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Paul Gross

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For other uses, see Paul Gross (disambiguation).
Paul Gross
Gross at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
Born
Paul Michael Gross

(1959-04-30) April 30, 1959 (age 65)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Occupation(s)Actor
producer
screenwriter
composer
director
Years active1985–present
Spouse
​
​
(m. 1988)​
Children2, including Hannah Gross

Paul Michael Gross OC (born April 30, 1959)[1] is a Canadian actor, producer, director, singer, and writer born in Calgary, Alberta. He is known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the television series Due South as well as his 2008 war film Passchendaele, which he wrote, produced, directed, and starred in. During Due South's final season, Gross acted as executive producer in addition to starring, wrote the season three opener and finale, the two part series finale and wrote and sang songs for the show, some of which can be found on the two Due South soundtracks. He later found success with another Canadian TV series, Slings and Arrows. He also produced one film with Akshay Kumar called Speedy Singhs starring Camilla Belle and Vinay Virmani.[2]

Early life

Gross was born in Calgary, Alberta, the son of Renie Gross (née Dunne), a writer and art historian, and Robert "Bob" Gross, a career soldier, colonel, and tank commander.[3][4][5]

Career

Gross studied acting at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, but he left during the third year of his study.[6] He went back later to complete the half-credit needed to receive his fine arts degree.[7] He appeared in several stage productions, such as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet.[8] Other productions in which he appeared include Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme and As You Like It.[8] His student work "The Deer and the Antelope Play" was co-produced by the university’s department of drama and Theatre Network, and won both the Clifford E. Lee National Playwriting Award and the Alberta Culture Playwriting Award.[7]

After the play Successful Strangers, Gross starred in his first movie, Turning to Stone.

He wrote and directed the curling movie Men with Brooms. He wrote, co-produced, directed and starred in the Genie Award-winning film Passchendaele, inspired by stories he heard from his grandfather, a First World War soldier.[7]

From September 16, 2011, he appeared in a production of Noël Coward's Private Lives in Toronto co-starring Kim Cattrall (the production ended October 30, 2011);[9] the production moved to Broadway where it opened November 6, and closed on December 31, 2011.[10]

More recently, Gross completed work on the contemporary war drama Hyena Road, released on October 9, 2015.[11][12][7]

Between 2011 and 2014 he appeared in 9 episodes as Kevin Crocker on Republic of Doyle.[13]

Due South

His role as upright Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer Benton Fraser in the Due South television series brought him increased recognition. Like fellow actor David Marciano, he didn't want to do the show at first, and creator Paul Haggis didn't even know if he wanted Gross for the role, but following a meeting, he was cast as Constable Benton Fraser.[14]

When Due South was revived for the third season, Gross returned in the role of Benton Fraser. He also took on duties as executive producer and writer. He earned an estimated salary of $2–3 million per season, and at the time was the highest-paid performer in Canadian television history.[15] He wrote several episodes of the last season of the series. His favourite episodes include "Gift of the Wheelman" and "All the Queen's Horses" and his episodes "Mountie on the Bounty" and "Call of the Wild" are of a similar style.[14]

Personal life

In September 1988, Gross married Canadian actress Martha Burns. The couple have two children, Hannah and Jack.

Theatre

Year Role Title Theatre
1981 Sylvius As You Like It Northern Light Theatre, Edmonton
Lysander A Midsummer Night's Dream
1982–1983   Mrs Warren's Profession Theatre Calgary
  Unseen Hand
  Farther West
Clarence Underhill Walsh National Arts Centre, Ottawa
Motherwell The Kite Festival Lennoxville
  Take Me Where the Water is Warm
George Gaga In the Jungle of Cities
1984 Dorante Successful Strangers Centaur Theatre, Montréal
Romeo Romeo and Juliet Toronto Free Theatre, Toronto
1988 Young Kenneth Pyper Observe the sons of ulster marching towards the somme Centrestage Co., Toronto
1989 Brick Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Manitoba Theatre Centre, Winnipeg
2000 Hamlet Hamlet Stratford Festival of Canada
2011 Elyot Private Lives Royal Alexandra Theatre, Music Box Theatre
2012 Edmund Gowery Are You There, McPhee? McCarter Theatre, New Jersey

Filmography

Films

Year Title Role Notes
1989 Cold Comfort Stephen Miller
Divided Loyalties Walter Butler
1991 Married to It Jeremy Brimfield
1992 Buried on Sunday Augustus Knickel
1993 Aspen Extreme T.J. Burke
1994 Whale Music Daniel Howl
Paint Cans Morton Ridgewell
2002 Men with Brooms Chris Cutter Also writer and director
2004 Wilby Wonderful Buddy French
2008 Passchendaele Michael Dunne Also writer, producer and director
2010 Gunless The Montana Kid
Barney's Version Constable O'Malley of the North
2011 Speedy Singhs Producer
2015 Hyena Road Pete Mitchell Also writer, producer and director
Beeba Boys Jamie

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1985 Turning to Stone Billy Debut; television film
1986 Airwaves Writer
1988 Chasing Rainbows Jake Kincaid 14 episodes
1989 Street Legal Steven Hines 2 episodes
1990 The Ray Bradbury Theater Skip 1 episode
Getting Married in Buffalo Jump Alex Bresnyachuk Television film
1993 Gross Misconduct: The Life of Brian Spencer Writer
1993 Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City Brian Hawkins 6 episodes
1994 XXX's & OOO's Bucky Dean Television film
1994–1999 Due South Constable Benton Fraser 67 episodes
1996–1998 The Red Green Show Kevin Black 5 episodes
1997 Noel's House Party Himself 1 episode[16]
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Ned Land Television film
1999 Murder Most Likely Patrick Kelly Television film
2003–2005 The Eleventh Hour Tony Joel 2 episodes
2003–2006 Slings and Arrows Geoffrey Tennant 18 episodes
2004 Monday Report Prime Minister Thomas David McLaughlin 1 episode
H2O: The Last Prime Minister Thomas David McLaughlin Also writer and executive producer
2005 Burnt Toast Scott Television film
2006 Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story John Diefenbaker
Hockey: A People's History Narrator 10 episodes
2007 The Trojan Horse Thomas David McLaughlin Also writer and executive producer
2009–2010 Eastwick Darryl Van Horne Regular
2010 Men with Brooms Chris Cutter
2011–2014 Republic of Doyle Kevin Crocker 9 episodes
2017 Alias Grace Thomas Kinnear
2018 Caught Roy Patterson (miniseries)
2019 Tales of the City Brian Hawkins Main cast

Honours


Ribbon Description Notes
Officer of the Order of Canada (O.C.)
  • Awarded on May 2, 2013;
  • Invested on February 13, 2015[17]
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for Canada

Awards

Year Award Category Film/Play Result
1981 Alberta Culture competition New Play The Deer and the Antelope Play Won
1982 Clifford E. Lee Foundation National Award for Playwrights The Deer and the Antelope Play Won
Alberta Culture competition New Play The Dead of Winter Won
1985 Dora Award Best Performance Romeo and Juliet Nominated
1986 Gemini Award Best Writing in a TV Drama In This Corner Nominated
1988 Dora Award Outstanding Performance by a Male in a Featured Role Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Toward the Somme Won
1994 Gemini Award Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series Gross Misconduct Nominated
1995 Gemini Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role Due South Won
1996 Gemini Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role Due South Won
1997 Gemini Award Best Writing in a Dramatic Series Due South Nominated
(with Paul Quarrington, John Krizanc)
1998 Gemini Award Best Writing in a Dramatic Series Due South Won
(with John Krizanc, R.B. Carney – Mountie on the Bounty, part 2)
Best Dramatic Series Due South Nominated
(with Frank Siracusa, Peter Bray, R.B. Carney, George Bloomfield)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role Due South Nominated
Best Writing in a Dramatic Series Due South Nominated
(with R.B. Carney, John Krizanc – Mountie on the Bounty, part 1)
Best Writing in a Dramatic Series Due South Nominated
(Burning Down the House)
1999 Gemini Award Canada's Choice Award Due South Won
(with Frank Siracusa, David Cole, R.B. Carney)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role Due South Nominated
2000 Gemini Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series Murder Most Likely Nominated
Best TV Movie or Dramatic Mini-Series Murder Most Likely Nominated
(with R.B. Carney, Frank Siracusa, Robert Forsyth, Anne Marie La Traverse)
2003 Canadian Comedy Award Pretty Funny Direction Men With Brooms Won
Pretty Funny Male Performance Men With Brooms Nominated
Pretty Funny Writing Men With Brooms Nominated
(with John Krizanc)
Genie Award Best Original Screenplay Men With Brooms Nominated
(with John Krizanc)
2004 Gemini Award Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role Slings & Arrows Won
2005 ACTRA Toronto Award Of Excellence   Won
Writers Guild of Canada Movie of the Week and/or Mini-Series H2O Won
(with John Krizanc)
Directors Guild of Canada Outstanding Team Achievement in a Television Movie or Mini-Series H2O Won
Gemini Award Best Dramatic Mini-Series H2O Nominated
(with Frank Siracusa)
Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series H2O Nominated
(with John Krizanc)
Monte Carlo Television Festival Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series H2O Won
2007 Gemini Award Best Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role Slings & Arrows Won
2008 Gemini Award Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series The Trojan Horse Nominated
(with John Krizanc)
2009 Genie Award Best Motion Picture Passchendaele Won
(with Niv Fichman, Francis Damberger and Frank Siracusa)
Golden Reel Award Passchendaele Won
(with Niv Fichman, Francis Damberger and Frank Siracusa)
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Passchendaele Nominated
NBC Universal Canada Award of Distinction   Won
The Governor General's performing arts awards National Arts Centre Award: Exceptional Achievement over the Past Performance Year   Won
Directors Guild of Canada Team Feature Film Passchendaele Won
National History Society Pierre Berton Award Passchendaele Won
(Sources: IMDb.com, Paul Gross website)

Discography

Albums

Year Album
1997 Two Houses (with David Keeley)
2001 Love and Carnage (with David Keeley)

(first released as Give the Dog a Bone)[19]

Singles

Year Single CAN Country Album
1997 "Voodoo" Two Houses
(with David Keeley)
1998 "32 Down on the Robert MacKenzie"
1999 "Papa's Front Porch" 61
2000 "Ride Forever"

References

  1. ^ "filmreference.com". Paul Gross. Retrieved November 30, 2007.
  2. ^ "Speedy Singhs as producer". bollywoodhungama.com. Archived from the original on August 11, 2011.
  3. ^ Johnson, Brian D. "Paul Gross (Profile)".
  4. ^ "Paul Gross FAQ". paulgross.org.
  5. ^ "World War I Remembered". November 10, 2008.
  6. ^ "TV.com". Paul Gross Biography. Retrieved November 30, 2007.
  7. ^ a b c d MacPherson, Adrianna (October 11, 2015). "From Student to Star: With a new film hitting the big screen, actor-writer-director Paul Gross reflects on his time honing his craft in Edmonton". Avenue magazine Edmonton. Retrieved May 2, 2020.
  8. ^ a b "Paul's stage roles". Paul Gross website. Retrieved November 30, 2007.
  9. ^ "Private Lives". Mirvish Productions. Archived from the original on October 14, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  10. ^ "About". Private Lives. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
  11. ^ ""Hyena Road" at the Internet Movie Database". IMDb. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  12. ^ Daniel Chai. "Movie Review: Hyena Road takes you into the heart of Canada's Afghanistan war". Vancity Buzz.
  13. ^ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1297754/fullcredits
  14. ^ a b Due South Archived December 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 30 November 2007.
  15. ^ "Paul Gross (Profile)". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
  16. ^ "Paul Gross on Crinkley Bottom". Retrieved September 22, 2010 – via YouTube.
  17. ^ http://gg.ca/honour.aspx?id=6896&t=12&ln=Gross
  18. ^ http://gg.ca/honour.aspx?id=215559&t=13&ln=Gross
  19. ^ "Give a Dog a Bone (review)". Paul Gross. Retrieved July 3, 2015.
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