Edward Burns
Edward Fitzgerald Burns (born January 29, 1968) is an American actor and filmmaker. He rose to fame with The Brothers McMullen (1995), his low-budget independent film that became successful worldwide. His other film appearances include Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Holiday (2006), 27 Dresses (2008), Man on a Ledge (2012), Friends with Kids (2012), and Alex Cross (2012).
Also recorded as Edward Fitzgerald Burns · Ed Burns
Edward Burns

Kevin Payravi · Kevin Payravi / WikiPortraits · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Born
- 1968. · Woodside.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- actor, screenwriter, film producer, film director, television director, television producer and writer.
- Education
- State University of New York at Oneonta, State University of New York at Albany, Hunter College and State University of New York.
- Honours
- Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Award.
- Languages
- English.
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Edward Fitzgerald Burns (born January 29, 1968) is an American actor and filmmaker. He rose to fame with The Brothers McMullen (1995), his low-budget independent film that became successful worldwide. His other film appearances include Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Holiday (2006), 27 Dresses (2008), Man on a Ledge (2012), Friends with Kids (2012), and Alex Cross (2012).
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wikidata · Q314485 · wikipedia · Edward Burns
In this article
Early life
Early life
Burns directed films such as She's the One (1996), Sidewalks of New York (2001), and The Fitzgerald Family Christmas (2012). On television, he appeared as Bugsy Siegel in the TNT crime drama series Mob City and as Terry Muldoon in TNT's Public Morals.
Edward Burns studied at State University of New York at Oneonta, State University of New York at Albany and Hunter College. The recorded working language is English. Residence is recorded at Long Island and Valley Stream. Distinctions recorded are Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and Sundance Film Festival U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize Award.
Burns was born in Woodside, Queens, New York, the son of Edward J. Burns, a police officer and public relations spokesman, and Molly (née McKenna), a federal agency manager. He was raised a Roman Catholic. Burns is the second of three children (with siblings Mary and Brian) and is of Irish and Swedish descent. He was raised in Valley Stream, New York, on Long Island.
Career
Career
Burns got his start in the movie industry right after college as a production assistant on the Oliver Stone movie The Doors. While working at Entertainment Tonight, in his spare time he financed, produced, directed, and was featured in his first movie The Brothers McMullen, which was filmed mostly in his hometown of Valley Stream. Once he completed the movie, 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. Redford watched the film and helped it get accepted into the Sundance Film Festival, launching Burns' career. In 1996, Burns wrote, directed, and was featured in the ensemble drama She's The One with Jennifer Aniston, Cameron Diaz and Amanda Peet, as well as in Sidewalks of New York in 2001. As an actor, Burns appeared in the movies Saving Private Ryan (1998), Life or Something Like It (2002), and Confidence (2003). 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 movie's entire budget was $200,000 and was filmed in New York City with a tiny crew and without standard permits. Burns discussed this unusual movie-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". His movie Purple Violets premiered exclusively on iTunes on November 20, 2007. Burns began a series of guest appearances on the HBO original series Entourage midway through season 3, as well as appearing as Grace Adler's boyfriend in Will & Grace. In Entourage, Burns plays himself and is (within the context of the series) writing a new television show in which Johnny Drama is able to acquire a part. In 2007, Burns announced plans to partner with Virgin Comics to create a series entitled Dock Walloper. Burns planned to use the comic series as a springboard to a movie of the same story. In March 2009, a series of short movies called The Lynch Pin written and directed by Burns (who was also in the cast) were released via the internet. With the modest success of Purple Violets, Burns considered taking a studio directing assignment to make money. After reading scripts and attending meetings, he chose to remain an independent writer/director. Burns next wrote Nice Guy Johnny and filmed it quickly with the RED One camera for a reported $25,000 with a small crew. Nice Guy Johnny premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2010. To coincide with the 10th anniversary of the Tribeca Film Festival in 2011, Burns wrote Newlyweds, which he also directed and starred in. Conforming to a model similar to Nice Guy Johnny, Newlyweds was filmed in 12 days for $9,000 with a Canon 5D camera and an even smaller crew. The movie premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2011 as the closing night film. Burns claimed on Twitter that the $9,000 budget was "5k for actors, 2k insurance, 2k food and drink. 9k in the can." In 2013, Burns featured as real-life gangster Bugsy Siegel in Frank Darabont's miniseries Mob City. In 2012, Burns set up a screenwriting contest with the web startup Scripped for a crowdsourced screenplay which he intended to help get produced. In 2024, Burns began production in the Republic of Ireland on his golf-based film Finnegan's Foursome.
Personal life
Personal life
Burns is married to model Christy Turlington and they have two children, a daughter born in 2003 and a son born in 2006. He and Turlington are Catholic. He is an advisor to ICX Media, an ad-tech audience analytics data company.
Television
Television
Acting roles

Edward Burns and Christy Turlington Shankbone at 2010 Tribeca Film Festival
Ed_Burns_and_Christy_Turlington_Shankbone_by_David_Shankbone.jpg: David Shankbone derivative work: RanZag (talk) · Ed_Burns_and_Christy_Turlington_Shankbone_by_David_Shankbone.jpg

Ellen H. Schwartz, Edward Burns, and Aaron Lubin at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) for the movie Millers In Marriage.
Kevin Payravi · Kevin Payravi / WikiPortraits
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Long Island and Valley Stream.
Residences
Woodside.
Birth place
Film
Acting roles
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Film Reference. Edward Burns Biography (1968–).
- 2.Edward Burns. New York University. October 30, 2007.
- 3.Mills, Nancy. Ed Burns' 'New York,' before & after film's mood fits despite the Sept. 11 divide. Daily News. November 12, 2001.
- 4.Cohn, Beverly. An Exclusive Interview With Edward Burns - Up Close & Personal. Splash Magazines - Los Angeles. 2012.
- 5.Weinraub, Bernard. A Sort of Cinderella Prevails at Sundance. The New York Times. January 30, 1995.
- 6.Seemayer, Zach. Ed Burns Reflects On How He Broke Into Hollywood While Working at ET. Entertainment Tonight. 21 January 2021.
- 7.Calamari, Alexandra. Looking For Kitty DVD Review. CinemaBlend.
- 8.MacDonald, Daniel. Review - Looking For Kitty. DVDVerdict. December 12, 2006.
- 9.Franklin, Garth. Ed Burns Is Into Dock-ing. Dark Horizons. July 27, 2007.
- 10.Goldenharp.net. The Lynch Pin.
- 11.Itzkoff, Dave. Nice Guy Eddie: 15 Years of Film Festivals With Edward Burns. The New York Times. April 23, 2010.
- 12.2010 Tribeca Film Festival. Nice Guy Johnny.
- 13.Macaulay, Scott. Breaking Down Ed Burns' $9,000 Shooting Budget. Filmmaker. March 18, 2011.
- 14.2011 Tribeca Film Festival. Newlyweds.
- 15.Burns, Edward. Newlyweds shooting budget. 5k for actors, 2k insurance, 2k food and drink. 9k in the can. That's how to make an #indiefilm. Twitter. March 17, 2011.
- 16.Scripped. Edward Burns Contest.
- 17.Ryan, Emma. Mayo golf club becomes Hollywood movie set as shooting of film starring 'Saving Private Ryan' actor begins. Independent.ie. 2 August 2024.
- 18.Board and Advisors. ICX Media.
References
Citations
References
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reference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q314485: Edward BurnsWikimedia Foundation
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The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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