Richard William Burgi (/ˈbɜːrɡi/,[1] born July 30, 1958) is an American film and television actor best known for the roles of Det. Jim Ellison on The Sentinel and as Karl Mayer on Desperate Housewives. He also portrayed Paul Hornsby in the ABC daytime soap opera General Hospital, and Ashland Locke in the CBS daytime soap opera The Young and the Restless. He is of Swiss descent.

Richard Burgi
Burgi in 2019
Born
Richard William Burgi

(1958-07-30) July 30, 1958 (age 66)
OccupationActor
Years active1986–present

Early life

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Burgi was born in the suburbs of New York City in Montclair, New Jersey. His family was involved in community theatre.[2] His brother, Chuck Burgi, is a well-known rock drummer who as of 2023 has been touring with Billy Joel.[3] After high school, Burgi travelled through the US and Europe, taking odd jobs.[4]

Career

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Burgi began his career in New York, which led to regular roles on the Manhattan-based daytime soap operas One Life to Live, Another World and As the World Turns. After moving to Los Angeles, he appeared on the serial, Days of Our Lives. He made a number of guest appearances on episodic television shows, and was also cast in Chameleons, a TV movie, in 1989. He had a role on Viper, and landed his first lead role in the 1994 television series One West Waikiki.[2]

Burgi was cast as the lead in the series The Sentinel. The show ran for three seasons; its cancellation left key plot issues unresolved, which led to a successful fan campaign for additional episodes to end the story. Burgi went on to roles on The District, 24 and Judging Amy as well as bit parts in other television series and films, including Matlock.[2] In the 1998 made-for-TV remake of the movie I Married a Monster, Burgi starred as Nick Farrell (the monster).

One of Burgi's most notable roles was on Desperate Housewives as Karl Mayer, the ex-husband of Susan Mayer and father to Julie. Burgi appeared as Karl for several seasons. He also starred in the big-screen thriller Cellular in 2004 as well as a remake of Fun with Dick and Jane and In Her Shoes as Toni Collette's love interest in 2005. In 2007, Burgi was cast in the horror film Hostel: Part II. In 2009, he played the police officer in Friday the 13th and a stylish doctor in Nip/Tuck.

Burgi guest-starred as Thomas Wellington in CBS's Harper's Island (2009).

In 2010, Burgi guest-starred in an episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In 2011, Burgi guest-starred on TV Land's Hot in Cleveland.[5] In 2011, it was announced that he would play Karl Parker in My Family USA, which premiered on September 26, 2011. In 2011, Burgi landed a new recurring role as CIA hitman Clyde Decker, who is part of a government conspiracy targeting the title character in Chuck. In 2011, Burgi appeared in season 9 of One Tree Hill as Brooke Davis's father. In 2012, he starred in cult classic "Christmas Twister" as TV Reporter 1, in which his character was killed trying to parry away a low flying shipping container. In 2013, Burgi guest-starred on Lifetime's Devious Maids as a brother, uncle, and love interest, Henri.

From 2015–2016, Burgi played Paul Hornsby in the ABC daytime serial General Hospital.

In 2021, Soap Opera Digest reported that Burgi had been cast in the recurring role of Ashland Locke on CBS' daytime soap opera, The Young and the Restless, with the character first appearing on March 11, 2021. In 2022, Burgi was fired from Y&R for violating the show's COVID-19 policy, and his role on the show was recast with former Guiding Light star Robert Newman.[6]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes Refs
2004 Decoys Detective Francis Kirk Science fiction and horror film
Cellular Craig Martin
2005 In Her Shoes Jim Danvers [7]
2007 Hostel: Part II Todd Sequel to the 2005 horror film Hostel [8]
2008 Christmas Cottage Bill Kinkade Direct to video
2009 Friday the 13th Officer Bracke A reboot of the Friday the 13th film series [9][10]
2011 Super Eruption Charlie
2013 The Green Inferno Charles, Justine's Father Released on September 25, 2015
2014 Fatal Instinct Michael Decker
2016 No Letting Go Henry
2020 The 2nd Director Phillips

Television

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Year Title Role Notes Refs
1986–1988 Another World Chad Rollo Main role
1991 The Flash Curtis Bohannan Episode: "Deadly Nightshade" (S 1:Ep 16)
1992–1993 Days of Our Lives Philip Collier Main role
1994–1996 One West Waikiki Lieutenant Mack Wolfe Main role
1994 Seinfeld Ben Pfeffer Episode: "The Hamptons" (S 5:Ep 21)
1996–1999 The Sentinel Detective Jim Ellison Main role
1999 Action Cole Ricardi Episodes: "Gross Player" (S 1:Ep 1), "Blowhard" (S 1:Ep 4)
2000 Just Shoot Me! Robert Gallatin Episode: "Mum's the Word"
2000–2003 The District Captain Vincent Hunter Recurring roles [2]
2001 Twice in a Lifetime Jimmy O'Connor / Ray Tambor Episode: "The Knockout" (S 2:Ep 18)
2001–2002 24 Alan York / Kevin Carroll Recurring role [2]
2002–2003 Judging Amy Michael Cassidy Recurring role
2002 Firefly Lieutenant Womack Episode: "The Message" (S 1:Ep 12)
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Rick Weston Episode: "High and Low" (S 3: Ep 10)
2004 Starship Troopers 2: Hero of the Federation Captain V.J. Dax Television film
2004–2012 Desperate Housewives Karl Mayer
2007 Las Vegas Vince Peterson Recurring role
Shark Dr. Neil Fuller Episode: "Eye Of The Beholder" (S 2:Ep 3)
Big Shots Gavin Carter Episode: "The Way We Weren't" (S 1:Ep 8)
In God's Country Josiah Leavitt Television film
2008 Reaper Mike Volta Episode: "The Leak" (S 1:Ep 17)
2009 Knight Rider Jack Hurst Episode: "Knight To King's Pawn" (S 1:Ep 12)
Nip/Tuck Dr. Logan Taper Episode: "Allegra Caldarello" (S 5:Ep 21)
Harper's Island Thomas Wellington Recurring role [11]
2010 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Richard Morgan Episode: "Confidential" (S 11:Ep 15)
NCIS Randall Hammond Episode: "Patriot Down" ( S7:Ep 23)
Lie to Me Governor Brooks Episode: "Bullet Bump" (S 2:Ep 17)
2011 Breakout Kings Andre Brennan Episode: "One For The Money" (S 1:Ep 9)
Hot in Cleveland Timothy Episode: "Unseparated at Birthdates" (S 2:Ep 13) [5]
The Glades Dr. William Grant Episode: "Addicted To Love" (S 2:Ep 7)
Castle Charlie Turner Episode: "Heartbreak Hotel" (S 4:Ep 8)
Chuck Clyde Decker Episodes: "Chuck Versus the Cliffhanger" (S4 : Ep 24), "Chuck Versus the Zoom" (S 5:Ep 1), "Chuck Versus the Business Trip" (S 5:Ep 4), "Chuck Versus the Hack Off" (S 5:Ep 5)
2012 One Tree Hill Ted Davis Recurring role4
CSI: Miami Randall Stafford Episode: "Law & Disorder" (S 10:Ep 18)
Burn Notice Morris Episode: "Reunion" (S 6:Ep 7)
Blue Bloods Councilman Anthony Mancini Episode: "Domestic Disturbance" (S 3:Ep 2)
2013 Body of Proof District Attorney Dan Russell Recurring role
Devious Maids Henri Episode: "Making Your Bed" (S 1:Ep 4)
Kirstie Tony Cameron Episode: "Arlo Moves In" (S 1:Ep 2)
2014 Hawaii Five-0 Curtis Novak Episode: "O ka Pili 'Ohana ka 'Oi" (S 4:Ep 22)
2014 Crystal Skulls John Winston Television film
2015–2016 General Hospital Paul Hornsby Recurring role [12]
2016 Rush Hour Todd Taymor Episode: "O Hostage! My Hostage!" (S 1:Ep 11)
2021–2022 The Young and the Restless Ashland Locke Main role
Notes
  1. ^ Season 2
  2. ^ Seasons 1, 5 & 6
  3. ^ Seasons 3, 4 & 8
  4. ^ Season 9

References

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  1. ^ "Actor Richard Burgi, part 1 of 2 - YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 2018-11-05.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Richard Burgi Biography - Yahoo! Movies". Movies.yahoo.com. 1958-07-30. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
  3. ^ "Home". www.chuckburgi.com. Retrieved 2023-11-04.
  4. ^ "Richard Burgi". Littlereview.com. Retrieved 2010-08-31.
  5. ^ a b "Keck's Exclusives: Desperate Housewives Hunk to Play Hot Conjoined Twin". TVGuide.com. Retrieved March 9, 2011.
  6. ^ "Young and the Restless' Richard Burgi Explains Ouster: 'I Inadvertently Violated the Show's COVID Policy'". TVLine. 12 January 2022. Retrieved January 12, 2022.
  7. ^ "In Her Shoes Movie Reviews, Pictures". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster, part of Warner Bros. subsidiary of Time Warner. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  8. ^ "Hostel: Part II". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster, part of Warner Bros. subsidiary of Time Warner. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
  9. ^ Joal Ryan (February 16, 2009). "Sorry, Shopaholic, Hockey Masks Are the New Black". E! Online. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  10. ^ Nathan Lee (February 13, 2009). "A Slice of Life". The New York Times. Retrieved July 11, 2015.
  11. ^ Zreik, Karim (May 11, 2009). "Harpers Island episode 5". Televisionwithoutpity.com. Archived from the original on October 12, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2015. So, at the start of production back in August, we signed Richard Burgi to a five-episode deal. Richard knew that his time would be up in week 5 (the only actor on the show to have that sort of information), so it came as no surprise when I approached him to deliver the news.
  12. ^ Mulcahy Jr., Kevin (July 8, 2015). "Richard Burgi Joins 'General Hospital' as Paul Hornsby". We Love Soaps. Retrieved July 10, 2015.
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