Mackenzie Gray was born and raised in Toronto, Canada. After studying and working in London, England, he completed his training at the University of Toronto. A professional actor for 30 years, he has appeared in over 100 films and television shows, and was a series lead for a year on a major U.S. network. He has worked on stage in Britain, Canada and in the United States in hundreds of plays, musicals and cabarets, has provided many voices for animated films and series and has narrated many documentaries. In addition to performing, Gray is a prolific director, writer and producer in film and theatre. He wrote vignettes and “shorts” for several episodes of Sesame Street and is an accomplished musician. He has written many songs, scores for film and television and was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the popular Toronto rock band The Fridge Stickers. He has won or been nominated for many awards as a performer and in his other disciplines. He is a former board member/director of The Academy Of Canadian Cinema and Television.

A versatile character lead, Gray is currently starring as the sinister “Dr. Krieg” on SMALLVILLE. He recently completed filming the new Antoine Fuqua thriller SHOOTER, the “killer ants on a plane” action film SWARM, Anne Wheeler’s Christmas film THE COMPETITION, the supernatural drama IN HER MOTHER’S FOOTSTEPS and the new ABC series KYLE XY. He had recurring roles on the TV series YOUNG BLADES as the villainous “Lautrec” and on THE COLLECTOR as “The Devil”, for which he received a Leo Award nomination for Best Actor. Recently he has had guest- starring roles on THE EVIDENCE, THE L-WORD, MERLIN’S APPRENTICE and ROMEO. He co-starred with Lou Diamond Phillips in THE TWILIGHT ZONE followed by guest starring opposite Richard Thomas in JUST CAUSE . He created mythic lead characters (in heavy prosthetics) portraying“Skotos, King of the Trolls” in the epic Hallmark fantasy mini-series THE VOYAGE OF THE UNICORN (also earning a Leo Award best actor nomination) and “Minister Kafta” in the pilot for BABYLON 5: LEGEND OF THE RANGERS.

Other guest-starring roles have taken him around the globe and indeed, galaxies for his characters’ origins. Boston was “home” for his roles in the A&E movie WALKING SHADOW and the FOX anthology BEYOND BELIEF ; in ANDROMEDA he plays the dictator of a distant planet; SEVEN DAYS saw Gray as a Russian nuclear scientist; In DA VINCI’S INQUEST he played a Euro-diplomat from Holland; In BEGGARS AND CHOOSERS he played a vain L.A. television critic; Mackenzie played the gold-obsessed “Hal Levant” from St. Louis in the series pilot of Jack London’s classic CALL OF THE WILD; In HOLLYWOOD OFFRAMP Gray performed dual roles (in the same episode) as a psychiatrist from California and a gay make-up artist from New York; In FIRST WAVE he was the military leader of the Gua aliens and in both SHUTTERSPEED and SECRET AGENT MAN he played ”well-bred” villians from the British Isles; Recently, he portrayed an Australian surgeon in the Vietnam MOW WORD OF HONOUR and a jaded British film star in THE BOX, a presentation pilot for HBO.

Mackenzie’s experience as front man for a rock band has been useful for creating characters in several series; In the hit CTV police drama COLD SQUAD he played a decadent English rock star; in BIG SOUND he plays a rock ‘n’roll icon struck with stage fright and he had a recurring lead role as Mackenzie Phillips’ reformed “wild man” guitarist partner “John Kane” in the popular Disney series SO WEIRD. Mackenzie received Leo Award Best Actor nominations for both So Weird and Big Sound.

Gray came to Vancouver in 1998 to play a series lead as “Agent Hearney” on the Columbia TriStar/USA Network series THE NET. While shooting the series Gray performed a number of guest-star roles in other shows, including THE OUTER LIMITS , THE CROW, DEAD MAN’S GUN, VIPER, and WELCOME TO PARADOX, for which he also earned a Leo Award Best Actor nomination. Upon completing THE NET, Mackenzie made Vancouver his base. He works in Toronto (and the rest of the world) whenever possible. Previous (Toronto) television credits include LA FEMME NIKITA, DUE SOUTH, FX: THE SERIES, KUNG FU, COUNTERSTRIKE, FOREVER KNIGHT, the sit-com THE MIGHTY JUNGLE and STREET LEGAL. Mini-series and TV specials include BLUEHAWK, CHASING RAINBOWS, MY TEACHER ATE MY HOMEWORK and THE INCREDIBLE TIME TRAVELS OF HENRY OSGOODE.

Gray’s feature film work includes co-starring roles in DON’T CALL ME TONTO with Michael Moriarty, STRIPSEARCH with Michael Pare and Pam Grier, 2103: THE DEADLY WAKE with Malcolm McDowell, REPLIKATOR with Ned Beatty, SHEPHERD with David Carradine , THE HITCHER II with Jake Busey and FALLING FIRE. Other films include THE WARS, MAFIA PRINCESS and THE LONG KISS GOODNIGHT. Mackenzie frequently performs in independent films, among them lead roles in Carl Bessai’s REM, Rob Wenzek’s THERAPY and OUT OF THE BLUE, Neil Every’s HIGH INCENTIVE and SAY YES, Anne Wheeler’s LEGS APART and the film-fest cult hit THE CELLAR; co-starring roles in TILL DEATH DO YOU PART, SECRET LIVES, PART OF THE GAME, LUCKY STARS, RIDING THE BUS, NO CONSEQUENCE and THE ARTIST’S CIRCLE . Recently he wrote, directed and acted in the short films UNDER THE BRIDGE OF FEAR and LOW. He has just composed and recorded the title song and score for a new film, GRACELAND, in which he also plays the lead.

Mackenzie also works extensively as a “voice” performer. He has just recorded several lead roles in animated feature films. Notable among these are “Long John Silver” in TREASURE ISLAND, “Professor Henry” in MY FAIR MADELINE and the dual lead roles of “Doctor Nightingale” and “Adrian Rourke” in GROOVE SQUAD. Other animated films include TONY HAWK, BEN HUR (with Charlton Heston) and THE ARK . He has recurring roles on the animated TV series STARGATE : INFINITY, ACTION MAN, EVOLUTION and NASCAR RACERS. Others include TETSUJIN, MASTER KEATON, SHERLOCK HOLMES IN THE 21ST CENTURY, LOST CONTINENT, MADELINE, MARY-KATE AND ASHLEY, MASTER KEATON and JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH.

Documentary work includes voices or narration for THE SPIRIT WRESTLERS, THIS IS THE END OF ME, NO PRICE TOO HIGH, and singing and narration of the popular Quebec children’s series GAELE. Gray has performed on many DVD’s, Video/Computer Games and Film Trailers. He can be heard on countless radio, television and cinema commercials all over Canada, the U.S.A. and Europe.

On stage, Gray played to frenzied audiences and critical acclaim in the lead role of “Dr. Frank n’Furter” in the 21st anniversary revival of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW. Other lead roles include “Shakespeare” in BOXING SHAKESPEARE, “Clive” in CLOUD NINE , “Lord Byron” in BLOODY POETRY,“Dr. Frankenstein” in PLAYING WITH FIRE, “MacHeath” in THE THREEPENNY OPERA and “Danton” in DANTON’S DEATH. Shakespearian work includes “Leontes” in THE WINTER’S TALE , “Don Pedro” in MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, “Malcolme” in MACBETH , “Lord Capulet” in ROMEO AND JULIET and“Achilles” in TROILUS AND CRESSIDA.

He won rave reviews in Videocabaret’s award-winning plays THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MACKENZIE KING and THE GREAT WAR, in which he played twenty-one roles. Mackenzie recently directed THE SONNETS for Savage God’s The Shakespeare Project. He was an assistant director at The Stratford Festival and The Canadian Stage Company, produced the award-winning hit play UNIDENTIFIED HUMAN REMAINS AND THE TRUE NATURE OF LOVE, wrote and directed the THE SNOW MAIDEN Ballet/Opera at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in Toronto and has directed and produced over 25 plays.
 
 

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