Gene Barry

Question: I remember the show Burke's Law from the '90s or so, but wasn't there an earlier version of it on TV some years before? Thanks.

Answer: That there was, Drew. The original Burke's Law, which starred Gene Barry as L.A. chief of detectives Amos Burke when it launched — he became secret agent Amos Burke in the show's last season, when it was titled Amos Burke — Secret Agent — ran on ABC for two and a half years beginning in September 1963.

If Barry'd stuck to the way he'd been thinking about TV a couple of years earlier, however, he'd never have stepped into the role, which was first played by Dick Powell a couple of seasons before on Dick Powell Theatre. Barry didn't really like TV, and after leaving his previous show, Bat Masterson, read more