Personal life

McKellar was born in Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

, Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

 to a lawyer father and teacher mother. He attended Glenview Senior Public School, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute

Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute

Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute is a high school in the Lawrence Park neighbourhood of Toronto. It is a non-semestered school and focuses mainly on academics, drama, music, and visual arts, featuring strong French extended and immersion streams....

 and later studied English at the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

's Victoria College

Victoria University in the University of Toronto

Victoria University is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1836 and named for Queen Victoria. It is commonly called Victoria College, informally Vic, after the original academic component that now forms its undergraduate division...

. After beginning his career in the theatre, McKellar was lured into the realm of Canadian cinema, where he has since become a ubiquitous presence.

McKellar was married to Canadian actress Tracy Wright

Tracy Wright

Tracy Wright was a Canadian actress who was known for her stage and film performances, as well as her presence in Canada's avant-garde for over 20 years...

 on January 3, 2010. Wright died from cancer on June 22, 2010.

Career

McKellar made his first screen appearance in 1989 in Bruce McDonald's film Roadkill, for which he also wrote the screenplay. McKellar's work on Roadkill earned him Genie Award

Genie Award

Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...

 nominations for best supporting actor and best screenwriter, attracting the attention of many in Canada. Roadkill also won the Toronto-Citytv

Citytv

Citytv is a Canadian English language television system owned and operated by Rogers Communications under its Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. division...

 Award for best Canadian feature.

McKellar collaborated again with McDonald for his 1991 film Highway 61, writing the screenplay and playing the starring role as the barber Pokey Jones. Again McKellar's work solicited wide praise, earning him a second Genie nomination for best screenwriter and a nomination for best actor. McKellar's most recent collaboration with McDonald spawned the cult classic television series Twitch City

Twitch City

Twitch City is a Canadian sitcom produced by CBC Television. The series aired as two short runs in 1998 and 2000. The series also aired in the United States on Bravo, and in Australia....

, in which McKellar played the starring role of Curtis, a television addict and shut-in.

Since his entry into Canadian cinema, McKellar has also been involved in numerous projects. He appeared in Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan, OC is a critically acclaimed Armenian-Canadian stage director and film director. Egoyan made his career breakthrough with Exotica...

's films The Adjuster

The Adjuster

The Adjuster is a 1991 Canadian drama film directed by Atom Egoyan. It premiered at the New York Film Festival.The Adjuster tells the story of an insurance adjuster who becomes intimate with his clients. The adjuster initially appears to want to help his clients but as the movie unfolds it is clear...

(1991) and Exotica

Exotica (film)

Exotica is a 1994 Canadian film set primarily in and around the Exotica strip club in Toronto, Canada. It was written and directed by Atom Egoyan. Music used includes "Montagues and Capulets".-Synopsis:...

(1994), the latter of which earned him the Genie for best supporting actor. McKellar collaborated with François Girard

François Girard

François Girard is a French-Canadian director and screenwriter particularly noted for his innovative film Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould. Born in Quebec, Girard's career began on the Montreal art video circuit...

, authoring the screenplays for his films Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould

Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould is an award-winning 1993 film about the piano prodigy Glenn Gould played by Colm Feore. The film's screenplay was written by François Girard and Don McKellar....

(1992), and the Academy Award

Academy Awards

An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...

 winning (Best Original Score) The Red Violin

The Red Violin

The Red Violin is a 1998 Canadian drama film directed by François Girard. It spans three centuries and five countries as it tells the story of a mysterious violin and its many owners...

(1998), in which McKellar starred alongside Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...

. He also appeared alongside Jude Law

Jude Law

David Jude Heyworth Law , known professionally as Jude Law, is an English actor, film producer and director.He began acting with the National Youth Music Theatre in 1987, and had his first television role in 1989...

 and Jennifer Jason Leigh

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Jennifer Jason Leigh is an American film and stage actress, best known for her roles in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Single White Female, Last Exit to Brooklyn, Georgia and Short Cuts...

 in David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg

David Paul Cronenberg, OC, FRSC is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the...

's 1999 film eXistenZ

EXistenZ

eXistenZ is a 1999 body horror/science fiction film by Canadian director David Cronenberg. It stars Jennifer Jason Leigh and Jude Law....

.

McKellar has emerged as a filmmaker in his own right; his directorial debut, Last Night (1998), garnered impressive critical acclaim, winning the Prix de la Jeunesse at the Cannes Film Festival

Cannes Film Festival

The Cannes International Film Festival , is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films of all genres including documentaries from around the world. Founded in 1946, it is among the world's most prestigious and publicized film festivals...

 and the Claude Jutra Award at the Genies. In 2001 he played the role of Oliver Tapscrew in the TV children's drama series I Was a Rat

I Was a Rat (TV series)

I Was a Rat is a UK children's drama series broadcast on BBC One in autumn 2001 based on the popular children's book I Was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers by Philip Pullman. It was aired in the Sunday tea-time slot which traditionally accommodates a children's drama series in the run-up to Christmas...

, whilst in 2004, his second film, Childstar

Childstar

Childstar is a 2004 comedy film directed and written by Don McKellar. It was screened at several film festivals between September 2004 and July 2005.-Plot:...

, opened at the Toronto International Film Festival

Toronto International Film Festival

The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...

 to enthusiastic reviews.

McKellar also stars in the animated sitcom Odd Job Jack

Odd Job Jack

Odd Job Jack was a Canadian animated comedy television show featuring Don McKellar, about one man's misadventures in temporary employment. Seen on and produced for the The Comedy Network, a cable specialty channel, and shown on Adult Swim in Latin America, the show is currently finished its...

as the titular hero, Jack Ryder. As of 2006 the show is in production of its fourth season on The Comedy Network

The Comedy Network

The Comedy Network a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel owned by Bell Media specializing in comedy programming.The channel operates two time shifted feeds, East and West ....

.

McKellar has appeared in all three seasons of television's Slings & Arrows, as Darren Nichols, a pretentious theatre director. The show is co-written by Bob Martin

Bob Martin (comedian)

Bob Martin is a writer, actor, and comedian from Toronto, Ontario, Canada born in England circa 1963. He has both performed in and written many TV shows. He also provides the voice of Cuddles the comfort doll on the Canadian TV show Puppets Who Kill, aired on The Comedy Network.He starred in the...

, who collaborated with McKellar on the musical The Drowsy Chaperone

The Drowsy Chaperone

The Drowsy Chaperone is a musical with book by Bob Martin and Don McKellar and music and lyrics by Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison. It debuted in 1998 at The Rivoli in Toronto and opened on Broadway on 1 May 2006. The show won the Tony Award for Best Book and Best Score. It started as a spoof of old...

. Martin and McKellar also cocreated the Canadian television sitcom Michael, Tuesdays and Thursdays, scheduled to debut on CBC Television

CBC Television

CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

 in fall 2011.

In 2006, he appeared in Ken Finkleman

Ken Finkleman

Ken Finkleman is a Canadian television and film writer, producer and actor.In Canada, Finkleman is best known as the writer, creator and producer of the CBC Television series The Newsroom, in which he starred as television news producer George Findlay...

's miniseries At The Hotel

At The Hotel

At the Hotel is a Canadian drama-comedy-musical mini-series concerning the goings-on at an illustrious Montreal hotel, known for its favourable treatment of struggling artists. Created by Ken Finkleman and produced by One Hundred Percent Television, the series aired on CBC Television in 2006. The...

. In June 2006 he won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical

Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical

The Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical is awarded to librettists of the spoken, non-sung dialogue, and storyline of a musical play. Eligibility is restricted to works with original narrative framework; plotless revues and revivals are ineligible...

 and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical

The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical is presented by the Drama Desk, a committee which comprises New York City theatre critics, writers, and editors...

 for The Drowsy Chaperone. He received a Gemini Award

Gemini Award

The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...

 nomination for his role as socialist politician

Politician

A politician, political leader, or political figure is an individual who is involved in influencing public policy and decision making...

 Clarence Fines

Clarence Fines

Clarence Melvin Fines was provincial treasurer of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan during the Tommy Douglas era, and also served as Deputy Premier....

 in Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story.

McKellar hosted the CBC Radio One

CBC Radio One

CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...

 series High Definition

High Definition (radio program)

High Definition was a Canadian radio program, which debuted on February 4, 2006 on the CBC Radio One network.The series, an eight-episode short run series hosted by Don McKellar, examined and analyzed television's role in modern popular culture. It aired in a time slot previously occupied by...

. He co-starred in and wrote the 2008 screen adaptation

Blindness (film)

Blindness is a 2008 English-language film that is an adaptation of the 1995 novel of the same name by the Portuguese writer José Saramago about a society suffering an epidemic of blindness. The film is written by Don McKellar and directed by Fernando Meirelles with Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo...

 of José Saramago's

José Saramago

José de Sousa Saramago, GColSE was a Nobel-laureate Portuguese novelist, poet, playwright and journalist. His works, some of which can be seen as allegories, commonly present subversive perspectives on historic events, emphasizing the human factor. Harold Bloom has described Saramago as "a...

 1995 novel Blindness

Blindness (novel)

Blindness is a novel by Portuguese author José Saramago. It was originally published in Portuguese and then translated into English. It is one of his most famous novels, along with The Gospel According to Jesus Christ and Baltasar and Blimunda....

.

External links

• Bravo!FACT (Foundation to Assist Canadian Talent): shorts starring and directed by Don McKellar available for viewing online
• Production: The Drowsy Chaperone - Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing.org
  American Theatre Wing
  The American Theatre Wing is a New York City-based organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre," according to its mission statement...
  
  , April 2006
• Canadian Film Encyclopedia
• Unofficial Don McKellar Site
• Official Alliance Atlantis trailer for Blindness