Samson Burke (born 8 April 1929) is a Canadian bodybuilder, swimmer,
wrestler and actor.Burke earned a college degree in physical
education. In the 1950s, Burke wrestled for nine years under the names
"Sammy Berg" and "Mr Canada", and sparred with such luminaries as
Primo Carnera, Antonino Rocca, Lou Thesz and Joe Lewis. His friend
Gordon Mitchell recommended Burke for the lead role of Ursus in the
1961 film The Revenge of Ursus. Burke next appeared opposite Italian
comedian Totò in the 1962 comedy Toto vs. Maciste. Norman Maurer then
hired him to portray the mythical Greek hero Hercules in The Three
Stooges Meet Hercules (1962). He wrestled as Sammy Berg.As the sword
and sandal craze faded, Burke played Little John in an Italian film
called The Triumph of Robin Hood, Polyphemus in a 1968 Italian
miniseries of The Odyssey, a villain in a Kommissar X film Kommissar X
â€" Drei grüne Hunde [de] (Death Trip), Harald Reinl's Nibelungenlied
films, and appeared alongside Gianni Garko and Klaus Kinski in both a
spaghetti western, Sartana the Gravedigger, and an Italian war film,
Five for Hell (similar in theme to The Dirty Dozen). In the 1980s,
Burke relocated to Hawaii and worked on the show Magnum, P.I. until it
ceased production in 1988.
wrestler and actor.Burke earned a college degree in physical
education. In the 1950s, Burke wrestled for nine years under the names
"Sammy Berg" and "Mr Canada", and sparred with such luminaries as
Primo Carnera, Antonino Rocca, Lou Thesz and Joe Lewis. His friend
Gordon Mitchell recommended Burke for the lead role of Ursus in the
1961 film The Revenge of Ursus. Burke next appeared opposite Italian
comedian Totò in the 1962 comedy Toto vs. Maciste. Norman Maurer then
hired him to portray the mythical Greek hero Hercules in The Three
Stooges Meet Hercules (1962). He wrestled as Sammy Berg.As the sword
and sandal craze faded, Burke played Little John in an Italian film
called The Triumph of Robin Hood, Polyphemus in a 1968 Italian
miniseries of The Odyssey, a villain in a Kommissar X film Kommissar X
â€" Drei grüne Hunde [de] (Death Trip), Harald Reinl's Nibelungenlied
films, and appeared alongside Gianni Garko and Klaus Kinski in both a
spaghetti western, Sartana the Gravedigger, and an Italian war film,
Five for Hell (similar in theme to The Dirty Dozen). In the 1980s,
Burke relocated to Hawaii and worked on the show Magnum, P.I. until it
ceased production in 1988.
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