Darren E. Burrows is the talented young actor who
starred as "Ed Chigliak" in the Emmy award winning
television show Northern Exposure. His impeccable sense
of timing and boyish charm has won over a loyal
following of fans who are very interested in keeping
up with his current acting projects.

Darren E. Burrows was born on September 12, 1966 in Winfield, Kansas. He is the son of actor Billy Drago, and is of Native American heritage. Although the Northern Exposure Book reports Darren to be 1/4 Cherokee Indian and 1/4 Apache Indian, Darren has said that he is actually only about 1/8 Native American or less. Darren lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Melinda, and three small children. His true haircolor remains a mystery...

Instead of repeating what has already been said about Darren in the Northern Exposure books, I thought it might be nice to compile a list of questions for him from his fans. The following is a short interview in which Darren answers some of your questions!

The HiLo Country (1998)
Director: Stephen Frears
Internet Movie Database Link

Summary: This movie is in post-production. More details coming soon!

Naked in the Cold Sun (1997)
Director: Helene Udy
Internet Movie Database Link

Summary: This movie is in post-production. More details coming soon!

Amistad (1997)
Director: Steven Spielburg
Internet Movie Database Link
This movie has been nominated for four Academy Awards

Summary: Amistad is the story of a group of slaves who kill their captors during a mutiny aboard the ship La Amistad in 1839. The slaves end up in America, and several countries begin to fight over who the slaves legally belong to. Most of the film takes place in the courtroom, with Matthew McConaughey playing Baldwin, council for the slaves, who argues that they were illegally captured from West Africa, and thus not subject to murder charges or ownership by another country. Djimon Hounsou gives an extraordinary performance as Cinque, the slave who leads the Amistad revolt, and much of the movie focuses on his courage and strength in the face of the horrors of slavery and political corruption. Anthony Hopkins is also fantastic as John Quincy Adams. Personally, this is one of the best movies I have ever seen.

Character: Darren E. Burrows plays Lieutenant Meade, an American naval officer who claims salvage rights to the Amistad slaves. Although Darren has only a few lines in this movie, he is very effective in his role as a staunch military officer. You can catch him glowering from his seat in the courtroom scenes for most of the first half of the movie. If you haven't seen this movie, I highly recommend it!

Class of 1999 (1990)
Director: Mark L. Lester
Internet Movie Database Link

Summary: In the year 1999, violent gangs have taken over the neighborhoods and high schools in all the major cities in America. Stacey Keach plays the maniacal director of the Department of Educational Defense, which enlists the help of three android "teachers" to control the students. Unfortunately, these teachers have some wires loose, and go on a rampage, killing students and shooting rockets through the classrooms. Cody (Bradley Gregg), a student who has just been released from prison and wants to go straight, decides to take matters into his own hands and brings the rival gangs together in one seriously violent confrontation with the robotic teachers.

Character: Darren has a fairly decent sized role in this movie as the drug sniffing, spandex wearing gang banger, Sonny. Unfortunately, he gets beaten up repeatedly and eventually meets an unpleasant demise.

Cry Baby (1990)
Director: John Waters
Internet Movie Data Base Link

Summary: Johnny Depp plays Cry-Baby, the leader of a band of juvenile delinquents in the 1950s called "Drapes." His gang includes a great cast, including Rikki Lake, Traci Lords, Darren E. Burrows, and Kim McGuire. Cry-Baby falls for Allison, a "Square" who has a crush on him, and mayhem ensues. The movie is filled with great music, lots of leather, and a ton of laughs!

Character: Darren plays "Milton", one of Cry-Baby's friends and the boyfriend of Hatchett-face, played by Kim McGuire. Everyone is hilarious in this movie, and where else can you see Darren fly a helicopter, make out with a girl named Hatchett-face, and play a mean contra bass all in the span of 85 minutes? Definitely rent this one if you haven't seen it!

Casualties of War (1989)
Director: Brian De Palma
Internet Movie Data Base Link

Summary: Based on a true event, Casualties of War is about a patrol of American soldiers during the Vietnam War who kidnap a girl from her village and eventually rape and kill her. Michael J. Fox plays Eriksson, a new infantryman assigned to a unit of veterans. Eriksson refuses to participate in this act of violence, and eventually brings charges against the other men in his unit. Sean Penn does an exceptional job as Sgt. Meserve, a true soldier capable of great acts of heroism, but scarred and twisted by the inhumanities of war.

Character: Darren E. Burrows plays "Cherry", a young man who is inexperienced and scared as a new private in the Vietnam War. I think his character emphasizes the dehumanizing effect of war and the loss of values and conscience. Although Darren shows up for only about 3 minutes of this movie, he does a great job with his part. If you have a burning desire to see him impaled by several sharp sticks (yuck!), this is the film to rent!

976-EVIL (1988)
Director: Robert Englund
Internet Movie Database Link

Summary: Stephen Geoffreys plays Hoax, a shy teenager who lives with his religious fanatic mother and is bullied constantly by local thugs. Hoax idolizes his cousin Spike, played by Patrick O'Bryan, and while snooping in Spike's room, he finds a 976 number. Hoax begins to call the number, and is given satanic powers, allowing him to get back at all the people who have made his life hell.

Character: Darren E. Burrows plays Jeff, an especially cruel teenager who delights in dunking Hoax's head in toilets. Of course, once the tables have turned and Hoax is the one in charge, guess who is yet again maimed and killed? Yep, Darren bites it once more! What's up with Darren getting killed off in the most violent ways imaginable?! Interesting karma! ;)



Ruby Ridge: An American Tragedy (mini- series; 1996)
This movie was nominated in 1996 for an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Special.

Summary: Ruby Ridge : An American Tragedy is the true story of the siege of Randy Weaver's home by the FBI in an attempt to infiltrate a white supremacist group. The results were the death of Weaver's son, wife, and dog, and a great deal of public criticism of the FBI and its tactics. This movie has a great cast, including Randy Quaid as Weaver and Laura Dern as his wife.

Character: Darren stars as Kevin, a friend of the family. Rejoice, for Darren does not die in this movie, but is merely wounded badly! I actually missed this one when it aired, but fans tell me that he spends most of the movie lying on the couch and bleeding profusely, and that he did it very well! His performance in this movie was great, from what I am told.

Northern Exposure (series; 1990-1995)
For Award information on Northern Exposure, click here.

Summary: Northern Exposure is about a young doctor named Joel Fleischman who is forced into practicing medicine in the remote town of Cicely, located in the wilds of Alaska. Joel's interaction with the eccentric townsfolk of Cicely makes for a funny and poignant show about the power of community and the journey we all face when attempting to define ourselves as human beings.

Character: Darren E. Burrows stars as Ed Chigliak, a young half native Alaskan who is interested in making films and is training to be a shaman. Ed is one of the most popular characters from this show, probably due to Darren's brilliant portrayal of the young man who is sometimes naive, but always lovable. Darren says of his character: "...the beautiful thing about Ed is, to me he's kind of like the child within us all..." I cant emphasize enough how much I love this show, and the characters Darren and all the other actors from Northern Exposure gave us. This was truly quality television.

Pinky and the Brain (series; 1995-current)

Summary: Pinky and the Brain is a cartoon about two lab mice who have been genetically altered. Pinky is two sandwiches shy of a picnic, while Brain is a genius. Each episode, they devise a new plan to take over the world, which of course, always fails.

Character: Darren had a guest appearance in this show as the voice of "Crowfeather."

Hard Time on Planet Earth (series; 1989 only)

Summary: This show was a sci-fi series about a violent warrior who was sentenced to do hard time on Earth until he learned the meaning of compassion. Unfortunately I have never seen this show, but hopefully I will have more information in the future.

Character: Currently gathering more information...

Darren has also guest starred in the TV series "Dragnet" (1989-1990) and had a recurring role on "TV 101" (1988-1989).