Ed note: For those who knew him,
Leo was a quite a guy. To me, he was a good friend and neighbor and an
asset to our community. An actor, a poet, a song writer, and an artist,
he was one of the earliest supporters of Arts on the Lake and last
performed in Kent as Scrooge in a dramatic reading of "A Christmas Carol"
this past December. My deepest sympathies go out to Lora Lee, Colette
and Daniel. This obituary is from the Louisville (Ky) Courier-Journal.
It was in Louisville that Leo got his start. JmG
Leo as Scrooge in
Arts on the Lake's
reading of "A Christmas Carol"
Photo by Cris
Casaburi
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Actor Leo Burmester, 62, dies
Louisville native could 'fill a stage'
By Paula Burba
pbu...@courier-journal.com
The Courier-Journal
Actor Leo Burmester, whose natural
stage presence and vivacity led him
from Louisville to success on Broadway and in Hollywood, has died. He
was 62.
Burmester died Thursday evening at
Columbia
Presbyterian Hospital in New York, according to Actors Theatre of
Louisville, where Burmester had starred in several world-premiere
plays.
"The world seems a lot
more passive now that I know he's not in it," retired Actors Theatre
director Jon Jory said yesterday. "His size and spirit could really
fill a stage."
Though he rarely received top
billing, Burmester worked with many of the most revered names in
Hollywood.
"I'm a big, Germanic-Irish-looking
guy, and
they don't cast people like that in the Tom Cruise roles," Burmester
told The Courier-Journal in 1993, explaining his frequent casting as "a
cop or a tough guy."
In his 1980 film debut, he worked
with Al
Pacino in William Friedkin's "Cruising." He starred as Catfish in James
Cameron's 1989 underwater epic "The Abyss" with Ed Harris, and played
the loyal deputy Red in 1993's "A Perfect World," directed by and
starring Clint Eastwood.
Among his many other film credits
were
appearances in Martin Scorsese's "The Last Temptation of Christ," James
L. Brooks' "Broadcast News" and Alan Alda's "Sweet Liberty."
Onstage one of his most acclaimed
roles was
in the one-man, off-Broadway play "Rattlesnake in a Cooler," written by
Frank South. It was film director Robert Altman's first attempt at
directing theater in 1980.
"Bob gave me more confidence in
myself as
an actor than anyone. He made me feel smart about myself," Burmester
said of Altman in 1981.
"But I cannot ever, ever, ever deny
Jon
Jory, the man who helped me most, who gave me the chance to work with
Susan Kingsley," Burmester said, referring to what he considered his
biggest break in acting -- a role in the 1977 world premiere in
Louisville of Marsha Norman's "Getting Out." He played a pimp named
Carl.
He also appeared in the subsequent
New York production.
"He was a joyous, rowdy guy who grew
into a
compassionate, loving man whose skills as an actor just grew deeper all
the time," Norman wrote in an e-mail yesterday.
"I remember at the opening night
party for
'Getting Out,' he picked up Joe Morton and carried him around the bar
upside down, laughing the whole time like it was nothing. "
Burmester's last performance at
Actors
Theatre was in another Norman play, "Trudy Blue," in 1995. In the same
season, he also starred in Jane Martin's "Middle-Aged White Guys."
Burmester debuted on Broadway in
James McClure's "Lone Star," which also premiered in Louisville and
later opened in New York.
But the most recognized role
Burmester
originated was that of Thenardier in the 1987 original Broadway
production of "Les Miserables" -- one of the longest-running
productions in Broadway history. Its celebrated director, Trevor Nunn,
reportedly found Burmester's Kentucky roots fascinating.
"Now, where is it you're from?" Nunn
reportedly once asked Burmester, who was introducing a reporter from
Louisville in New York.
"You know I'm from Kentucky,"
Burmester responded, grinning.
"Yes," Nunn said, "but I just wanted
to hear you say it again, with that note of pride in your voice."
Burmester's most recent appearance
was in the off-Broadway revival of "The Fantasticks."
Born in Louisville, Burmester grew
up in the
Germantown neighborhood. His mother died when he was 10, and his father
when he was 16. He was raised by his aunt, Helen Mueller.
After graduating from St. Xavier
High
School, he earned a bachelor's degree at Western Kentucky University.
He earned a master's degree in fine arts from the University of Denver.
While he studied, Burmester also acted in regional and community
theater.
He once tried teaching at Kentucky
Wesleyan, but said the academic setting made him feel "like a fish out
of water. … I hated committees. They never seemed to come to any
conclusions. And one day I just stopped going to faculty meetings."
At one point, he sold all of his
possessions, purchased a motorcycle and surrendered to wanderlust.
"Leo sort of rode up on a motorcycle
one day and our relationship sort of started from there," Jory
recalled.
"He had this wonderful energy, an
intuitive
sense of acting," Jory said, noting that he thought Burmester had never
taken an acting lesson.
For the past 25 years, Burmester had
lived in upstate New York, his son, Daniel Burmester, said yesterday.
In addition to his son, Burmester is
survived by his wife, Lora Lee Ecobelli, and daughter, Collete "Cammie"
Burmester.
Family members are still making
arrangements, but Daniel Burmester said they will honor one thing his
father wanted "his whole life." Some of his ashes will be pressed into
clay pigeons and taken to an Eastern Kentucky farm, where friends will
shoot skeet with them.
The younger Burmester said a portion
of his
father's ashes also will be sprinkled in Louisville, which "held a very
dear place in his heart."
Reporter Paula Burba can be reached
at (502) 582-4800.
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