[6][7][8] She is credited with saving many characters from the canceled soap opera Loving and transporting them to its sequel show, The City, by radically reworking the storyline, changing the setting to New York City, eliminating half of the cast, and bringing in the star Morgan Fairchild.
[9][10] She was part of a team that ultimately took the characters of Loving away from a "stilted upper-middle-class" orientation.
[11] She was instrumental in the careers of many daytime actors, including Josh Duhamel.
[12] Burke was born in The Bronx, and started her career as a production secretary on the show Search for Tomorrow.
[9] She held numerous jobs in the soap opera industry, doing casting, directing, and writing,[9] and sometimes working on several shows concurrently.