nndb.com

William Berke

	This is a beta version of NNDB

William Berke

AKA William A. Berke

Born: 3-Oct-1903
Birthplace: Milwaukee, WI
Died: 15-Feb-1958
Location of death: Los Angeles, CA
Cause of death: Heart Attack

Gender: Male
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Film Director

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Dick Tracy

Produced a western, Rovin' Tumbleweeds (1939), which unknown to the studio, contained no gunfighting. Nobody at the studio noticed his "oversight", but children watching in theaters did.[1]

[1] Frederick C. Othman, "Horse Opera Appears With No Shootin': New Gene Autry Epic Amazes Masterminds", United Press Hollywood, published in the St. Petersburg Times, 1 January 1940: "Berke confessed. He said he'd made 47 westerns in his career and smeared them all with gore. He said he'd killed so many villains, murdered so many Comanches, and shot off so much gunpowder that he felt like a one-man World war."

Son: Lester William Burke

FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR
The Lost Missile (Dec-1958)
The Mugger (Nov-1958)
Cop Hater (1-Oct-1958)
Four Boys and a Gun (Jan-1957)
Valley of the Headhunters (29-Jul-1953)
The Marshal's Daughter (26-Jun-1953)
The Jungle (1-Aug-1952)
FBI Girl (4-Nov-1951)
Pier 23 (11-May-1951)
Roaring City (4-May-1951)
Danger Zone (20-Apr-1951)
Fury of the Congo (26-Feb-1951)
Bandit Queen (9-Dec-1950)
Pygmy Island (22-Nov-1950)
Train to Tombstone (16-Sep-1950)
Gunfire (11-Aug-1950)
On the Isle of Samoa (3-Aug-1950)
I Shot Billy the Kid (27-Jul-1950)
Operation Haylift (5-May-1950)
Captive Girl (27-Apr-1950)
Mark of the Gorilla (12-Jan-1950)
Deputy Marshal (28-Oct-1949)
Zamba (Sep-1949)
Treasure of Monte Cristo (27-Aug-1949)
Sky Liner (28-Jul-1949)
Arson, Inc. (24-Jun-1949)
The Lost Tribe (19-Apr-1949)
Highway 13 (28-Dec-1948)
Jungle Jim (15-Dec-1948)
Shoot to Kill (15-Mar-1947)
Code of the West (20-Feb-1947)
Renegade Girl (25-Dec-1946)
The Falcon's Adventure (13-Dec-1946)
Sunset Pass (8-Jul-1946)
Ding Dong Williams (15-Apr-1946)
Dick Tracy, Detective (1-Dec-1945)
Why Girls Leave Home (9-Oct-1945)
Betrayal from the East (25-Feb-1945)
Dangerous Passage (18-Dec-1944)
Double Exposure (18-Dec-1944)
Dark Mountain (Sep-1944)
The Falcon in Mexico (4-Aug-1944)
The Navy Way (24-Feb-1944)
Minesweeper (10-Nov-1943)
Tornado (1943)
Pardon My Gun (1-Dec-1942)

Do you know something we don't?
Submit a correction or make a comment about this profile