CHARACTERS/ACTORS
GUIDE 
CHARACTERS/ACTORS
GUIDE
Richard Burgi
Born on July 30, 1958 in Montclair, New Jersey, Burgi is married to Lori Kahn with whom he has two sons, Jack and Samuel. Admitting that his wife and kids have changed his life around and that he can't imagine anything that surpasses this, Richard tells about the way that he met his wife, "Lori moved in across the street from me. I think I offered to have my dog protect her -- if she needed company or something. We just started talking, she invited me over for a bite to eat one night and I pretty much knew that was it. I was hooked. Wife, child -- it was all in the picture."
Burgi has appeared in over 20 television movies and shows, including the daytime shows one life to live, another world and days of our lives and guest appearances on prime time shows like Providence, Veronica's Closet, Touched By An Angel and Seinfeld. It was his recurring role as villainous Laine Cassidy on Viper that introduced him to The Sentinel creators Danny Bilson and Paul DeMeo. Claiming that he was then in a darker existence of his life, Richard believes that that was what the team first saw in him. He now sees his new roll as a "a champion of the light, of the good" and he is complete with it since that is where he sees himself today, in some way.
Now he plays the roll of Detective Jim Ellison, a roll that he's familiar with since he also played a detective on his former show "One West Waikiki" and, as we find out, a long time ago when he was a child, "My younger brother and I had a little detective agency when we were kids, we had this lab in the basement and we fashioned ourselves as junior sleuths."
Just like Garett Maggart, his costar in the sentinel, Burgi also felt something special happening when he first read with Maggart for the roll of Jim Ellison, "Garett and I just kind of clicked right away. Whatever we had --- chemistry, I guess --- it seems to work." And it's not just Garett that Richard is so close too, "It's like a family up here. I love these people. You know, we're in these occasionally implausible situations, but there's such a strong bond among the cast that we can make it work."
Richard really loves his character - "In some ways he's a throwback to kind of the hard-bitten, quasi-strong, silent type. He's not very effusive, he doesn't embroider a lot of things, he's kind of acerbic, a bit cynical, I guess he's a bit of an underdog in a lot of ways; I guess in some ways that's how I feel. There's not a lot of bullshit about the guy. He's a straight shooter, I guess he's just kind of a throwback to a simpler, more streamlined type of man. There's a part of him that's very secretive; people don't really see what his inner life is like, and they don't need to, because he exudes a triumphant quality. Maybe that's what appealed to me as well - this character who on the surface can be very cynical or doubtful, but wants to see things in a concretized, heroic American way, and fight for the weak and oppressed."
Richard admits that the relationship between Ellison and Sandburg was one of the things that attracted him to the role in the pilot when he auditioned - "The relationship with Blair attracted me, and some of the mystical qualities of the whole thing attracted me. The subtext, the nascent quality of a sentinel and the relationship between these characters, there's an undercurrent that people might be getting. I think it bleeds through sort of like subliminal advertising, there's stuff that Bruce and Garett and I have in our lives that bleed in. I think we all have woven it into a fabric that has a deeper textual quality, so maybe that's what is actually being perceived. The dichotomy is that they're from completely divergent backgrounds and outlooks on life. They disagree, and then they choose to grow within themselves, looking at the other as a reflection, trying to find a sense of growth and understanding through forgiveness and compassion."
The strong bond that Richard feels with the rest of the sentinel's crew, and his character, is probably the reason why he took the show's cancellation, after it's cliffhanger ending in the third season, so hard - "I was hurt, I was depressed, I was pissed off, We were all under the impression that we would be starting up in July, that's how we left the show. It's a sad acknowledgement of the industry in some ways, the lack of dignity. Even when I'm off, I still hold the inertia of going back to work in my being, so I really needed to let all of it go, which I did - when I heard, I told my wife, look, I need to go and clear out my head. I had a very emotional reckoning with it. What would I like to have happen is that it either goes on or dies a dignified death: press on with valor, or die with dignity." Which is what happened after the show was renewed for a fourth season, which included 8 episodes that were a closer to the show (in case of cancellation again) and also a new beginning (in case of a pick up). That renewal was thanks to the support of the fans that immediately after the cancellation of the show started a campaign to save it by getting it picked up again by the UPN network. This fan response to his show has been gratifying for Burgi: - "I think that part of my philosophical, existential approach to life is that I'm really here to serve, and my purpose on this planet is to hopefully make somebody's life a bit more enjoyable, so it's terrific that what I'm doing is appreciated."
And what about the reason that the sentinel and other shows (like One West Waikiki) are so loved?
"I think to watch people struggle through their dark elements is appealing. Going through it and out and up into a joyful, winning, positive, light area is appealing...and the possibility of sliding back."
Resources -
Richard Burgi - biography and filmography - from the official RB fan club
Former Daytime Star Richard Burgi Owes His Second Chance On Prime-Time to Fan Letters and Calls