He was “the Olivier of spoofs,” as film critic Roger Ebert once called him.
That funny, funny man, Leslie Nielsen, was born on the Canadian prairies, in Regina, Saskatchewan, and raised in the remote Northwest Territories, where his father was an RCMP officer. He graduated from a performing arts high school in Edmonton, Alberta, and immediately enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, training as an aerial gunner during WWII. Legally deaf (he wore hearings aids) and underage, he was never sent overseas.
He worked briefly as a disc jockey and studied radio broadcasting in Toronto, before receiving a scholarship to study acting in New York. It was the golden age of television in the 1950s, and Nielsen appeared in no less than 46 live TV shows in 1950 alone. In his long career, he appeared in over 100 films and more than 150 TV shows.
Nielsen was a generic, character actor for many, many years, until the smash hit Airplane! from 1980 rebooted his career. He was deadpan comedic gold in the film, delivering what is often considered one of the best comedic lines in film history – when asked “Surely you can’t be serious,” Nielsen responded, “I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.” Police Squad!, The Naked Gun series, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, spoof after uproarious spoof followed. Nielsen had found his form and was loved for it.
Leslie Nielsen died of pneumonia in 2010. He was 84 years old.
Barry Pepper hails from the small town of Campbell River, British Columbia. In his youth, his family decided to sail around the world for five years, eventually returning and setting up a home on Denman Island, British Columbia. Without electrical entertainment, the family performed skits for one another; this shaped Barry Pepper.
A talented character actor, often playing charismatic and gritty bad boys, Pepper’s breakout role was in Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan. He’s gone on to have roles in such films as The Green Mile, We Were Soldiers, Flags of Our Fathers, True Grit and the Maze Runner series. Pepper won an Emmy Award and a Gemini (the Canadian equivalent of an Emmy) in 2011 for his portrayal of Robert Kennedy in the miniseries, The Kennedys. He can currently be seen in the film Bitter Harvest, and the next installment of Maze Runner hits theaters next year.
Photo: NBCUniversal
40. Matthew Perry
Chandler is Canadian.
Before landing the role of Chandler Bing on the TV phenomenon that was Friends, Matthew Perry was born in Williamstown, Massachusetts to a Canadian journalist mom and an American actor dad. His parents divorced when he was just a wee babe, and he returned to Ottawa, Ontario, with his mother. At 15, he relocated to Los Angeles, already knowing that the wanted to pursue acting.
Perry had guest appearances and minor roles in many shows, before landing the life-altering role of Chandler Bing on Friends. It’s been a hard act to follow. Perry has struggled with addiction throughout his career. He could recently be seen on the CBS sitcom, The Odd Couple.
Arguably, the greatest classically trained, Shakespearean actor to come out of North America in the 20th century, Christopher Plummer is a heavyweight on the Canadian and international scene. Plummer was born in Toronto, Ontario, but raised just outside of Montreal in Senneville, Quebec, and had ambitions to be a classical pianist before the acting bug took hold.
With a career now spanning over six decades, Plummer has tried a bit of everything – big screens, little screens, big stages, indie stages, behind-the-scenes, classics, comedies, sci-fis, musicals, yeah, the man has done it all. He performed on Broadway, winning two Tony Awards. He performed numerous times at the world-renowned Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario, and appeared with the Royal Shakespeare Company in England. Plummer has two Emmys under his belt, as well as a Golden Globe and a BAFTA. He starred in one of the most popular and highest grossing films of all time, namely The Sound of Music, in a role which he loves to hate.
And in 2012 – it was a very long time coming – Christopher Plummer finally won a well-deserved Oscar for his role in Beginners. He is the oldest actor to ever win an Academy Award; he was 82 at the time. He’s now 87 and still going strong.
Jason Priestley has a twin sister in real life, so it was perhaps in the cards that he should play a twin on the series that would launch him into teen idol status, namely all-round good boy, Brandon Walsh on Beverly Hills, 90210. Before the international fame from 90210, Priestley was just a Canadian boy, living in North Vancouver, British Columbia, playing hockey, doing some commercials and getting minor roles in various shows.
After his long-running stint on 90210, he’s guest-starred in many television programs as well as starred in many television movies. Priestley can currently be seen in the Canadian comedy-drama series, Private Eyes.
Photo: Paramount Pictures
43. Keanu Reeves
An internationally recognized star, Keanu Reeves was born in Beirut, Lebanon, to a British mum and an American dad, but grew up in Toronto, Ontario. School was always difficult. His mother had many relationships with many men and moved around a lot. Reeves is dyslexic, so that didn’t help him scholastically. He never finished high school.
By the age of nine, though, he was already acting in theater productions. After leaving school, Reeves headed to New York to live with an ex-stepfather, who was a stage and television director. His acting career began to take off, finding roles in many teen movies. Reeves starred in the surprise hit Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, eventually moving out of the teen film genre with the blockbusters Point Break and Speed. Despite the blockbusters, Reeves always makes time for indie films and theater work, as well as for playing with his band Dogstar. He was the star of The Matrix trilogy, an international megahit. He was the romantic lead with Sandra Bullock in The Lake House.
John Wick: Chapter 2, starring Reeves as the titular character, is currently in theaters worldwide.
A bona fide Hollywood star, Reynolds was born and raised on Canada’s west coast, in Vancouver, British Columbia. After starring in Hillside, a Canadian teen drama series, his major breakthrough occurred with the series Two Guys and a Girl, which ultimately launched his jump from the small screen to the big.
He’s played goofy guys, scary guys, good guys, butt-kicking action heroes, yeah, a wide assortment of roles. His latest comic book incarnation, Deadpool, earned him a Golden Globe nomination last year. He’s married to fellow Hollywood star, Blake Lively. They have two children. People magazine named Reynolds the Sexiest Dad Alive in 2016.
The son of British actor Alan Scarfe and Canadian actress Sara Botsford, Jonathan Scarfe was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He decided at an early age that school was not for him, so by the age of 16, he had dropped out of school and was working at the internationally renowned Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario. There, he apprenticed in acting and he’s been acting ever since.
Scarfe’s had a host of lead and recurring roles to his credit, including E.R., Hell on Wheels, Van Helsing, Ties that Bind, just to name a few. And, naturally, his handsome face has been seen on the Hallmark Channel.
The beautiful Uncas from The Last of the Mohicans was played by Eric Schweig, an Inuit and Ojibwe/Anishinaabe Aboriginal Canadian. It was a role that endeared him to many a female and landed him on People magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People list in 1993. It was a long way from his troubled beginnings.
Born in Canada’s great white north, in Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Eric Schweig was adopted at the early age of six months, as part of the Canadian government’s attempt at forced assimilation, whereby Inuit and Aboriginal children were adopted into white families. Schweig never knew his mother; she died of alcoholism and a broken heart after every one of her seven children were forcibly removed from her care. He ran away from home at the age of 16, headed to Toronto and just tried to make ends meet. It was here he discovered acting.
After his breakthrough in The Last of the Mohicans, he had other roles, both large and small, in such films as Squanto: A Warrior’s Tale and Tom and Huck, but the psychological scarring from his childhood caught up with him. Schweig struggled with alcoholism for many years. Now sober, he’s a vocal advocate for Aboriginal issues, works with the homeless in his hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia, and he’s acting again. He recently starred in the Canadian TV series Blackstone.
William Shatner was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, eventually graduating from the renowned local university, McGill, with a degree in commerce. After graduation, Shatner joined the Canadian National Repertory Theater in Ottawa, Canada’s capital. Here, he trained as a classical Shakespearean actor, performing at the world-renowned Stratford Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Ontario. TV work followed, lots of guest appearances, as well as stints on Broadway.
Shatner landed the role of Captain Kirk for the original run of Star Trek from 1966-69, and when the popularity of the show grew and grew into a pop culture icon, he reprised the role for many movies. But the popularity of the show and of the character Captain Kirk made it difficult, at times, for Shatner to find other work. He was typecast; he was always Captain Kirk.
During the 80s, Shatner starred as the titular character in the cop series T.J. Hooker along with a young Heather Locklear. He’s had recurring roles and guest-starred in many TV shows. His recurring role on The Practice won him an Emmy and morphed into a leading role in the spin-off series Boston Legal, which also won him an Emmy and a Golden Globe. He’s 86 years old and still putting in appearances on the big and little screens.
A familiar face to faithful fans of the Hallmark Channel’s When Calls the Heart, Kavan Smith was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. He briefly attended the University of Calgary in southern Alberta, before dropping out to pursue performing arts at Mount Royal University, also located in Calgary.
Upon graduation, Smith moved to Vancouver, British Columbia and has since had a steady career in film and television. He’s had recurring roles on the TV series The 4400 and Stargate Atlantis, not to mention that he is something of a Hallmark heartthrob, playing Leland Coulter in When Calls the Heart, and starring in a number of Hallmark’s original romantic comedies.
At the height of its popularity, fans of the critically acclaimed series Felicity discussed, with much fervor, Felicity’s love interests. Ben or Noel?
Dearest Ben was played by Scott Speedman. Speedman was born in London, England, to a Scottish family. His family then immigrated to Canada when he was four, and he grew up in Toronto, Ontario. Speedman – in his youth – was a member of the Canadian Junior National Swim Team, but an injury forced him to leave the sport, although there were many shots in Felicity of Ben getting out of pools…
Speedman has had pretty steady work since Felicity, although none with the same success and renown, and can currently be seen in TNT’s Animal Kingdom.
Yes, the man, whom Lorelei on Gilmore Girls never could seem to purge from her life, is Canadian.
David Sutcliffe was born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, and raised in Ontario. He studied English literature at the University of Toronto, playing varsity basketball until an injury forced him to stop.
He’s guest-starred and had recurring roles in many TV shows, including Gilmore Girls, Cracked, Proof.
And if you look really closely, he’s the love interest, who finally shows up for Frances right at the end there, in Under the Tuscan Sun.
One of the grand old men of the Canadian screen, Donald Sutherland was born in Saint John, New Brunswick, spent his teen years in Nova Scotia, studied engineering and drama at the University of Toronto in Ontario, and upon graduation headed to London to further study acting. He has never looked back.
Sutherland has had a long and distinguished career in television, film and theater. He was Hawkeye in the original MASH, he was Mr. Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, he was in the original Buffy movie, he’s the vile President Snow in The Hunger Games series, and on and on it goes. Sutherland is an Officer of the Order of Canada. He won a Golden Globe and an Emmy for his work in the TV film Citizen X. He picked up another Golden Globe for his role in Path to War. A Hollywood star along the walk of fame has his name on it. Sutherland is the father of five children from two marriages.
Born in London, England to Canadian actor parents Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland is the grandson of Tommy Douglas. Canadians love this little bit of trivia.
Don’t know who Tommy Douglas is? Not surprising. Widely considered the greatest Canadian ever to have lived, Tommy Douglas was the socialist politician who spearheaded and created Canada’s universal healthcare system. And he’s Kiefer’s grandpa.
Kiefer Sutherland grew up in southern Ontario and Toronto. He followed in his parents’ footsteps, pursuing acting as a career. He has a whack-load of work under his belt, including Stand by Me, The Lost Boys, Young Guns, A Few Good Men, A Time to Kill, The Three Musketeers and many more. Sutherland is Jack Bauer, the longsuffering hero of the widely popular, critically acclaimed TV series, 24. It’s a role that earned him an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
Sutherland can currently be seen on Designated Survivor, the socialist’s grandson is playing the president of the United States.
“You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life, the facts of life…” Besides being an actor and game show host, Alan Thicke was a gifted composer, who wrote the catchy theme songs to the hit TV shows The Facts of Life and Diff’rent Strokes.
Born and raised in Ontario, Thicke attended the University of Western Ontario. Always an affable and charming fellow, Thicke hosted several game shows and talk shows in his long career. The Alan Thicke Show was standard daytime viewing for many Canadians in the early 80s. In 1985, Thicke landed the role of the dad on Growing Pains, Jason Seaver, a role he had for seven seasons on the popular series.
Thicke went on to host and guest-star, with roles in many movies and series. In December of last year, while playing hockey with his son in Burbank, California, Alan Thicke suddenly collapsed and died; his aorta had broken apart. He was 69 years old.
Photo: Hallmark Channel
54. Andrew Walker
A Hallmark Channel heartthrob, Andrew Walker was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, where he got his first taste of acting in the Canadian series, Student Bodies. This lead to more acting work in such series as Back to Sherwood, Radio Active, Maybe It’s Me and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. He’s guest-starred and had recurring roles on many shows, made many television movies and starred in his fair share of Hallmark Channel original films.
A native of Calgary, Alberta, Victor Webster moved with his family to California at the age of 13. It was there that the acting bug started. Eventually, he did a stint on Days of Our Lives, starred in the Emmy Award-winning series, The Lot, had a lead role in Mutant X, played Phoebe’s true love, Coop, in the final season of Charmed, landed a role on Melrose Place, and on it goes. Recently, he starred in Continuum and has been seen in more than a few Hallmark Channel original films.
He’s not an actor, although his political opponents and vocal critics will accuse him as such. And he did apparently once teach high school drama. But he has won the hearts of many around the world.
Justin Trudeau is the current Prime Minister of Canada, the son of a former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau. His father stems from Quebec and his mother from British Columbia. So, he’s grown up embracing Canada’s east and west, as well as its two official languages, French and English. He eventually chose to follow in his late father’s footsteps and enter politics; he won a seat in parliament in 2008. By 2013, Trudeau was leader of the Liberal Party, the official opposition in parliament. After a federal election in 2015, his party won a majority government, landing him in the Prime Minister’s office.
Currently, he is 45 years old, married to Sophie, and a father of three young children.
Any thoughts on Canada on this Canada Day? Who are your Canadian Crushes?
Editorial Note: This article is from our contributor archives and has been lightly edited and updated by us. Since 2021, The Silver Petticoat Review has been exclusively written by Amber & Autumn Topping. See About Us.
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A lover of words, stories and storytellers since her youth and just plain curious by nature, Jessica embarked on a very long academic journey that took her across a continent (from Canada's west coast to its east) and even to the other side of the globe, where she currently lives an expat existence in Denmark. She now trails many fancy initials behind her name, if she ever cares to use them, and continues to be ever so curious. She's a folklorist, a mother, a wife, a middle child, a small town girl, a beekeeper, an occasional quilter, a jam-maker. She curates museum exhibits, gets involved in many cultural projects for this and that, collects oral histories when she can find the time and continues to love stories in all their many and varied forms. The local librarians all know her by name.
8 thoughts on “Canuck Cuties for 150 Years: 55 Canadian Crushes for Canada Day”
What a great list. I found myself reading it thinking, “so he’s Canadian..” with so many of these. Plus, I had no idea so many of Hallmark actors are Canadian!
Thanks — my work is done, if I’ve enlightened others as to the many Canadians who are out there (-: And Hallmark shoots many of their series and films in Canada, so that’s probably why they’ve got so very many Canadians in their programs…There could also be something with funding — if they’re getting Canadian funds, they probably need to have a certain percentage of locals working for them on and off the screen…
Fun list! I had no idea that so many of these actors were from Canada! Very cool. 😀
Thanks!
OMG this list is perrrrfect! Eric Schweig! Yannick Bisson who I loved on Sue Thomas FBI. Lucas Bryant. *GULP*. Godfrey Gao – oh helllooo! Great job!
Thanks. And here I figured that I was the only one who remembered Yannick on Sue Thomas F.B.Eye (-:
Aww! I have so many crushes on this list! Stephen (I mean, I fangirl so hard for Arrow even though I’m *way* behind on its current seasons right now); Nathan (I mean, who didn’t love Castle??); Yannick (his Murdoch is TOO cute); Andrew is one of my favorite leading men in Hallmark; and of course, Gilbert aka Jonathan Crombie. *Swoon*
Oh, yes! And Ryan Reynolds, too. 😉
I was surprised myself with how many lovely men were Canadian — and I’m Canadian! So it was fun to research this list (-:
What a great list. I found myself reading it thinking, “so he’s Canadian..” with so many of these. Plus, I had no idea so many of Hallmark actors are Canadian!
Thanks — my work is done, if I’ve enlightened others as to the many Canadians who are out there (-: And Hallmark shoots many of their series and films in Canada, so that’s probably why they’ve got so very many Canadians in their programs…There could also be something with funding — if they’re getting Canadian funds, they probably need to have a certain percentage of locals working for them on and off the screen…
Fun list! I had no idea that so many of these actors were from Canada! Very cool. 😀
Thanks!
OMG this list is perrrrfect! Eric Schweig! Yannick Bisson who I loved on Sue Thomas FBI. Lucas Bryant. *GULP*. Godfrey Gao – oh helllooo! Great job!
Thanks. And here I figured that I was the only one who remembered Yannick on Sue Thomas F.B.Eye (-:
Aww! I have so many crushes on this list! Stephen (I mean, I fangirl so hard for Arrow even though I’m *way* behind on its current seasons right now); Nathan (I mean, who didn’t love Castle??); Yannick (his Murdoch is TOO cute); Andrew is one of my favorite leading men in Hallmark; and of course, Gilbert aka Jonathan Crombie. *Swoon*
Oh, yes! And Ryan Reynolds, too. 😉
I was surprised myself with how many lovely men were Canadian — and I’m Canadian! So it was fun to research this list (-: