Richard Burgi

From soap operas to prime time

Richard Burgi has the jaw Hollywood saves for the guys who either save your life or wreck your divorce. He was born in New Jersey in 1958, and his entry into the industry was anything but glamorous. He spent years jumping from set to set in productions like Another World or Days of Our Lives.

Those were the eighties, and the actor learned his craft through frantic shoots and disposable scripts. But that training in daytime television gave him a resilience many method actors would envy. Back then the pay was steady (rare in this business), but recognition was nonexistent.

And then his real chance came.

In 1996, he landed the role of Jim Ellison in The Sentinel. The premise was unusual: he played an agent with hyperdeveloped senses who solved crimes in a fictional Washington city. The series ran for 65 episodes and gave him a name in the international market.

The public bought it right away.

Burgi has always known that his physique was his best work tool. After the end of that chapter in 1999, the actor didn't sit still and looked for roles that exploited his ability to look like a decent guy hiding something shady. That's how he landed projects like The District or the first season of 24.

The ex-husband everyone loved to hate

His arrival on Wisteria Lane in 2004 drastically changed his career. In Desperate Housewives, he played Karl Mayer, Susan Delfino's unfaithful and manipulative ex-husband. What was supposed to be a supporting role ended up stretching across six seasons thanks to his chemistry with the female cast.

That mix of cynicism and charm opened the doors of major studios for him. But Burgi was never a conventional movie star. He preferred to be the luxury supporting actor who appears in Body of Proof or General Hospital rather than take risks on independent projects of questionable funding.

His work pace was exhausting.

In 2011, he appeared in Hostel: Part III (a production that went straight to home video) and showed he didn't mind getting blood on his hands as long as the contract was good. He has never hesitated to admit that this is a business and that bills aren't paid with artistic prestige.

But the business doesn't forgive calculation errors.

A sudden firing after five days

In 2021, he joined The Young and the Restless to play tycoon Ashland Locke. It was a return to his soap opera roots, but now as a respected veteran. The audience accepted his portrayal of a hard man facing a terminal illness.

In January 2022, things took a definitive turn. The actor tested positive for a respiratory virus and decided to return to the set after completing five days of isolation. The protocol of the production company Sony Pictures Television required ten days of mandatory quarantine before he could resume work.

The company did not accept his public explanations on social media.

In January 2022, the production abruptly dropped his services and announced Robert Newman as his replacement. Burgi's contract was terminated, and his character was reassigned to another actor in less than a week. The official number of episodes the actor filmed during that period stands at 108 episodes.