Veteran entertainment attorney Arnold D. Burk died December 10 at his home in Chapel Hill, N.C. He was 85.
News of his death was announced by Bruce Ramer of the Gang, Tyre, Ramer and Brown legal firm in Los Angeles, where Burk worked for 20 years. Ramer described Burk as a gifted natural psychologist, a brilliant lawyer, generous and precise with a superb sense of humor, and said that he was “one of my dearest and closest friends ever and the best law partner and mentor one could possibly have.”
Burk studied at Columbia College and Law School, where he was awarded a full scholarship and later became the was the first attorney at United Artists. His Hollywood studio career also included work with Paramount Pictures and in private legal practice for many prominent clients in entertainment, including Milos Forman, Sherwood Schwartz, John Rich, George Miller and Michael Mann. He also served as an executive producer for Miller’s 1992 film “Lorenzo’s Oil,” which starred Nick Nolte and Susan Sarandon.
He is survived by his second wife, Kathy (Soule) Burk, sons Bernard Burk (Amy Kaufman Burk) and David Burk (Rebekah Kaplan), and five grandchildren. Donations may be made to North Carolina Symphony or to Columbia University or Columbia Law School.
