John Lithgow Blow Out

John Lithgow (born October 19, 1945, Rochester, New York) played Burke, the assassin, in Blow Out (1981).

Burke is one of the great screen villains of the 1980s

Lithgow plays Burke not as a maniac but as a professional. He kills efficiently and without pleasure. When he begins murdering young women across Philadelphia to create a serial-killer pattern that will camouflage Sally's death, he approaches it the way a logistics manager approaches inventory — methodical and affectless.

This performance was a departure for Lithgow, who was primarily known as a stage actor and would become famous for warmth and comedy (3rd Rock from the Sun, 1996–2001). Burke demonstrated a capacity for cold menace that audiences hadn't expected.

Blow Out launched Lithgow toward two consecutive Oscar nominations

Lithgow was building a film career alongside his stage work. He had appeared in Obsession (1976) — another De Palma film — and All That Jazz (1979). After Blow Out, his film career accelerated rapidly:

Year	Film	Notes
1976	Obsession	First De Palma collaboration
1979	All That Jazz	Bob Fosse
1981	Blow Out	Burke
1982	The World According to Garp	Oscar nomination, Supporting Actor
1983	Terms of Endearment	Oscar nomination, Supporting Actor
1983	Twilight Zone: The Movie	Segment 4
1984	Footloose	Reverend Shaw Moore
1996–2001	3rd Rock from the Sun	Emmy-winning comedy
2018–19	Dexter / The Crown	Late-career dramatic renaissance

Two consecutive Oscar nominations (1982–83) established Lithgow as a major character actor, but Burke in Blow Out remains one of his most chilling performances.