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ANTON BURAK

Anton Burak

Anton Burak was a member of the Bulgarian underground. Typically, he would spend his days playing chess in the park, and the Secret Police kept him under surveillance, hoping he would lead them to others. On MacGyver's mission to Bulgaria, Burak was his contact. They met in the park, where MacGyver used the password, a reference to the Gregory Mykel endgame, and Burak passed on a piece of microfilm which MacGyver concealed on a stamped postcard. The microfilm contained evidence against General Petrovich of the Secret Police, including evidence of his theft of jewels worth over $400,000. Although members of the underground had risked their lives to pass the information on to MacGyver, his mission was compromised when he encountered Penny Parker, an American nightclub dancer, at the airport.

General Petrovich had hidden the stolen jewels with his sister, and neither she nor her son, Stepan Frolov, a major with the Secret Police, realized that the jewelry was genuine. When Stepan had begun a relationship with Penny Parker, he had given her some of the jewelry to wear, and when the relationship ended, Penny took the jewelry with her. Stepan followed Penny to the airport, but when he couldn't convince her to stay, he asked only that she return the jewels. However, Penny had secretly slipped the jewels into MacGyver's pocket to hide them, and when they triggered the airport metal detector, Stepan arrested and detained them both. When MacGyver and Penny escaped from the airport, they turned to Burak, hoping to find help from the underground to recover the microfilm and leave the country. However, General Petrovich had ordered the arrest of Anton Burak and the use of any means necessary to locate MacGyver and Penny and to recover the microfilm and the jewels.

Burak was taken into custody, and using water torture, Petrovich personally conducted the interrogation, threatening the lives of his family. Although Burak was a widower with no children, he had a sister Marta who was living with her husband and three children in hiding in the mountains at the home of a shepherd named Patinoff. Burak had believed them to be safe until Petrovich showed him recent photographs of the family and threatened them with harm. To protect his family, Burak tearfully confessed what he knew about the microfilm and about meeting with MacGyver and Penny in the park. His confession convinced Petrovich that MacGyver and Penny had been collaborating as spies, and he ordered that they be found and executed.

Although Burak's fate following his arrest is unknown, MacGyver and Penny escaped into Greece, with the help of Stepan, and the microfilm they carried would seal the fate of General Petrovich.

Portrayed by: Michael Fox

Cross Reference: Bulgaria, Stepan Frolov, Penny Parker, General Petrovich

Episode Reference: Every Time She Smiles