Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily Entertainment GuideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsCannes Film FestivalStar WarsAsian Pacific American Heritage MonthSummer Watch GuideSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Biography
IMDbPro

William H. Burns

  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
"Lenny Briscoe was my HERO!"
Born and raised in the "1970's predominantly Italian" Morris Park section of the North East Bronx in New York City, Bill graduated from Public School 108 (Kindergarten), St. Francis Xavier (1-8) and St. Raymond's High School For Boys (Christian Brothers) and attended some college (Fordham /John Jay). After working as a Wild Animal Keeper at the Catskill Game Farm (now closed due to very poor management on the part of the Founder's daughter) and OfficeManager for the late then Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn (when Baseball was still America's Past Time"), Billy followed in his Father's and Grandfather's footsteps and was sworn in as a New York City Housing Authority Police Officer in July of 1983 and spent three years on uniformed patrol in the housing projects of the South Bronx, Harlem and the Lower East Side. In 1986, with the emergence of the "crack" epidemic, he was assigned as an undercover narcotics officer on a re-assignment to the NYPD. On October 18, 1988 his teammate P.O.Christopher Hoban was murdered in the line of duty in a drug bust gone bad on West 105th Street and Manhattan Avenue and three hours later NYPD Police Officer, Michael Buczyek of the 34th Pct suffered the same fate on Broadway and West 144th Street in Washington Heights. In 1990 Billy was re-assigned back to the Housing Police Department where he was promoted to Detective and continued working several different assignments throughout the city. In 1995, a merge between the Housing and Transit Authority Police Departments and the NYPD sent Billy to the 28th Precinct Detective Squad in Harlem. Seven years and numerous assignments later including the Homicide Squad and the Special Victims Unit, Bill was transferred, at his request, to the Central Park Precinct Detective Squad in Central Park in Manhattan where he would have more "down time" to focus on his impending retirement and the pursuit of his second career as an actor. On October 31, 2003, Halloween Day, Billy officially retired from the NYPD, after almost 21 years. In addition to enjoying a so far successful full to part-time acting career, Bill also own and operates Coast To Coast Protections Services LLC a Private Investigation, Personal Protection and Armed Personal Driver Services business based in Palm Beach, Florida. During the summer of 2007, Bill also volunteered full-time as an Animal Keeper in the Mammal Department at The Bronx Zoo. From 2015 to 2018, Billy was the Bell Captain at the Mohonk Mountain House in Upstate New Paltz, NY prior to relocating to South Florida. He splits his time between New York, Palm Beach, Florida and Los Angeles, California.
BornNovember 25, 1960
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornNovember 25, 1960
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Photos11

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 3
    View Poster

    Known for

    Tony Goldwyn, Maura Tierney, Hugh Dancy, Reid Scott, Mehcad Brooks, and Odelya Halevi in Law & Order (1990)
    Law & Order
    7.8
    TV Series
    • Beat Cop
    • Court Officer #1
    • Diner Uniform Cop
    • Nassau County Policeman
    • Sergeant
    • Sergeant #2
    • Sergeant O'Hara
    • Uniform Officer
    • Uniformed Cop
    Mariska Hargitay in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)
    Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
    8.1
    TV Series
    • Officer Robbins
    • ESU #1
    • Lynch
    • Narcotics Officer
    • P.O. Sanchez
    • Uni #3
    • Uniform Cop
    Matt Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
    The Bourne Ultimatum
    8.0
    • NYPD Officer
    • 2007
    Café Society (2016)
    Café Society
    6.6
    • Policeman
    • 2016

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actor



    • Café Society (2016)
      Café Society
      6.6
      • Policeman
      • 2016
    • Mariska Hargitay in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999)
      Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
      8.1
      TV Series
      • Officer Robbins
      • P.O. Sanchez
      • ESU #1 ...
      • 2000–2011
    • Pierce Brosnan, Lena Olin, Chris Cooper, Emilie de Ravin, and Robert Pattinson in Remember Me (2010)
      Remember Me
      7.1
      • Bailiff (as Bill Burns)
      • 2010
    • Matt Damon in The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)
      The Bourne Ultimatum
      8.0
      • NYPD Officer
      • 2007
    • Timothy Hutton, Dana Delany, Delroy Lindo, Jeremy Sisto, Mykelti Williamson, and Will Denton in Kidnapped (2006)
      Kidnapped
      7.6
      TV Series
      • Beat Cop
      • 2006
    • Vincent D'Onofrio, Kathryn Erbe, Eric Bogosian, Julianne Nicholson, and Chris Noth in Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001)
      Law & Order: Criminal Intent
      7.6
      TV Series
      • Officer Pritchett
      • Spence
      • Police Officer
      • 2001–2006
    • Eric Balfour, Jordan Bridges, Stephanie March, Anson Mount, J. August Richards, and Milena Govich in Conviction (2006)
      Conviction
      6.9
      TV Series
      • Uniform Cop
      • 2006
    • Tony Goldwyn, Maura Tierney, Hugh Dancy, Reid Scott, Mehcad Brooks, and Odelya Halevi in Law & Order (1990)
      Law & Order
      7.8
      TV Series
      • Diner Uniform Cop
      • Sergeant O'Hara
      • Uniformed Cop ...
      • 2000–2006
    • Denis Leary in Rescue Me (2004)
      Rescue Me
      8.3
      TV Series
      • Policeman
      • 2004
    • 15 Minutes (2001)
      15 Minutes
      6.1
      • Uniformed Cop (uncredited)
      • 2001
    • Samuel L. Jackson in Shaft (2000)
      Shaft
      6.0
      • Arresting Officer (uncredited)
      • 2000
    • Summer of Sam (1999)
      Summer of Sam
      6.7
      • Officer
      • 1999
    • Fever (1999)
      Fever
      5.5
      • Detective Burns (as William Henry Burns)
      • 1999

    • In-development projects at IMDbPro

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Official site
      • Official Site
    • Alternative names
      • Billy Burns
    • Height
      • 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
    • Born
      • November 25, 1960
      • New York City, New York, USA

    Self-verified on IMDbPro

    • Gender / Gender identity
      • Male

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Nicknames
      • Billy Burns
      • Detective Hollywood

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb app
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb app
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb app
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.