Burke Devlin grew up in Collinsport on the wrong side of the tracks. Living in an old shack by the water, his father was unable to hold a job. Not content with his poverty, Burke started making money at an early age, looking for empty soda bottles on the beach. Later, he posed for artist Sam Evans, who became extremely fond of the boy, the son he never had. This early success did not make him rich, but it certainly enflamed his ambition, and he vowed someday he would make a million dollars. But when Burke was sixteen, his mother was dying. Bill Malloy, knowing the situation, gave Burke a job at the Collins Cannery, with a salary that would let him pay her medical bills. Though Burke was grateful, and enjoyed working under Amos Fitch, he made no secret of his dream to own his own business.
Somewhere along the line, he made a strange friendship - the wealthy Roger Collins who lived at Collinwood. When they both started dating Laura Murdoch, the three of them were inseparable. Until one night in 1956, when Burke got very drunk. The night's events were hazy, but he was sure he wasn't driving was his car hit and killed a man. He was shocked when both Roger and Laura testified at his trial that he had been driving. Burke was convicted of manslaughter and vowed revenge on the Collins family for his wrongful conviction.
Sentenced to ten years in jail, Burke was a model prisoner, and was released in five for good behavior. Unwilling to return to Collinsport without the means to exact his revenge, he went to South America. In a bug-ridden bar in Montevideo, Burke met a stranger who offered him a proposition. He accepted without even thinking. Though the details are unknown, it started Burke on the road to success. He began making business deals in Venezuela, China, the South Seas, and within a few years he had reached his goal: he was a millionaire.
But he still wasn't satisfied. His bitterness toward the Collins family could not be forgotten. And now he had the money to destroy them and take everything they had. In preparation, he hired private detective Wilbur Strake to find out everything he could about the people living in Collinwood. In June 1966, Burke received word that Strake's report was ready, and he took the train to Collinsport. Upon his arrival, he met a young girl named Victoria Winters, who had come on the same train. He was more than happy to give the attractive girl a ride into town, but when he found out she was going to work at Collinwood, he warned her to go back home. (After all, he knew the problems he would soon be causing for the people in that house.) Not able to dissuade her, he instructed Strake to find out everything he could about the lovely Miss Winters.
Knowing that Joe Haskell, who was dating Carolyn Collins Stoddard, had the same dream he once had of owning his own business, Burke tried to bribe him to spy on the Collins family, but Joe refused. Oddly, Carolyn herself was intrigued by a man whose very name could so disturb her family. Manipulating her obvious interest in him, Burke used Carolyn to set the Collinses at ease while he plotted their downfall. Unfortunately, suspicion fell on Burke when Roger's near-fatal car crash appeared to be the result of tampering, especially since Vicki had seen him near Roger's car earlier that day. Aware of his own innocence, he was hardly worried, but was surprised and saddened to discover Roger's son, young David Collins, trying to plant evidence in his hotel room. Taking a liking to the boy, (perhaps he was aware of the possibility that David was his son) Burke removed the incriminating evidence, and gave it to Roger, covering for the boy by claiming they had found the missing bleeder valve near the crash site. He even sent David a crystal ball - "from one monster to another".
When Bill Malloy came to Burke saying he had new information about the manslaughter charge, it seemed as if things would finally get cleared up. He even promised Bill he would confine his revenge to Roger, leaving Elizabeth Stoddard out of it. Whether he intended to keep that promise or not, it became moot when Bill failed to show up for the meeting he arranged between Burke, Roger, and surprisingly, Sam Evans. Without Malloy, the meeting went nowhere. A few days later, after having searched frantically for the man he considered a father figure, Burke found out that Bill Malloy was dead.
Convinced Roger was responsible for Malloy's murder, Burke swung his plans into full gear. He offered to buy Collinwood (something he had wanted to do since his childhood, when Paul Stoddard threw him off the estate), but Liz refused to sell. He put in a bid on the Logansport Cannery, in an attempt to put the Collinses out of business. With Carolyn interested in him, David thinking he was a hero, and Malloy's old housekeeper Sarah Johnson working at Collinwood spying for him, it seemed everything was going his way. The one thing he hadn't counted on was the loyalty of Liz's employees. Though he offered several of her top men executive positions at higher pay, all turned him down. Word of his offers got back to Elizabeth, and the Collins family geared up for war with Burke Devlin.
But Burke's vendetta didn't seem as important to him any more. He found he actually liked Carolyn and David, and didn't want to hurt them. More importantly, he had grown extremely fond of Vicki. Though right now they were only friends, Burke offered to help her in the search for her identity, having his private investigator look into it. He even took her to Bangor to speak with the Collins' family lawyer. It was during that trip that Vicki started distancing herself from him for some reason. Little did he know that she had uncovered information that made it look as if he were involved in Malloy's death. Later, that same information pointed to Roger, so Burke - with the sheriff's help - laid a trap for him.
Roger was innocent of Malloy's death, however. The insane Matthew Morgan had killed him, and also kidnapped Vicki when she found out. Burke quickly joined the manhunt, realizing Vicki was too important for him to lose. Discovering David might have information about where Matthew was keeping her, he got the boy to confide in him. He and Roger were able to rescue Vicki, and found Matthew dead at the Old House.
Burke's hopes of being cleared of the manslaughter charge were raised again when Laura Collins returned to Collinsport. He agreed to help her get close to David, in exchange for her help in getting him a new trial. But his judgment must have been clouded by his past feelings for her. Even as evidence piled up that Laura was not what she seemed, Burke continued to defend her. However, Vicki was able to convince him of the strangeness surrounding Laura, and he withdrew his support. His trust in Laura gone, he still must have been upset when he found out she died in a fire at the old fishing shack.
The truth about the accident so many years ago couldn't remain hidden forever. Sam Evans, dragged by his daughter Maggie, finally confessed to Burke that he had witnessed the crash, knew Roger was driving, and had taken a bribe to keep quiet. He immediately took Sam to confront Roger and Liz. Once he had convinced Elizabeth of the truth over Roger's denials, he left it up to her whether to call the sheriff, probably assuming she would try to cover the whole thing up. She surprised him; she started to call. Realizing Liz was sincere, and not wanting to hurt the rest of the family, Burke stopped her, deciding Roger's confession was triumph enough.
His feud with the Collins family officially over, Burke decided it was time to get serious about his relationship with Victoria Winters. They began dating. Soon he even became a friend to the Collinses, trying to keep Elizabeth from marrying the dishonest Jason McGuire. His efforts failed, but Elizabeth stopped the wedding herself, confessing she had killed her husband Paul Stoddard in 1949. But when Burke helped the sheriff to dig up the trunk his body was supposed to be buried in, they found it empty.
Maybe Liz's aborted wedding gave him the idea, or maybe he was afraid of losing Vicki to his new rival for her affections, Barnabas Collins from England. Either way, Burke soon proposed to Vicki. She accepted, and everyone prepared for the wedding. Elizabeth even offered to give them the house called Seaview on the estate as a wedding present. But Burke received word that his Brazilian holding were in danger. He hated leaving Vicki, but boarded a plane to South America. Over the Amazon jungle, his plane went down. When the site of the crash was found, sixteen bodies were discovered in the wreckage, accounting for everyone on board. Though his body was never positively identified, no one ever heard from Burke Devlin again.
