The Friendly Ghost
Nicki Pombier: Chris Burke is perhaps best known for his role as Corky on the early 90s ABC television series Life Goes On. In this interview at the National Down Syndrome Society, I asked him about his work as an advocate for others with Down syndrome. In this clip, he responds to my question about whether he has ever been treated differently because he has a disability, comparing his experience to that of one of his own favorite characters from TV.
Chris Burke: Well, I like my favorite TV character from the animated TV series called Caspar and the Friendly Ghost. They see it as a disability, they think that I can scare other people, which I’m not doing. I guess what they’re looking at—he goes AHHH! They’re afraid, looking at Caspar, because he’s trying to make friends. That’s the encouragement from the cartoon. I always loved that animated cartoon show, because I can relate to Caspar, because he’s just trying to make friends. He’s a friendly ghost, give him a chance to be caring for other people than himself.
Show Business
Nicki Pombier: In an interview at the National Down Syndrome Society in New York, NDSS goodwill ambassador Chris Burke, the actor perhaps best known for his role as Corky in the ABC television series that aired in the early 90s, Life Goes On, talks about growing up in New York, his love of musicals, and what he hopes to do next.
Chris Burke: My favorite time of my life was being born and raised here in New York City, which was really great, because it gave me a chance by giving me independence to do things on my own, which was really great. I can go to the movies, I can go see a musical. My favorite part of the city still is going to Times Square, because I grew up on musicals.
Nicki: What are some of your favorite musicals?
Chris: Oh boy, that’s a good question. My favorite is Big River.
Nicki: I’ve never seen that one.
Chris: That’s a great musical. And I’ve seen Cats, and I've seen Annie. There are other shows that I love very much. I did like Miss Saigon, because it had a good message. I enjoy many others. I’ve been to see Once, which is a great musical. I thought it was excellent. It’s very hard to understand, because it had this brogue, but I liked the story. I like the new shows. I love Million Dollar Quartet, Jersey Boys. There’s another show I love very much called Memphis. A new musical written by a playwright, Joe DiPietro, who has a boy with Down syndrome. I read that Joe DiPietro, his brother was very sick and didn’t want anybody to know. Hoping to pursue my career and go back into show business, because I’m very determined to do other things that I wanted to do and accomplish so much. Getting back into my roots because I really want to do different things. I want to act, but I want to do behind the scenes work.