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Paul Burke (born July 21, 1926) is an American actor best known for his lead roles in the 1960s television programs Naked City and Twelve O'Clock High.

Burke was born in New Orleans, the son of Marty Burke, a boxer who fought Gene Tunney and later owned a string of nightclubs in the New Orleans French Quarter.

After training at the Pasadena Playhouse, Burke's film career began with a small role in the movie Golden Girl. After supporting roles in other movies, in 1956 Burke was cast in the lead role of the television series Noah's Ark, a Jack Webb-produced weekly about a pair of dedicated veterinarians.

After his next series Five Fingers was cancelled in 1960, Burke was cast in the lead role of the police show Naked City, in which he appeared as the dedicated NYPD detective Adam Flint from 1960 to 1963. Burke then appeared in the starring role of Captain (later Major, then Colonel) Joe Gallegher on 12 O'Clock High between 1964 and 1967.

The 12 O'Clock High role was Burke's last lead television role. He then appeared in supporting roles in a number of television series and movies, including The Thomas Crown Affair.

Burke retired from acting in the early 1990s. He is the grandfather of actress Alia Shawkat.

“Acting is exciting. It’s the excitement of re-creating a human experience. Acting is more exciting than living -- more electric, more immediate than living. That’s because life is full of random elements. In acting, you select, you choose the elements. This selection allows you to get to the essence of the character, the essence of an experience.”

--Paul Burke, quoted by TV Guide in 1962.

• Paul Burke on Internet Movie Database
• Biography by Hal Ericson, All Movie Guide
• "Star With a Wall Around Him," TV Guide, May 1962

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