Paul Gross

Early life

Gross was born in Calgary, Alberta, the son of Renie Gross (née Dunne), a writer and art historian of Irish descent, and Robert "Bob" Gross, a career soldier, colonel, and tank commander. His family moved to Arlington, Virginia, in his adolescence, where Gross attended Yorktown High School. He credits drama teacher Timothy Jecko as his inspiration for becoming an actor: "I'm not sure where I would have ended up otherwise."

Career

Gross studied acting at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, but he left during the third year of his study. He went back later to complete the half-credit needed to receive his fine arts degree. He appeared in several stage productions, such as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. Other productions in which he appeared include Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme and As You Like It. 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.

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

He wrote and directed the curling movie Men with Brooms. Gross starred in the television series Slings & Arrows from 2003 to 2006 alongside his wife Martha Burns, which The A.V. Club called "one of TV's greatest shows".

In 2008, he attracted widespread attention in Canada when 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. The film had its premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival on September 4, 2008, when it also had the honour of opening the festival. The film received a mixed reception upon release. Despite this, it won several awards; namely five awards the 29th Genie Awards, including Best Picture, and the Golden Reel Award for Canada's top-grossing film of 2008. On March 2, 2009, Paul Gross was honoured for his film Passchendaele, winning that year's National Arts Centre Award for achievement over the past performance year.

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); the production moved to Broadway where it opened November 6 and closed on December 31, 2011. That year, he also produced a feature film with Akshay Kumar called Breakaway starring Camilla Belle and Vinay Virmani.

Between 2011 and 2014, he appeared in nine episodes as Kevin Crocker on Republic of Doyle.

More recently, Gross completed work on the contemporary war drama Hyena Road, released on October 9, 2015.

Gross starred in the title role of King Lear during the 2023 season of the Stratford Festival.

''Due South''

His role as upright Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer Benton Fraser in the Due South television series (1994–1999) 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.

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 CA$2–3 million per season, and at the time was the highest-paid performer in Canadian television history. 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.

Personal life

In September 1988, Gross married Canadian actress Martha Burns.

Theatre

Filmography

Films

Television

Discography

Albums

Singles

Honours

Awards

References

References

1. Lucas, Ralph. (2020-04-29). "Paul Gross".
2. "Paul Gross biography and filmography {{!}} Paul Gross movies".
3. Walker, Angela. "Paul Gross, Due South star, receiving Confederation Centre award".
4. (March 2015). "Paul Gross Receives Earle Grey Award at the 2015 Canadian Screen Awards".
5. "Mr. Paul Gross".
6. Johnson, Brian D.. "Paul Gross (Profile)".
7. "Paul Gross FAQ".
8. Harris, Bill. "Paul Gross's Remarkable Teacher, Tim Jecko".
9. "TV.com". Paul Gross Biography.
10. (11 October 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.
11. "Paul's stage roles". Paul Gross website.
12. [[Gerald Pratley]], ''A Century of Canadian Cinema''. Lynx Images, 2003. {{ISBN. 1-894073-21-5. p. 226.
13. Noel Taylor, "Show about women's prison shocking, moving". ''[[Ottawa Citizen]]'', February 24, 1986.
14. Karrys, George. (March 31, 2022). "Men With Brooms Turns 20".
15. (2013-05-30). "The creators of Slings & Arrows talk about creating one of TV's greatest shows".
16. (2008-07-16). "Toronto unveils Canadian selection".
17. (December 7, 2010). "Passchendaele (2008)". [[Fandango Media]].
18. "Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television".
19. [http://www.northernstars.ca/News/0317111801_acct.html "Pre-Genie Awards Announced"] {{webarchive. link. (2009-06-01, Northern Stars.)
20. (2009-03-02). "War epic Passchendaele among GG winners".
21. "Private Lives". [[Mirvish Productions]].
22. "About". Private Lives.
23. "Speedy Singhs as producer". bollywoodhungama.com.
24. TheIndependent.ca. (2011-04-04). "Paul Gross guest starring on Republic of Doyle".
25. (2013-04-20). "Paul Gross and Gordon Pinsent join Republic of Doyle season finale".
26. Daniel Chai. (October 9, 2015). "Movie Review: Hyena Road takes you into the heart of Canada's Afghanistan war". Vancity Buzz.
27. [https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/theatre-and-performance/article-king-lear-stratford-paul-gross/ "Paul Gross to play King Lear at Stratford Festival"] by J. Kelly Nestruck at [[The Globe and Mail. theglobeandmail.com]]
28. (2022-08-12). "Netflix will stream older Canadian TV shows including 'Due South' starring Paul Gross".
29. [http://home.hiwaay.net/~warydbom/duesouth/bios/paul_gross.html ''Due South''] {{webarchive. link. (December 15, 2007 . Retrieved 30 November 2007.)
30. "Paul Gross (Profile)". [[The Canadian Encyclopedia]].
31. [https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2015/05/13/paul-gross-and-martha-burns-onstage-together-for-first-time-in-30-years.html "Paul Gross and Martha Burns onstage together for first time in 30 years"] by Richard Ouzounian at [[Toronto Star. thestar.com]]
32. The couple have two children, [[Hannah Gross]], who is also an actress, and Jack Gross.[https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2010/03/26/martha_burns_returns_to_her_roots.html "Martha Burns returns to her roots"] by Richard Ouzounian at [[Toronto Star. thestar.com]]
33. [https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/theater/reviews/are-you-there-mcphee-by-john-guare-at-mccarter-theater.html "Swimming in a Sea of Stories"] by Charles Isherwood at [[The New York Times. www.nytimes.com]]
34. [https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2015/11/21/paul-gross-and-martha-burns-shine-in-domesticated-but-script-falls-short.html "Paul Gross and Martha Burns shine in ‘Domesticated’ but script falls short"] by Richard Ouzounian at [[Toronto Star. www.thestar.com]]
35. [https://playbill.com/article/red-bull-theater-presents-anchuli-felicia-kings-keene-october-19 "Red Bull Theater Presents Anchuli Felicia King's Keene October 19"] by Dan Meyer at [[Playbill. playbill.com]]
36. (August 30, 2006). "Paul Gross on Crinkley Bottom".
37. "Give a Dog a Bone (review)".
38. (June 11, 2018). "Recipients".
39. (June 11, 2018). "Recipients".