Danny Burstein (born June 16, 1964) is an American actor and singer. Known for his work on Broadway stage, he has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, a Drama League Award, and three Drama Desk Awards, in addition to nominations for four Grammy Awards.
A nine-time Tony Award nominee, Burstein won the 2020 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance as Harold Zidler in Moulin Rouge! on Broadway. His other Tony-nominated roles were in The Drowsy Chaperone (2006), South Pacific (2008), Follies (2011), Golden Boy (2013), Cabaret (2014), Fiddler on the Roof (2015), Gypsy (2024), and Marjorie Prime (2025). Other notable Broadway credits include The Seagull (1992), Saint Joan (1993), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010), and Pictures from Home (2023). He currently holds the record for the most Tony Award nominations by a male performer (9).
Burstein's television work includes a feature-length episode of the BBC sitcom Absolutely Fabulous (2002) and a Staten Island father in the first season of Louie (2010). He appeared as different characters in six episodes of the original run of the NBC drama series Law & Order (1995–2010), and also recurred as Lolly Steinman on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire (2010–2011) and as D.A. Lewis Cormier on the CBS series Evil (2019–2024). His film appearances include Transamerica (2005), Deception (2008), The Family Fang (2015), and Indignation (2016).
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Early life and education
Burstein was born in Mt. Kisco, New York, and was raised in New York City. Danny's parents separated when he was two months old. He was raised by his mother, Virginia (Vega), a painter, and his stepfather, Harvey Burstein, a professor of Greek philosophy. His mother, who is from Costa Rica, is Catholic and of Spanish descent, and his stepfather is Jewish. He was not raised in any particular faith and celebrated both Jewish and Christian holidays.
Burstein attended the High School of the Performing Arts. While in high school, he performed in community theatre and summer stock in New Hampshire for which he was paid $200 for the entire season. He graduated from Queens College in New York City, during which time he obtained his first professional acting job in the chorus of The Music Man at The Muny in St. Louis. He received an MFA from the graduate acting program at the University of California, San Diego in 1990. During his time in drama school at UCSD, he appeared in Macbeth at La Jolla Playhouse.
Career
Burstein's early appearances on Broadway included A Little Hotel on the Side (1992), Yakov in The Seagull (1992–93), in Saint Joan and Three Men on a Horse (both in 1993), Paul in Company (1995), 1st Officer William Murdoch in Titanic (1997–99), and A Class Act (2001) at Manhattan Theatre Club. Other New York theatre performances in his early career included I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (1996 and 2002) at the Westside Theatre, Ru/Floor Monitor/Pianist in Merrily We Roll Along (1994) at the York Theatre at St. Peter's Church, All in the Timing (1994) at the John Houseman Theatre, Daniel in Alan Menken and David Spencer's Weird Romance (1992) at the WPA, Solomon in The Rothschilds (1990) and Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh (1992), both at Circle in the Square, and The United Way at Ensemble Studio Theater.
Burstein appeared in the world premieres of A. R. Gurney's Mrs. Farnsworth (2004), opposite Sigourney Weaver and John Lithgow, at The Flea Theater and Psych (2001) at Playwrights Horizons. He has appeared in the Encores! (New York City Center) staged concert productions of Du Barry Was a Lady (1996), as Romeo Skragg in Li'l Abner (1998), as Tailor-Merchant in The Boys from Syracuse (1997), and as Mister Mister in The Cradle Will Rock (2013). He has appeared in four concerts at Carnegie Hall including the Ira Gershwin centennial, as Steward in Sail Away (1999), and in Candide (2018).
Burstein's early film roles included Duane Incarnate (2004), Transamerica (2005), and Deception (2008). He also appeared in several Law & Order series and the BBC's Absolutely Fabulous (2002). Burstein has lent his voice to a number of video games, including Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Manhunt 2, Grand Theft Auto IV, and Neverwinter Nights 2.
Burstein appeared on Broadway as Aldolpho in The Drowsy Chaperone (2006–07) and Luther Billis in South Pacific (2008–10), receiving Tony Award nominations for both. He also appeared as Taxi Driver in Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (2010–11). He was cast in HBO's Boardwalk Empire after director Martin Scorsese saw him in South Pacific, and after auditioning for three different characters, he landed the part of Lolly Steinman.
He played the role of Buddy Plummer in the Kennedy Center production of Follies, which ran from May 7, 2011, through June 19, 2011, at the Eisenhower Theater, co-starring with Bernadette Peters, Ron Raines, and Jan Maxwell. He reprised that role in the Broadway engagement of Follies at the Marquis Theatre from August 7, 2011 (in previews) through January 22, 2012, and continued with the production in its engagement at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles, California from May 3, 2012, through June 9, 2012. He won the Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical and was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.
Personal life
Burstein was married to actress Rebecca Luker from June 2000 until her death on December 23, 2020. He has two sons, Alexander and Zachary, from a previous marriage, and lives in Morningside Heights, Manhattan.
In March 2020, following the shutdown of all Broadway theatrical productions including Moulin Rouge!, in which he was starring, Burstein, along with several other cast members, contracted COVID-19. He was subsequently hospitalized at St. Luke's in the Morningside Heights section of Manhattan and recovered. Burstein discussed his experience with the disease in a column published in The Hollywood Reporter. He wrote in August 2020 of continued challenges with his post-COVID recovery while caring for his wife, who had ALS.