Thomas Aloysius Burke [commonly known as Thomas Burke and as Thomas A. Burke] was born to Irish parents in Liverpool, England on 5 June 1906. Between 1926 and 1934 he studied at Liverpool College of Art and at the Royal College of Art in London. He subsequently worked primarily as a portrait and figure painter. He exhibited at the Royal Hibernian Academy in Dublin in 1939 and 1940; the Royal Academy in London in 1938 and 1940; the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool in 1940; and at the Royal Society of Portrait Painters in London.

Following the outbreak of World War Two he enlisted in the Merchant Navy. In 1941 he was taken prisoner-of-war in Crete and from March 1943 was held in the Milag Nord POW camp, near Berlin until its liberation in April 1945. During his time in captivity he designed the sets and costumes for a production of The Mikado performed by his fellow prisoners. He also produced posters for the camp theatre.

Burke died in Liverpool on 15 July 1945 not long after his return from four years imprisonment. He was buried at Ford Roman Catholic Cemetery in Liverpool on 19 July 1945. A memorial exhibition of his work was held at Bluecoat Chambers in Liverpool in 1946.

His work is included in the permanent collection of the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool; Williamson Art Gallery & Museum in Birkenhead; the National Portrait Gallery in London; and the Parliamentary Art Collection.