Carlease!

CARLEASE! ACCELERATES FROM THE CADILLAC OF MINI VANS TO THE CADILLAC OF COMEDYWhen Carlease Burke rented John Travolta “The Cadillac of Mini Vans” in the 1995 feature film Get Shorty, she wondered if it would be her unusual name that would land her the high octane jobs in Hollywood. It was right there in the credits – Rental Car Shuttle Driver, Carlease Burke. Coincidence? Director Barry Sonnenfeld says, “No”.So where did this name come from and what does it mean? Carlease has been trying to solve this mystery for many years, by going to the point of origin. “I got it out of a book” says her mother. “What book? Consumer Reports?” “If I earned a mile for every time I had to explain my name to someone I could have driven to Africa and back by now.” “How do you spell it?” “Like a lease on a car.” “How do you pronounce that?” “The accent is on the second syllable.” She thought adding an explanation mark would help.Let’s travel back in time. Before the exclamation mark, a few hundred miles before Hollywood, this low maintenance, high performance actress had stars in her headlights for as long as she can remember. Manufactured in New York City, Ms. Burke was encouraged to go into show business by her childhood dentist. Her mother wanted her to be a teacher, but after starring in a community theatre production that quickly moved to Off Broadway, she steered west.Carlease took a detour for a few months on the Sitmar Cruise Line performing in a musical theatre revue for international audiences.After traveling the long and winding road to Los Angeles, this luxury vehicle rolled into many school parking lots while entertaining children with the South Coast Repertory Company, Tim Busfield’s Fantasy Theatre and the Rock Salt Company, part of the Mark Taper Forum.She then drove on over to CBS Studios to recur on the soap opera, The Young and The Restless.Most recently, Carlease has maintained stability on both the large and small screens. National commercials such as Pfizer (mytimetoquit), Macy’s, Verizon, Pizza Hut, AARP and The Ad Council have aired on cable and internet as well. Her ever expanding list of guest star credits include The Riches, Desperate Housewives, Malcolm in the Middle, Without a Trace, Judging Amy, Monk, What About Brian and How I Met Your Mother .Ms. Burke didn’t know it at the time, but working on Get Shorty prepared her for 2 high beams in her career: feature films In Her Shoes opposite Cameron Diaz and Toni Collette directed by Curtis Hanson; and The Terminal with Tom Hanks, directed by Steven Spielberg. “Working with these two heavy hitters was amazing. They are truly the most powerful in their class.”Occasionally, Carlease will spin her wheels in live theatre as she did in 2005, playing The Nurse in Boston Court’s Romeo & Juliet. She was a recipient of an NAACP Theatre Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her exhilarating, confident performance.At one point in her journey, Carlease pulled over to earn a degree in sign language interpreting. She has had the opportunity to merge her talents onstage voicing for Deaf actress Michelle Banks and signing in a short film Mute directed by Melissa Joan Hart.During the 2007 pilot season, Ms. Burke took her first test drive for a series regular on a J.J. Abrams project, Anatomy of Hope.So…what’s in a name? Fortune or Fame? Let’s ask Carlease’s audiences from comedy clubs and Pride festivals across the country. Or at the Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival. Or on an Olivia cruise. They would all agree…”Carlease can take us from 0 to 60 in 4.6 seconds. In that short amount of time, we feel like we’ve known her forever. She delivers a refined ride.”What’s on the horizon for this sleek and stylish machine? “I’ve been doing more writing lately. I’m working on my solo show, FIFTY!, It Doesn’t Look This Good On Everybody. I will be performing it in the Solo Sundays Series at Lucy Florence in Leimert Park, December 2007. I’m also thinking about writing a book.” Look for Carlease in the upcoming film, Anna Nicole, where she portrays the real life Taz, Anna’s private nurse.Ms. Burke revs her engine. “You know, when I tell people I was adopted, they tend to feel sorry for me. But as I look in the review mirror, I say, “With a name like Carlease, I’m lucky I wasn’t repossessed”.
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