Canadian-Australian actor and singer, noted for playing “The Man” in The Man from Snowy River films and for his vocal impressions of American singer Frank Sinatra.
In 1981, Burlinson had his career break when he was given the main role in the biggest Australian film production ever, which was to be shot the next year, The Man from Snowy River, as Jim Craig (“The Man”). He had only a few short weeks to learn how to ride a horse and discovered he had somewhat of a natural ability and affinity with horses. Snowy River was filmed and released in Australia in 1982, quickly becoming the highest-grossing Australian film ever at that time, bringing Burlinson to stardom.
In 1988 he starred in the long-waited sequel to The Man from Snowy River II, which has the United States’ title of Return to Snowy River and the UK title of The Untamed.
A life-long love of the music of Frank Sinatra led Burlinson to compose an ode to the singer. He appeared on TV in 1990 on Ray Martin’s Midday Show to nervously debut his singing voice to the Australian public with the song he had written, “The Man In The Hat”.
The following year Tina Sinatra cast Burlinson as the voice of the young Sinatra in a miniseries she produced on her father’s life, the Golden Globe Award-winning Sinatra.
In 1998, Burlinson created Frank – The Sinatra Story in Song which opened at the Seymour Centre in Sydney before going to other major cities. Sinatra himself died just two weeks before the opening night. From 1998 to 2003 Burlinson toured Australia regularly and also took the show to corporate events. In 2001 the show’s name was changed to Frank – A Life in Song. In 2002 he took the show to his native Toronto, Canada
Burlinson has continued to produce and star in his own musical shows celebrating the music of Frank Sinatra and other vocal stars including Now We’re Swinging! which toured around Australia.
Link to Wikipedia biography