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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).

Edward J. Burns, Jr. (born January 28 or 29,¹ 1968) is an American actor, producer, writer, and director.

Biography

Early life

Burns was born in Woodside, Queens, New York, the son of Molly (née McKenna), a federal agency manager, and Edward J. Burns, Sr., a public relations spokesperson and police officer.¹ He is the second of three children (with siblings Mary and Brian) in an Irish American family. He was raised in Valley Stream, New York, on Long Island.² He briefly attended Chaminade High School before transferring to Hewlett High School. After high school, Burns attended SUNY Oneonta, and SUNY Albany, before receiving a degree in English from Hunter College in 1992.

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, Confidence and Life or Something Like It. 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 $200,000³⁴ 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 mid-way through season 3. Burns plays himself and is writing a new TV series which Johnny Drama is able to land a part in. In 2007, Burns announced plans to partner with Virgin Comics to create a series entitled Dock Walloper.⁵ Burns plans to use the comic series as a springboard to a film of the same story.

Personal life

His younger brother Brian Burns is a TV producer and he and Edward own their own production company called 'Irish Twins'. Burns has dated actress Maxine Bahns and Heather Graham (1998-2000). Burns has been married to supermodel Christy Turlington since June 7, 2003; their daughter Grace was born on October 25, 2003 and their son Finn on February 11, 2006.

Filmography

Writer/Director

• The Brothers McMullen (1995)
• She's the One (1996)
• No Looking Back (1998)
• Sidewalks of New York (2001)
• Ash Wednesday (2002)
• Looking for Kitty (2004)
• The Groomsmen (2006)
• Purple Violets (2007)

Actor

• The Brothers McMullen (1995)
• She's the One (1996)
• No Looking Back (1998)
• Saving Private Ryan (1998)
• 15 Minutes (2001)
• Sidewalks of New York (2001)
• Life or Something Like It (2002)
• Ash Wednesday (2002)
• Confidence (2003)
• Looking for Kitty (2004)
• A Sound of Thunder (2005)
• The River King (2005)
• The Groomsmen (2006)
• The Holiday (2006)
• Purple Violets (2007)
• One Missed Call (2008)
• 27 Dresses (2008)
• The Gift (2008)

References

External links

• Edward Burns at the Internet Movie Database
• Edward Burns at Allmovie
• Edward Burns Official Website