor-director born in 1968. For other people with the same name, see Edward Burns (disambiguation).

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Edward Burns
File:Edward Burns cropped.jpg
Burns at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival
Born
Edward Fitzgerald Burns

(1968-01-29) January 29, 1968 (age 56)
Woodside, Queens, New York, United States
NationalityAmerican
EducationHewlett High School
Alma materSUNY Oneonta
University at Albany
OccupationsActor, film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active1995–present
Notable workThe Brothers McMullen, She's the One, Sidewalks of New York, Newlyweds, The Fitzgerald Family Christmas
Spouse
(m. 2003)
Children2
WebsiteEdward Burns

Edward Fitzgerald Burns (born January 29, 1968) is an American actor, film producer, writer, and director best known for appearing in several films including Saving Private Ryan (1998), 15 Minutes (2001), Life or Something Like It (2002), A Sound of Thunder (2005), The Holiday (2006), One Missed Call (2008), 27 Dresses (2008), Man on a Ledge (2012), Friends with Kids (2012), and Alex Cross (2012). Burns directed movies such as The Brothers McMullen (1995), She's the One (1996), Sidewalks of New York (2001), Purple Violets (2007), and The Fitzgerald Family Christmas (2012). He also starred as Bugsy Siegel in the TNT crime drama series Mob City and as Terry Muldoon in TNT's Public Morals.

Early life[]

Burns was born in Woodside, Queens, New York, the son of Molly (née McKenna), a federal agency manager, and Edward J. Burns, a public relations spokesman and police officer.[1] He was raised a Roman Catholic.[2][3] Burns is the second of three children (with siblings Mary and Brian) in a family of Irish, and a small amount of Swedish, descent.[4] He was raised in Valley Stream, New York, on Long Island.[5] He briefly attended Chaminade High School before transferring to Hewlett High School. After high school, Burns attended, from 1987 to 1992, SUNY Oneonta, University at Albany, and Hunter College.

Career[]

Burns got his start in the film industry right after college as a production assistant on the Oliver Stone film, The Doors. While working as a gofer at Entertainment Tonight, he financed, produced, directed and starred in his first film The Brothers McMullen in his spare time, which was largely shot in his hometown of Valley Stream. Once he completed the film, he was able to get a copy to Robert Redford after an ET junket interview for Quiz Show at the Rhiga Royal Hotel in Manhattan. In 1996, Burns wrote, directed and starred in the ensemble drama She's The One with Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz and Amanda Peet, as well as Sidewalks of New York in 2001.

Burns is also known for his acting work on movies such as Saving Private Ryan (1998), Life or Something Like It (2002), and Confidence (2003). Looking for Kitty (2004), which Burns wrote, directed and starred in, was shot with a hand-held $3,000 digital Panasonic AG-DVX100 camera with a Mini35 adapter. The film's entire budget was $200,000[6][7] and was filmed in New York City with a tiny crew and without standard permits. Burns discussed this unusual film-making process in the director's commentary on the DVD and wrote in the Director's Letter "If you are an aspiring filmmaker, in this day of inflating budgets and runaway production, the truth is you can make a movie for no money in New York... and have a blast".[citation needed]

His film Purple Violets premiered exclusively on iTunes on November 20, 2007. Burns began a string of guest appearances on the HBO original series Entourage midway through season 3, as well as appearing as Grace Adler's boyfriend in Will & Grace. In Entourage Burns plays himself and is (within the context of the series) writing a new TV series in which Johnny Drama is able to land a part. In 2007, Burns announced plans to partner with Virgin Comics to create a series entitled Dock Walloper.[8] Burns plans to use the comic series as a springboard to a film of the same story.

In March 2009, The Lynch Pin, a series of shorts starring, written and directed by Burns were released via the internet.[9] The ten episodes are only available to view online as of August 2009 and future plans for the project are unknown.

With the modest success of Purple Violets, Burns was considering taking a studio directing assignment to make money. After reading a few scripts and taking a few meetings, he chose to remain a writer/director. He then wrote "Nice Guy Johnny" and shot it quickly, on the RED One camera, for a reported $25,000 with a small crew.[10] "Nice Guy Johnny" premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010.[11]

To coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival in 2011, Burns wrote a movie, Newlyweds that he also directed and starred in. Following a model similar to Nice Guy Johnny, Newlyweds was shot on the Canon 5D, with an even smaller crew, for $9000 in 12 days.[12] The film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2011 as the closing night film.[13] He claimed on Twitter that the $9,000 budget broke out to "5k for actors, 2k insurance, 2k food and drink. 9k in the can."[14] In 2013 Burns starred as real-life gangster Bugsy Siegel in Frank Darabont's miniseries, Mob City.

In 2012, Burns set up a screenwriting contest with the web startup Scripped for a crowdsourced screenplay which he intended to help get produced.[15]

Personal life[]

Burns is married to model Christy Turlington and has two children, Grace (born 2003) and Finn (born 2006). Burns is a Roman Catholic.

Filmography[]

Year Title Director Producer Screenwriter Actor Roles Notes
1995 The Brothers McMullen Yes Yes Yes Yes Barry/Finbar McMullen Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature
Producers Guild of America Award – Nova Award
Sundance Film Festival – Grand Jury Prize – Dramatic
Deauville American Film Festival – Jury Special Prize (tied with Denise Calls Up)
Nominated – Deauville American Film Festival – Grand Special Prize
1996 She's the One Yes Yes Yes Yes Mickey Fitzpatrick Nominated – Deauville American Film Festival – Grand Special Prize
1998 Saving Private Ryan Yes Private Richard Reiben Online Film Critics Society – Best Ensemble Cast Performance
Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
1998 No Looking Back Yes Yes Yes Charlie
2001 15 Minutes Yes Fire Marshal Jordan Warsaw
2001 Shark Attack 2 Yes Surfer Guy 2
2001 Sidewalks of New York Yes Yes Yes Yes Tommy Reilly
2002 Lethargy Yes Store Clerk Short film
2002 Ash Wednesday Yes Yes Yes Yes Francis Sullivan
2002 Life or Something Like It Yes Pete Scanlon
2003 Confidence Yes Jake Vig
2004 The Breakup Artist Yes Himself
2004 Looking for Kitty Yes Yes Yes Jack Stanton
2005 Will & Grace Yes Nick 3 episodes
2005 A Sound of Thunder Yes Travis Ryer
2005 The River King Yes Abel Grey
2006 The Groomsmen Yes Yes Yes Yes Paulie
2006–2009 Entourage Yes Himself 4 episodes
2006 The Holiday Yes Ethan Ebbers
2007 Purple Violets Yes Yes Yes Yes Michael Murphy Direct-to-iTunes
Savannah Film and Video Festival – Best Feature
2008 One Missed Call Yes Detective Jack Andrews Nominated – Teen Choice Awards – Choice Movie Actor : Horror/Thriller
2008 27 Dresses Yes George
2009 The Lynch Pin Yes Yes Yes Dan Lynch
2009 Echelon Conspiracy Yes John Reed
2010 Nice Guy Johnny Yes Yes Yes Yes Uncle Terry Boston Film Festival – Festival Prize – Best Director
Nominated – Woodstock Film Festival – Jury Prize – Best Narrative Feature
2011 Newlyweds Yes Yes Yes Yes Buzzy
2011 Vietnam in HD Yes Joe Galloway (voice) 3 episodes
2012 Man on a Ledge Yes Jack Dougherty
2012 Friends with Kids Yes Kurt
2012 Alex Cross Yes Tommy Kane
2012 The Fitzgerald Family Christmas Yes Yes Yes Yes Gerry
2013 Mob City Yes Bugsy Siegel 5 episodes
2014 Louie Yes Himself Episode: "So Did the Fat Lady"
2015 Public Morals Yes Yes Yes Yes Terry Muldoon Main role; television series

Awards and nominations[]

Year Award Category Film Result
1995 Independent Spirit Award Best Feature Shared with Dick Fisher The Brothers McMullen Won
Sundance Film Festival Award Best Dramatic Film Won
1999 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Cast
Shared with Matt Damon, Jeremy Davies, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, Tom Hanks, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi and Tom Sizemore
Saving Private Ryan Nominated
Online Film Critics Society Award Best Ensemble Cast Performance
Shared with Matt Damon, Jeremy Davies, Vin Diesel, Adam Goldberg, Tom Hanks, Barry Pepper, Giovanni Ribisi and Tom Sizemore
Won
2008 Teen Choice Award Choice Movie Actor: Horror/Thriller One Missed Call Nominated
2010 Boston Film Festival Award Best Director Nice Guy Johnny Won

References[]

  1. "Edward Burns Biography (1968–)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  2. "Edward Burns". New York University. October 30, 2007. Retrieved June 22, 2010.
  3. Mills, Nancy (November 12, 2001). "Ed Burns' 'New York,' before & after film's mood fits despite the Sept. 11 divide". Daily News. Retrieved September 14, 2010.
  4. http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Celebrity_Talk_102/interview-with-edward-burns.php
  5. Weinraub, Bernard. "A Sort of Cinderella Prevails at Sundance", The New York Times, January 30, 1995. Accessed October 10, 2007. "Mr. Burns's parents encouraged him to write years ago; his mother, a film buff, watches Woody Allen's "Annie Hall" and "Manhattan" twice a month."
  6. "Looking For Kitty – DVD". Cinemablend.com. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  7. "DVDVerdict". DVDVerdict. December 12, 2006. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  8. "Ed Burns Is Into "Dock"-ing (July 27th 2007)". Darkhorizons.com. July 27, 2007. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  9. "The Lynch Pin". Goldenharp.net. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  10. Itzkoff, Dave (April 23, 2010). "Nice Guy Eddie: 15 Years of Film Festivals With Edward Burns". The New York Times.
  11. [1] Archived March 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  12. "BREAKING DOWN ED BURNS' $9,000 SHOOTING BUDGET". Filmmaker Magazine. March 18, 2011. Retrieved October 22, 2012.
  13. [2] Archived April 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  14. https://twitter.com/edward_burns/statuses/48564337069137921
  15. "Edward Burns Contest". Scripped.com. Retrieved October 22, 2012.

External links[]

Template:Edward Burns

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