Jere Burns Biography

Jerald Eugene "Jere" Burns II (born October 15, 1954) is an American actor who has appeared in theatre productions and on television. He is perhaps best known for his role as ladies' man Kirk Morris on the television series Dear John, the role of DIA psychiatrist Anson Fullerton on the television series Burn Notice, and as Dixie Mafia middle-man Wynn Duffy on Justified.

Early life

Burns was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the son of a homemaker and a gown and cap manufacturer. Burns was drawn to acting late in college. After graduating from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 1980, he moved to Manhattan and was cast in the title role in Don Juan at the New York Shakespeare Festival.

Career

Burns has appeared on Broadway; his Broadway theatre credits include Hairspray and After the Night and the Music.

Burns made his television debut in a small role on ABC's Mom's On Strike in 1984. He had a recurring role as rapist James Fitzsimmons on Hill Street Blues and body collector Breugel on Max Headroom. In 1988 he landed the role of sleazy Kirk Morris on Dear John. In 1989 he appeared in the William Lustig film Hit List as Jared Riley. He appeared as the villainous Cade Dalton on the NBC miniseries The Gambler Returns: The Luck of the Draw (1991), hateful Vice-President of Sales Pete Schmidt on Bob (1993), a member of the feuding family in Greedy (1994), Jack Farrell in Something So Right (1996), and Ben Stuart in Life-Size. He portrayed the title character's brother in "The Trouble with Harry", an episode of the series Twice in a Lifetime directed by David Winning (2000); Frank Alfonse on Good Morning, Miami (2002); Keith on The King of Queens (2006); Michael on Help Me Help You (2006); and Dr. Jim on Surviving Suburbia (2007) Soldier on plane, uncredited, Transformers; (2009). He starred as an FBI agent in the movie Otis (2008). Other screen credits include Crocodile Dundee in Los Angeles (2001).

In 2010, he appeared in AMC's series Breaking Bad as the group leader for a Narcotics Anonymous meeting as a part of a Twelve-Step Program, which main character Jesse Pinkman attended. He also had a recurring role on FX's Justified as Wynn Duffy, a sadistic lieutenant in the Dixie Mafia, and appeared as villain Anson Fullerton in Seasons 5 and 6 (2011-2012) of Burn Notice on USA Network.

Burns had a recurring role as Jake Abernathy on the A&E series Bates Motel in 2013. In 2016, Burns appeared as Lieutenant Atkins in the TBS series Angie Tribeca.