Don McKellar

For the Australian rules footballer, seeDon McKellar (footballer).For the Australian politician, seeDon McKellar (politician).

Don McKellar
McKellar at the2009 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	(1963-08-17)August 17, 1963 Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Alma mater	University of Toronto
Occupation(s)	Actor, writer, filmmaker
Spouse	Tracy Wright ​ ​ (m.2010;died2010)​

Don McKellarCM(born August 17, 1963) is aCanadianactor, writer, playwright, and filmmaker. He was part of a loosely-affiliated group of filmmakers to emerge fromTorontoknown as theToronto New Wave.

He is known for directing and writing the filmLast Night,which won the Prix de la Jeunesse at the1998 Cannes Film Festival,as well as his screenplays for films likeThirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould,The Red Violin,andBlindness.McKellar frequently acts in his own projects, and has also appeared inAtom Egoyan’sExoticaandDavid Cronenberg’seXistenZandCrimes of the Future.

He is also known for being a fixture on Canadian television, with series includingTwitch City,Odd Job Jack,andSlings & Arrows,as well as writing the book for the popularTony Award-winning musicalThe Drowsy Chaperone.He is an eight-time nominee and two-timeGenie Awardwinner.

Personal life

McKellar was born inToronto,Ontario,the son of Marjorie Kay (Stirrett), a teacher, and John Duncan McKellar, a corporate lawyer.He attended Glenview Senior Public School,Lawrence Park Collegiate Instituteand later studied English at theUniversity of Toronto'sVictoria College.

McKellar married his longtime partner, Canadian actressTracy Wright,on January 3, 2010. Wright died of cancer on June 22, 2010.

Career

McKellar was a founding member of Toronto's Augusta Company,along with his future wifeTracy WrightandDaniel Brooks.

McKellar made his first screen appearance in 1989 inBruce McDonald's filmRoadkill,for which he also wrote the screenplay, earningGenie Awardnominations for best supporting actor and best screenwriter, attracting the attention of many in Canada.Roadkillalso won the Toronto-CitytvAward for best Canadian feature. McKellar collaborated again with McDonald for his 1991 filmHighway 61,writing the screenplay and starring as the barber Pokey Jones. McKellar's work again solicited wide praise, earning him a second Genie nomination for best screenwriter and a nomination for best actor. McKellar and McDonald also spawned the cult classic television seriesTwitch City,in which McKellar starred as Curtis, a television addict and shut-in.

Since his entry into Canadian cinema, McKellar has been involved in numerous projects. He appeared inAtom Egoyan's filmsThe Adjuster(1991) andExotica(1994), the latter of which earned him the Genie for best supporting actor. McKellar collaborated withFrançois Girard,authoring the screenplays for his filmsThirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould(1992) and theAcademy Awardwinning (Best Original Score)The Red Violin(1998), in which McKellar starred alongsideSamuel L. Jackson.He also appeared alongsideJude LawandJennifer Jason LeighinDavid Cronenberg's 1999 filmeXistenZ.In 2008, he wrote and co-starred in thescreen adaptationofJosé Saramago's1995 novelBlindness.

McKellar is also a filmmaker in his own right; his directorial debut,Last Night(1998), which he also wrote and starred in, garnered impressive critical acclaim, winning the Prix de la Jeunesse at theCannes Film Festivaland the Claude Jutra Award at the Genies. His second film,Childstar,opened in 2004 at theToronto International Film Festivalto enthusiastic reviews.

On television, McKellar played Oliver Tapscrew in the 2001 TV children's drama seriesI Was a Rat.He also starred for four seasons in theThe Comedy Networkanimated sitcomOdd Job Jack(2004–2007) as the titular hero Jack Ryder.In 2006, he appeared inKen Finkleman's miniseriesAt the Hotel,received aGemini Awardnomination for his role associalistpoliticianClarence FinesinPrairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Storyand hosted theCBC Radio OneseriesHigh Definition.

McKellar appeared in all three seasons of television'sSlings & Arrowsas theatre director Darren Nichols. The show is co-written byBob Martin,his collaborator on the musicalThe Drowsy Chaperone,for which McKellar won the 2006Tony Award for Best Book of a Musicaland theDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical.Martin and McKellar also cocreated the Canadian television sitcomMichael, Tuesdays and Thursdays,which debuted onCBC Televisionin fall 2011.

In 2016, McKellar was made a Member of theOrder of Canada"for his contributions to Canadian culture as an actor, writer and director".

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Roadkill	Russel, the Serial Killer	Also writer
1991	The Adjuster	Tyler - The Young Censor
1991	Highway 61	Pokey Jones	Also writer
1992	Giant Steps	Real Estate Hucker
1993	Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould	Concert Promoter	Also writer
1993	Coleslaw Warehouse	—	Short film
1994	Exotica	Thomas
1994	Camilla	Security Guard
1994	Arrowhead	Ray Bud	Short film; Mockumentary
1994	Dance Me Outside	—	Writer
1995	When Night Is Falling	Timothy
1996	Never Met Picasso	Jerry
1996	Joe's So Mean to Josephine	Mike
1997	Bach Cello Suite #4: Sarabande	Max	Short film
1998	Last Night	Patrick Wheeler	Also writer and director
1998	The Red Violin	Evan Williams (Montréal)	Also writer
1998	Elimination Dance	Male Dance Partner	Short film; also writer and director
1998	The Herd	Himself	Documentary
1999	Existenz	Yevgeny Nourish
2000	waydowntown	Brad
2000	You Tell Me	—	Short film
2000	This Might Be Good	—	Short film
2000	A Word from the Management	—	Short film; writer and director
2001	The Art of Woo	Nathan
2003	The Event	Matt Shapiro
2003	Public Domain	Host
2004	Clean	Vernon
2004	Childstar	Rick Shiller - the driver	Also writer and director
2005	Where the Truth Lies	Publishing Executive
2006	Monkey Warfare	Dan
2007	Redacted	Criminal Investigator (voice)
2008	Blindness	Thief	Also writer
2008	Green Door	Ron	Short film
2009	Cooking with Stella	Michael Laffont
2010	Scott Pilgrim vs. the World	Director
2010	Trigger	Brian
2010	This Movie Is Broken	—	Writer
2011	I'm Yours	Phil
2013	The Grand Seduction	—	Director
2013	Treading Water	Richard
2013	3 Days in Havana	Pepe
2015	Zoom	Horowitz (voice)
2016	Window Horses	Dietmar (voice)
2017	Blood Honey	Dr. Bert Morrison
2017	Meditation Park	Gabriel
2018	Through Black Spruce	Journalist	Also director
2019	American Woman	Newscaster 1 (voice)
2020	Target Number One	Norm
2020	The Curse of Audrey Earnshaw	Bernard Buckley
2021	The Middle Man	Doctor
2022	Crimes of the Future	Wippet

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	RoboCop	Dr. Newlove	Episode: "Zone Five"
1995	Side Effects	Elaine's Lover	Episode: "Rust Proof"
1995	Taking the Falls	—	Episode: "Elvis has Left the Building"
1997	In the Presence of Mine Enemies	Paul Heller	Television movie
1997	Once a Thief	Sam Francisco	Episode: "Rave On"
1998–2000	Twitch City	Curtis	13 episodes; also writer
1999	The Passion of Ayn Rand	Alfred	Television movie
2001	The Industry	John Kalileah	Episode: "Alan's Ex"
2001	Degrassi: The Next Generation	Keith Barra	2 episodes
2001	I Was a Rat	Oliver Tapscrew	3 episodes
2002	Trudeau	Greenbaum	Television movie
2003–2006	Slings & Arrows	Darren Nichols	13 episodes
2003–2007	Odd Job Jack	Jack Ryder (voice)	52 episodes
2005	Rick Mercer Report	Food Court Patron	Episode #2.8
2006	Prairie Giant	Clarence Fines	2 episodes
2006	At the Hotel	Woody	Episode: "I F***ed Lou Reed"
2008	The Englishman's Boy	Coster	2 episodes
2011	Republic of Doyle	J.J. Murphy	Episode: "A Stand Up Guy"
2011–2017	Michael: Every Day	—	Creator, director, and executive producer
2014–2016	Sensitive Skin	Al Jackson	12 episodes; also director and executive producer
2017	Saving Hope	Dr. Amos Carver	3 episodes
2020	Hey Lady!	Dr. Wolfe	5 episodes
2024	The Sympathizer	—	Writer and executive producer

External links

• Don McKellaratIMDb
• Don McKellarat theInternet Broadway Database