Paul Gross

Actor

• Born: April 30, 1959
• Birthplace: Calgary, Alberta

Contribution: Paul Gross is a Canadian actor, director, and producer best known for his role as Constable Benton Fraser of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on the television series Due South. Gross has starred in numerous television and film productions and has won recognition and awards for his stage and screen performances. A published singer and songwriter, Gross has also released several albums and singles.

Early Life and Education

Paul Michael Gross was born on April 30, 1959, in Calgary, Alberta. His mother, Renie Gross, was an art historian who wrote the book Dinosaur Country: Unearthing the Badlands’ Prehistoric Past (1985). His father, Bob Gross, served in the Canadian Army and retired with the rank of colonel. He has a younger brother, Tony. While his father was still on active duty, Gross and his family moved often, rarely staying in one place for more than two years; they lived in Germany, the United States, and England before returning to Canada in the 1970s.

Gross attended Earl Haig Secondary School in Toronto. He began studying drama at the University of Alberta in Edmonton but left in 1980, after his third year, to pursue an acting career. He later graduated from the university after returning to complete the degree he had started.

Acting Career

Gross started his acting career at an early age by appearing in a television commercial when he was fourteen. His first acting experiences came when he performed at various regional theaters in Canada, such as the National Arts Centre, Theatre Calgary, and the Toronto Free Theatre. At the same time, Gross started writing plays. His first play, The Deer and the Antelope Play, first performed in 1982, won critical acclaim and was soon followed by other successful plays, including The Dead of Winter (1982) and Sprung Rhythm (1984).

Gross also appeared in a number of Canadian and American films during the late 1980s and early 1990s. Some of his early roles included appearances in the Canadian thriller Cold Comfort (1989) and the made-for-television movie Getting Married in Buffalo Jump (1990). Gross, in collaboration with fellow Canadian Atom Egoyan, helped to write the screenplay for the 1993 television movie Gross Misconduct, which was produced and directed by Egoyan. The film was nominated for a 1994 Gemini Award for best writing in a dramatic program or miniseries.

Gross achieved mainstream success with the lead role in the television series Due South (1994-99), which was the first Canadian-produced series to air on prime-time US television. The series was enough to solidify Gross’s reputation, not just as an actor but as a writer and producer as well.

From 2003 to 2006, Gross starred as Geoffrey Tennant in the critically acclaimed series Slings and Arrows, a darkly comic series about a Shakespearean theater company. The show also starred Gross’s wife, actor Martha Burns. For his performance, Gross won two Gemini Awards for best lead actor in a continuing drama, in 2004 and 2007.

After Slings and Arrows, Gross wrote, directed, and starred in the war movie Passchendaele (2008). Gross cited his grandfather, who fought during World War I, as having influenced the making of the movie. In 2009, the film received a Genie Award for best motion picture, the Golden Reel Award for being the Canadian film with the largest box-office gross of the year, and a Directors Guild of Canada Award. Also in 2009, he won the Governor General’s Performing Arts National Arts Centre Award, which recognizes extraordinary performance over the past year.

Gross next starred in the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) television series Eastwick, which ran for one season, in 2009−10. He then acted as executive producer for the CBC series Men with Brooms (2010), based on his 2002 film of the same name; his character from the film served as narrator for the series and occasionally appeared in person. That show, too, only lasted for one season. In 2011, Gross began appearing in a recurring role in the Newfoundland-set series Republic of Doyle (2010-), which in a season 4 episode reunited him with actor Gordon Pinsent, who had played his character’s deceased father in Due South.

Gross has also worked as a musician, collaborating with fellow songwriter and actor David Keeley to compose and produce the albums Two Houses (1997) and Love and Carnage (2001).

In 2013, Gross was named an officer of the Order of Canada.

Personal Life

Paul Gross married Canadian actor Martha Burns on September 25, 1988. The couple’s daughter, Hannah, was born in 1990, and their son, Jack, was born in 1994.

Principal Works

Television

Getting Married in Buffalo Jump, 1990

Tales of the City, 1993

Due South, 1994-99

Slings and Arrows, 2003-6

H20, 2004

The Trojan Horse, 2007

Eastwick, 2009−10

Men with Brooms, 2010

Films

Cold Comfort, 1989

Aspen Extreme, 1993

Men with Brooms, 2002

Wilby Wonderful, 2004

Passchendaele, 2008

Gunless, 2010

Music

Two Houses (with David Keeley), 1997

Love and Carnage (with David Keeley), 2001

Bibliography

Buehler, Jenny. “Paul Gross: Comedy Canadian Style.” Crescent Blues 5.3 (2002): n. pag. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.

Canadian Press. “Paul Gross War Epic Passchendaele up for Five Directors Guild of Canada Awards.” CP24. Bell Media, 4 Aug. 2009. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.

Ditchburn, Jennifer. “Paul Gross Moves from Hero to Devil.” Whistler Question. Glacier Community Media, 7 May 2009. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.

“Paul Gross Named Officer of Order of Canada.” University of Alberta. U of Alberta, 5 July 2013. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.

Prosser, David, and Wyndham Wise. “Paul Gross.” Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica-Dominion, n.d. Web. 1 Aug. 2013.