The Fantasticks Star Leo Burmester Dies at 63

Broadway veteran Leo Burmester, most recently seen as Hucklebee in the Off-Broadway revival of The Fantasticks, died yesterday of leukemia at the age of 63.

Burmester, who was born in Louisville, KY on February 1st, 1944, appeared on Broadway in Urban Cowboy, Thou Shalt Not, The Civil War, Ah, Wilderness, Buried Child, Les Miserables (in which he originated the role of money-minded innkeeper Thenardier), Raggedy Ann, Big River and Lone Star and Pvt. Wars.  Off-Broadway, he was seen in Hamlet, 2 by South and Getting Out, among others.

He appeared in dozens of films and TV shows, including City by the Sea, The Devil's Advocate, Lone Star, The Last Temptation of Christ, and Broadcast News.  He also recently completed filming a part in Spike Lee's "M.O.N.Y."

Burmester also produced concerts for Save The Lakes, an environmental organization that protects New York City's water supply and, with wife Lora Lee Ecobelli, produced Calm The Storm, a concert benefiting victims of Hurricane Katrina.  With Ecobelli, he also recorded an album of original folk and blues music entitled "Blue Horse."

Photo of Leo Burmester in The Fantasticks by Joan Marcus