BILLY BURKE
Date of Birth: November 25, 1966
Billy Burke was born and raised in Bellingham, Washington and developed a love of performing at an early age. He began singing at age nine and joined a band at age fifteen. He continued playing with bands for years and enrolled in the drama program at the Western Washington University. He performed in Seattle at the Annex Theater, the AHA! Theatre, and in New City Festival.
Burke appeared briefly in popular television series such as Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Party of Five and Gilmore Girls, and in the films Without Limits (1998) and Along Came A Spider (2001) before landing the role of Gary Matheson in 24. This role gained him recognition, and he went on to land the role of a firefighter in Ladder 49 (2004), a detective in the drama Fracture (2007) starring Anthony Hopkins, and the role of Bella's father in Twilight (2008). He has since appeared in the sequels: The Twilight Saga: New Moon (2009), The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (2010), The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1 and The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2.
Burke has a daughter who was born during the filming of Twilight and he says he hopes he will be closer with her than his Twilight character, Charlie, is with his daughter Bella.