Tom McCamus
{{short description|Canadian film and theatre actor (born 1955)}}
{{infobox person
| image =
| imagesize = 150px
| name = Tom McCamus
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1955|7|25}}
| birth_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
| occupation = Actor
| yearsactive = 1982–present
}}
Tom McCamus (born July 25, 1955[https://www.northernstars.ca/mccamus_tom/ Tom McCamus' bio] at www.northernstars.ca) is a Canadian film and theatre actor. A sought-after stage performer, he is most widely known for his works on the television show Mutant X and drama film Room.[https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/room-2015 Room review] by Susan Wloszczyna at rogerebert.com
Early life
McCamus was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, the eldest son of a Labatt executive and a library science professor.{{cite news |last=Crook |first=Barbara |date=January 2, 1988 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/463626335/ | title=For this actor, variety's the spice of his profession |newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen |page=C1–C6 {{subscription required|via=newspapers.com}}}} He was brought up in London, Ontario from the age of ten. Originally destining himself to be a writer or a teacher, he found an interest in theatre when he took a drama class at Oakridge Secondary School. He subsequently landed a small role in a version of Antigone staged by the local Theatre London's Young Company, and went on to attend the University of Windsor's school of dramatic art.{{cite news |last =Currie | first =Rod |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/736893341/ |title=Peter Pan is real fly guy | work=The Winnipeg Sun |agency=Canadian Press |page =29 |date=May 3, 1987}}
Career
=Theatre=
McCamus moved to Toronto in 1980 and settled into a steady theatre career, spending his winters there while transplanting to Niagara-on-the-Lake in the summer, as a member of the famed Shaw Festival troupe. He became one of the country's more in-demand stage players, earning particular notice for his leading role in a complex staging of Peter Pan, which debuted in 1987 and returned by popular demand for the 1988 season. He is also known for his performance in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night, one of the Stratford Festival's historic plays.[https://www.britishtheatreguide.info/reviews/long-day-s-jour-stratford-festi-19562 Long Day’s Journey into Night] at www.britishtheatreguide.info He received further praise when he performed triple duty during the 1998 edition of the festival, acting as Marcus Brutus in Julius Caesar, Don John in Much Ado About Nothing, and one of the tramps in Waiting for Godot.{{cite news |last=Portman |first=Jamie |date=May 14, 1998 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/465769112/ | title=An assassin, a trickster and a tramp |newspaper=The Ottawa Citizen |page=F2 {{subscription required|via=newspapers.com}}}} He has performed multiple role in several other seasons,{{cite encyclopedia | url =https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tom-mccamus | title =Tom McCamus | last1 =Garebian | first1 =Keith | encyclopedia =The Canadian Encyclopedia | access-date =May 29, 2023}} such as 2010, when he returned to Peter Pan—this time as Captain Hook—and played Valmont in Dangerous Liaisons.[https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2010/07/30/stratford_star_mccamus_shines_when_its_dark.html "Stratford star McCamus shines when it’s dark"] by Richard Ouzounian at www.thestar.com
In 1994, McCamus won what was then Canada's top theatre accolade, the Dora Award for Best Leading Actor, for his performance in Abundance,{{cite web | url =https://ggagency.ca/mccamus/ | title =Tom McCamus | author= | website =ggaagency.ca | access-date =May 29, 2023}} earning additional nominations on prior and later occasions, including 1992 when he was nominated alongside his wife Chick Reid.{{cite news |last=MacInnis |first=Craig |date=May 23, 1993 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/947061726/ | title=Cannes loves our man in a uniform |newspaper=The Toronto Star |page=C1–C4 {{subscription required|via=newspapers.com}}}}
=Film and television=
Following a few TV appearances beginning in 1985, McCamus made his film debut in director Paul Donovan's time-travel comedy A Switch in Time (1989). He garnered positive reviews for his role as a mental patient in the historical drama Beautiful Dreamers, before earning wide acclaim as struggling actor Henry Adler in David Wellington's 1993 film I Love a Man in Uniform. For his performance, he won the Genie Award for Best Actor,[https://playbackonline.ca/1994/01/03/3134-19940103/ "Genies broadcast"] at playbackonline.ca and earned more positive reviews from the international press when the film was shown at Cannes' Directors' Fortnight. McCamus has been nominated for the Genie Award on two occasions since, for Wellington's Long Day's Journey into Night (1996), in which he reprised his stage role, and for the Oscar-nominated The Sweet Hereafter (1997), directed by Atom Egoyan.[https://ew.com/article/1997/11/28/sweet-hereafter-3/ The Sweet Hereafter review] by Owen Gleiberman at ew.com
McCamus came to the attention of a wider audience playing the villainous Mason Eckhart in the Marvel TV series Mutant X. Although McCamus proved sufficiently popular that he appeared in every episode of the first season, something that was not originally planned, he quit the show to star as Richard III and Mack the Knife at the Stratford Festival. He only returned to Mutant X to make occasional appearances in the second and third seasons.[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/hes-one-busy-line-learner/article4133280/ "He's one busy line-learner"] by Kate Taylor at www.theglobeandmail.com
In 2005, McCamus starred in the CBC film Waking Up Walter: The Walter Gretzky Story as famous hockey dad Walter Gretzky, for which he won Best Actor honors at both the ACTRA Awards and the Gemini Awards. Other notable screen appearances include Shake Hands with the Devil (2007), and the Ken Finkleman miniseries At the Hotel (2006). He appeared in the 2019 season of CBC's Street Legal in a supporting role.[https://www.radiotimes.com/programme/b-90dgsl/street-legal/ Street Legal] at www.radiotimes.com
Personal life
McCamus is married to theatre and occasional TV actress Chick Reid,[https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/stage/2017/05/27/dramatic-monarchy-comes-to-life-in-elaborate-shaw-festival-production-review.html "Tom McCamus shines in Madness of King George III at Shaw Festival: review"] at www.thestar.com a fellow alumn of the Shaw Festival troupe. They live in Warkworth, Ontario.
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable" | |||
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | And Then You Die | Jimmy | |
| 1988 | data-sort-value="Switch in Time, A" | A Switch in Time | Norman | Also known as Norman's Awesome Experience |
| 1988-1989 | Friday the 13th: The Series | Atticus Rook / Frank Edwards | 2 episodes |
| 1990 | Beautiful Dreamers | Leonard Thomas | |
| 1993 | I Love a Man in Uniform | Henry Adler | |
| 1993 | Guilty as Sin | Ray Schiff | |
| 1994 | data-sort-value="Circle Game, The" | The Circle Game | Frank | |
| 1996 | Great Performances | Edmund Tyrone | Episode: "Long Day's Journey into Night" |
| 1997 | data-sort-value="Sweet Hereafter, The" | The Sweet Hereafter | Sam | |
| 1997 | Bach Cello Suite #6: Six Gestures | J.S. Bach | |
| 1998 | Last Night | Radio D.J. | Voice |
| 1999 | data-sort-value="Passion of Ayn Rand, The" | The Passion of Ayn Rand | Richard | TV movie |
| 2000 | data-sort-value="Spreading Ground, The" | The Spreading Ground | Johnny Gault | |
| 2000 | Possible Worlds | George Barber | |
| 2000 | data-sort-value="Claim, The" | The Claim | Burn | |
| 2000 | Foreign Objects | TV series | |
| 2001 | Century Hotel | Nicholas | |
| 2001-2004 | Mutant X | Mason Eckhart | 26 episodes |
| 2002 | Steal | Jerry | |
| 2002 | data-sort-value="Nature of Nicholas, The" | The Nature of Nicholas | Father | |
| 2002 | Perfect Pie | Don Rayford | |
| 2003 | Trinity | Dr. Clerval | |
| 2003 | data-sort-value="Newsroom, The" | The Newsroom | Bob Daniels | Episode: "Death 1, George 0" |
| 2004 | Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen | Calum | |
| 2004 | Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning | Wallace Rowlands | |
| 2004 | Siblings | Mr. Phillips | |
| 2005 | Black Widow | Detective Pressman | |
| 2007 | Shake Hands with the Devil | Phil Lancaster | |
| 2008 | Killshot | Paul Scallen / FBI Chief | |
| 2009 | Cairo Time | Mark | |
| 2009-10 | Spliced | Lord Wingus Eternum | |
| 2012 | data-sort-value="Samaritan, The" | The Samaritan | Deacon | |
| 2014-2015 | Orphan Black | Dr. Nealon | 7 episodes |
| 2015 | King John | King John | |
| 2015 | Antony and Cleopatra | Enobarbus | |
| 2015 | Room | Leo | |
| 2019 | data-sort-value="Tempest, The" | The Tempest | Stephano | |
| 2019 | Coriolanus | Menenius Agrippa |
Awards
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0564805|Tom McCamus}}
{{ACCT Best Actor}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCamus, Tom}}
Category:Canadian male film actors
Category:Canadian male television actors
Category:Canadian male voice actors
Category:Male actors from London, Ontario
Category:Male actors from Winnipeg
Category:University of Windsor alumni
Category:Dora Mavor Moore Award winners
Category:Best Actor Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
Category:Canadian male Shakespearean actors