LEITH BURKE

Leith Burke was born to Jamaican immigrant parents in New York City. His mother, Marcia, managed reservations for the late, great Eastern Air Lines which gave him a lifelong love of travel. His father, Leith Sr., was an accountant for United Artists in Manhattan. The perks of that job; Broadway shows, premieres, and paraphernalia, gave Leith a love and wonder for the world of entertainment. 

After graduating from St. Joseph’s HS in Metuchen N.J., (doing a few plays, spending a year as an exchange student in Linköping, Sweden) he went to Kent State University in Ohio to study Aerospace Flight. A few Ohio winters convinced him to transfer to sunny California where he reignited his love of theater and never looked back. Completing his Advertising studies at San Jose State University, all the while doing theater on campus and in the community, he then moved to San Francisco where he graduated with an M.F.A. from the American Conservatory Theater and worked professionally in the Bay Area for almost a decade, including a stint as a waiter at legendary chef Jeremiah Tower’s Stars Cafe. 

From the Bay to LA…LA to New York…Broadway, Off Broadway,Regional Theater: The Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Guthrie, ACT, San Jose Rep……Study with “character” acting legend Tom Noonan…Back to LA where he currently resides with his family, working steadily in all mediums. Leith is an adjunct professor of Acting at Los Angeles Community College. His brother Azeem is an author, playwright and recording artist; sister Kelly a Minneapolis based painter.