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Chris Burke

Born Christopher Joseph Burke
August 26, 1965 (1965-08-26) (age 42)
Point Lookout, New York, U.S.
Years active 1989—present
Official website

Christopher Joseph Burke (born August 26, 1965, in Point Lookout, New York) is an American actor, best known for his character Charles "Corky" Thatcher on the television series Life Goes On. Events 1071 - Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Point Lookout is a hamlet (and Census-designated place) located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County New York. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Events 1071 - Battle of Manzikert: The Seljuk Turks defeat the Byzantine Army at Manzikert. Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Point Lookout is a hamlet (and Census-designated place) located in the Town of Hempstead in Nassau County New York. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the An actor, actress, player or thespian (see terminology) is a person who Acts in a Dramatic production and who works Life Goes On is a television series that aired on ABC from September 12 1989 to May 23 1993

Contents

Early years

He is the youngest of four children of Marian Burke, a retired trade-show manager, and Frank Burke, a retired NYPD inspector. This is about the police rank/position For the use in graphical user interfaces see Inspector window. Burke has Down Syndrome, and his parents were told to institutionalize him when he was born, but they decided to raise him at home and nurture his talents. Down syndrome, Down's syndrome, or trisomy 21 is a Chromosomal disorder caused by the presence of all or part of an extra 21st chromosome. He was encouraged to follow his career objectives no matter how untraditional they seemed for a young man with Down Syndrome. His siblings also worked with him. Many were surprised at how healthy and bright Burke was when he entered formal schooling.

In the early 1980's public schools were not mainstreaming students with disabilities into the general population and there were no good private education programs for disabled students in the area, so Burke was eventually sent to board at the Don Guanella School in Springfield, Pennsylvania and he graduated in 1985. The 1980s was the decade spanning from January 1 1980 to December 31 1989. Mainstreaming in the context of education is a term that refers to the practice of educating students with special needs in regular classes during specific time periods based on their Springfield Township is the name of some places in the US state of Pennsylvania: Springfield Township Bradford County Pennsylvania Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) After graduation he worked as an elevator operator and did volunteer work.

Performing

Burke first set his sights on becoming a tap dancer. Tap dance was developed in the United States during the nineteenth century and is popular nowadays in many parts of the world He later switched to acting while at the Don Guanella School. He was further inspired by attending night classes, going through auditions, writing scripts, and reading books.

Burke got his first acting job in the ABC movie "Desperate". The American Broadcasting Company ( ABC) is an American Television network. Network executives at ABC were impressed by his performance and created Life Goes On with Burke's character as the main role. Life Goes On is a television series that aired on ABC from September 12 1989 to May 23 1993 Life Goes On propelled Burke into fame and wide recognition. Burke made several guest appearances in Touched by an Angel as Taylor, an angel who has Down syndrome. Touched by an Angel is an American Drama Television series that chronicles the missions of a group of Angels sent by God In one, the angel appears to tell an invalid woman that God orders him to appear to those who are invalids, handicapped or have Down Syndrome to realize that there is hope for them and God knows their afflictions.

Down syndrome work

Speaking

Burke delivers inspirational speeches to university students. He is the goodwill ambassador for the National Down Syndrome Society and serves as the editor-in-chief of its quarterly magazine, Straight Talk. He is also a spokesperson for National Down Syndrome Congress.

Writing

In 1992, Burke wrote an autobiography, the New York Times Best-Seller, A Special Kind of Hero. The New York Times Best Seller List is widely considered to be the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. He contributed a chapter titled, "Believe in Yourself" in the 1999 book, Down Syndrome: A Promising Future, Together, edited by T. J. Hassold & D. Patterson and published by Wiley-Liss.

Other

External links

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