Leo Burmester

Leo Burmester (February 1, 1944 – June 28, 2007) was an American actor. Burmester worked for director John Sayles several times, including in Passion Fish (1992) and Lone Star (1996), and also for directors such as John Schlesinger and Sidney Lumet, and as the Apostle Nathaniel in Martin Scorsese's The Last Temptation of Christ (1988). He also starred in the CBS sitcom Flo as Randy Stumphill, the mechanic who frequented the bar.

Life and career

Burmester was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky and studied at Western Kentucky University as a biology major before switching to drama. He worked summer stock at Shawnee Summer Theatre of Greene County, Indiana. After receiving an MFA from the University of Denver, he taught college for a year before becoming a working actor.

Burmester appeared with the Actors Theatre of Louisville, originating roles in the plays Getting Out and Lone Star, and eventually recreating them in his Off-Broadway and Broadway debuts, respectively. He made his feature film debut in a big budget project with Cruising (1980), and had a featured role as the mortuary director in Honky Tonk Freeway (1981). Burmester played one of the FBI agents hounding the faux Rosenberg couple in Daniel (1983). He played the role of Thénardier in the Original Broadway production of Les Misérables and the Police Sergeant in Harry Connick, Jr.'s musical Thou Shalt not.