Colin Keith Gray
{{short description|Canadian actor, writer and film director}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2014}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Colin Keith Gray
| birth_name =
| birth_date =
| birth_place = Ann Arbor, Michigan
| death_date =
| other_names = Colin K. Gray, Colin Gray
| nationality = Canadian
| alma_mater=University of Michigan
| occupation = Actor, writer, director
| years_active = 1993–present
| known_for =The Hardy Boys
Freedom's Fury
| relatives = Megan Raney Aarons (sister)
| website = www.gpixer.com
}}
Colin Keith Gray is a Canadian actor, writer and film director. He played Frank Hardy on the TV show The Hardy Boys for thirteen episodes. He is known for directing the documentary film Freedom's Fury.[http://tvarchive.ca/databaae/17197/hardy_boys%2c_the/details/ TV Archive]{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Early life
Gray was born in Ann Arbor, Michigan before his family moved to Ottawa, Ontario.{{cite web|last=Sage|first=Amanda|title=Colin Keith Gray and Megan Raney Aarons, filmmakers|url=http://kickasscanadians.ca/raney-aarons-colin-keith-gray-and-megan|work=Kickass Canadians|publisher=amandasage.ca|accessdate=6 April 2014}}
He played water polo, the sport of his future film Freedom's Fury, for Lisgar Collegiate Institute. Gray also performed in various productions by the Orpheus Musical Theatre Society and at the Ottawa Little Theatre.
After high school, he moved backed to the United States and graduated with degrees in political science and French literature from the University of Michigan, while his sister, Megan Raney Aarons, relocated with his mother to the United Kingdom.
Career
After graduating from Michigan, Gray moved to New York City where he earned a role in the Broadway production of Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story.
In 1995, Gray moved to Toronto to perform as Frank Hardy alongside Paul Popowich as Joe Hardy, the eponymous brothers in the 1995 production of The Hardy Boys.{{cite book|last=Connelly|first=Mark|title=The Hardy Boys Mysteries, 1927-1979: A Cultural and Literary History|year=2008|publisher=McFarland Publishing|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|isbn=978-0-7864-3386-5|page=209}} The show only lasted for one season of thirteen episodes due to poor ratings.
After the show ended, Gray moved to Los Angeles and earned small roles in television shows including Saved by the Bell: The New Class before switching to writing and directing, and establishing WOLO Entertainment with a friend.
Gray and his sister Megan, working in partnership as "The Sibs", wrote and directed Freedom's Fury, a 2006 documentary film about the clash between Hungary and the Soviet Union in the "Blood in the Water match", the water polo semifinal of the 1956 Summer Olympics during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956. Gray's Michigan co-alumnus Lucy Liu, while working on Kill Bill, helped them enlist Quentin Tarantino as co-executive producer with Liu in 2001.{{cite news|last=Sage|first=Amanda|title=Freedom's Fury: The bloodiest game in Olympic history|url=http://ottawaxpress.ca/2006/09/27/freedoms-fury-the-bloodiest-game-in-olympic-history/|accessdate=6 April 2014|newspaper=Xpress|date=27 Sep 2006|archive-url=https://archive.today/20140406195547/http://ottawaxpress.ca/2006/09/27/freedoms-fury-the-bloodiest-game-in-olympic-history/|archive-date=6 April 2014|url-status=dead}} The Canadian premiere earned The Sibs congratulations in the House of Commons of Canada via a private member's statement made by Andrew Telegdi.[http://www.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?Pub=Hansard&Doc=56&Parl=39&Ses=1&Language=E&Mode=1#SOB-1663475 Hansard], House of Commons, 2006 In the year of the film's release, Gray and Aarons were granted Hungary's highest civilian honour, the Knight's Cross Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary.
Gray and his sister now manage GRAiNEY Productions which has undertaken projects including Game Day! College Football to the Max, an IMAX 3D film about college football with Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll serving as executive producer, as well as Redlight a documentary with Lucy Liu about child sex trafficking that features Nobel Peace Prize nominees Mu Sochua and Somaly Mam.
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role !class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1993
| Spencer | Episode "Something for Nothing/The Amateur" (1.12) |
| 1994
| Saved by the Bell: The New Class | Ski Patrolman | Episode "Drinking 101" (2.20) |
| 1995
| Male Friend #1 | Episode "Pretend You Know Me" (1.22) |
| 1995
| Frank Hardy | 13 episodes |
| 1996
| JAG | Lieutenant Teese | Episode "The Brotherhood" (1.12) |
| 1997
| Terrell | Episode "Swing Out Sisters" (4.18) |
| 1999
| Reporter | 3 episodes |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=1312628|name=Colin K. Gray}}
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20140407090402/http://gpixer.com/about gpixer.com], About Us - GRAiNEY Pictures
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, Colin Keith}}
Category:Canadian male television actors
Category:Film directors from Ottawa
Category:20th-century Canadian male actors
Category:21st-century Canadian male actors
Category:Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Hungary
Category:Male actors from Ottawa
Category:University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni