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Photo from Northern
Exposures: Photographs by Rob Morrow
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Darren
E. Burrows portrayed Ed Chigliak, a
young Native American with unclouded observations and an 180 I.Q.
Possessing an uncanny sense of timing, Ed often appears out of nowhere,
spouting bits of wisdom gleaned from the films of his cinema idols,
who include Woody Allen, Fellini, and Francis Ford Coppola.
He was born Darren Eugene Burrows on September 12, 1966 in
Winfield, Kansas. Unlike his character,
Burrows is not Native American (maybe some distant heritage). His hair was dyed black for his role of Ed.
He is son of actor Billy Drago, who often played Native American roles.
Soon after
joining the Billy Drago/Silvana Gallardo (his stepmom) Acting workshop, he landed
his first professional acting job in the horror film 976-EVIL
(1989). For his next role, he spent three months in Thailand filming
the role of "Cherry" in Brian DePalma's Casualties
of War (1989). His additional film credits include starring
roles in Vestron's Class
of 1999 (1990), John Waters' Cry
Baby (1990), and Steven Spielberg's Amistad
(1997). Some more recent films include The Monster Hunter (1999), Lady
in the Box (2001), and Forty
Shades of Blue, which won top dramatic honors at Sundance
2005.
In addition
to his role on Northern Exposure, Burrows had several guest
star appearances on TV series NYPD
Blue, The
X-Files, The
Lone Gunman, and Peacemakers. He also appeared in a W.A.S.P. video -- a cover of The Who's "The Real Me."
He has also
performed in the Los Angeles stage production of Dark of the
Moon, at the Crown Uptown Dinner Theater, and Simpson
Street, at the Los Angeles Workshop. An avid outdoorsman, Burrows
enjoys camping, motorcycling, and horseback riding. Former fellow
cast member Barry Corbin introduced
Burrows to western rodeo roping, and he has since mastered the skill
quite well, often competing at charity rodeos.
The Sundance award winning Forty
Shades of Blue opened in theaters in October 2005. Burrows played Michael, who visits his estranged father and has an affair with his father's Russian girlfriend.
Burrows was in a short film The Shadow of the Night in 2008. He also appeared in an episode of CSI in 2009 and appears in the film NoNAMES (2010). Currently he has several independent projects in the works and is one of he founders of the Driftless Film Festival. In 2014, Burrows appeared in Love is Strange, rejoining filmaker Ira Sachs, who also did Forty
Shades of Blue.
Burrows
lives in Missouri with his wife Melinda Delgado and four sons. They met on the set of Northern Exposure where Melinda was a caterer. She now is a successful chef, who keeps him well-fed.
Fun fact: Burrows was in a music video in the 1980s - W.A.S.P. covering the Who's The Real Me. Fellow NoEx cast member John Corbett also appeared ina 1980s music video. Burrows also has some tattoos. Now that we have Northern Exposure on DVD and high definition TV, you can see these under the makeup - especially in 5.8 Heal Thyself when he is shirtless. |
