Mark Burnett was awarded the 2,387th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame but credits his time in the British army for forming him as a person. Burnett (64) has been named special envoy to the UK by US president-elect Donald Trump. Advertisement He is married to Derry-born actress Roma Downey, who is best known for her role as Monica the angel in the American television series Touched by an Angel.
Among Burnett's many achievements in television is producing the hit US reality show The Apprentice hosted by Trump, who in 2016 called Burnett his “special, special friend”. Advertisement London-born Burnett has won 13 Emmy Awards, was the chairman of MGM (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer) and was named by Time magazine as one of the most influential people in the world in 2004. But his beginnings were far from the glittering scenes of Hollywood.
Burnett was born on July 17th, 1960, to Archibald and Jean Burnett. Advertisement He grew up in Dagenham in Essex, where his father worked on the production line for the Ford motor company and his mother worked at a car battery factory. An only child, Burnett attended a comprehensive school and then college before enlisting in the British army aged 18.
Advertisement He was part of the Parachute Regiment, and served in the Falklands War and in Northern Ireland. “My army experience formed me as a person,” he said in an interview with the Television Academy. He named the two biggest things he’d taken from the army was learning how to “do everyth.