Miscellaneous Trivia

I mentioned the death of actor Paul Burke yesterday, but the New York Times has a interesting bit of trivia I didn't know about him:

In 1990, Mr. Burke, the New Orleans District Attorney Harry F. Connick and several others were tried on racketeering charges in federal district court there. Mr. Burke was accused of having interceded with Mr. Connick, a childhood friend, on behalf of a Louisiana bookmaker, Walton Aucoin.

The indictment charged that Mr. Burke, an acquaintance of Mr. Aucoin, had helped persuade Mr. Connick to return gambling records seized from Mr. Aucoin in a 1988 police raid. Mr. Burke was also charged with having lied to a grand jury investigating the case.

After a six-week trial, a jury acquitted Mr. Burke, Mr. Connick and two co-defendants while convicting three others, including Mr. Aucoin. Mr. Connick is the father of the jazz singer Harry Connick Jr.

Burke tried to resume his career in Hollywood following his acquittal, but when he discovered he couldn't get a job, he said the hell with it.