Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Gross, Paul
Actor/writer/director, born in Calgary, Alberta in 1959, probably best known for his television work, notably as the mountie in the series Due South.
Raised an army-brat, he travelled with his parents to Great Britain, Germany and the US before landing his first acting job, at 14, in a television commercial shot in America. On returning to Canada he continued to act in commercials while studying theatre at the University of Alberta where he also began to write. His play, The Deer and the Antelope Play won an Alberta Culture Playwriting Award. Another play, The Dead of Winter was mounted at Toronto Free Theatre starring Jackie Burroughs .
He began to work as an actor under the tutelage of Guy Sprung and performed in Sprung's production of Romeo and Juliet in Toronto's High Park.
He was playwright in residence at the Stratford Festival and the Grand Theatre, London before writing for television and film, notably for director Atom Egoyan.
He continued to perform in the theatre, winning a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Toward the Somme (1989, Canadian Stage ). In summer 2000, he returned to Stratford in the title role of Hamlet. He then played the lead role of a dysfunctional artistic director of a Shakespeare Festival very much like Stratford in a satirical TV series entitled Slings and Arrows (2003-06).
His other plays include: Sprung Rhythm ( National Arts Centre , 1984; later performed in Toronto under the title Buchanan); Thunder, Perfect Mind (Toronto Free Theatre, Toronto Planetarium, 1986)
His recent work in film includes Men with Brooms (2002), with co-star Leslie Nielsen , which he also wrote.
.In 2009, his film based on his grandfather's experiences in World War I, Passchendaele was awarded a Genie for best Canadian film. He played the lead role of the emotionally scarred soldier, and was writer, producer and director. His current project is a TV series set in Jerusalem.
In 2009 he was honoured with a National Arts Centre Award for exceptional achievement.
Since 1987, he has been married to actor Martha Burns , whom he met in 1983 while playing a young Mountie in Sharon Pollock 's play Walsh. They have two children.
Source: Heather Mallick. "Not about to curl up and call it quits," The Globe and Mail, Toronto, 19 Sept 2000
Last updated 2009-05-12
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