 As an actor, Burke appeared in the 1929 film "The Show of Shows", and remained in Hollywood as a film score composer for several years.Working in Hollywood with lyricist Al Dubin, Burke wrote "Tiptoe Through the Tulips", recorded most successfully by Nick Lucas, and originally written for the musical "Gold Diggers of Broadway", as was "Painting the Clouds with Sunshine".Burke also collaborated with Dubin to write the Villanova University Alma Mater.