Michael Mahonen

Michael Mahonen
Born	27 April 1964 Kirkland Lake, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Actor, Screenwriter
Years active	1991 – present

Michael Mahonen (born 27 April 1964) is a Canadian actor, director and screen writer.

Biography

After graduating from the Theatre Arts Program at George Brown College in 1989, Michael auditioned for a young company being formed for The Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. His first job as a professional actor was the role of James Keller in "The Miracle Worker," and the roles of Lucius and Popilious Lena in "Julius Caesar."

In 1990 he was chosen for the role of Gus Pike on the CBC television program Road to Avonlea. He garnered three Gemini Award nominations in 1993, 1994 and 1995 for his work on that series.

He starred opposite Billy Dee Williams in his 1992 film debut as Arvo Leek, the jazz trumpet prodigy, in Giant Steps. He auditioned for the part of Lee Colgan in the CBC miniseries Conspiracy of Silence. Under the direction of the late Frances Mankiewicz, the film focuses on the chilling 16-year silence of an entire town that knew the identity of the four assailants who murdered a young native girl, Helen Betty Osborne, in The Pas, Manitoba. During Conspiracy, Michael's character ages over 15 years from a teenager to alcoholic adult, and his performance captured the Gemini win for Best Actor in a Television Mini-Series or Film.

In 1994 Michael co-starred with Michael Riley in The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios, a breakthrough television special based on a short story of the same name. Michael played the character of Paul, a young man dying of the AIDS virus after contracting it from a blood transfusion a few years earlier. In the summer of 1994 he played the role of Jacob Mercer in Salt Water Moon, part of David French's Mercer family saga set in Newfoundland.

He guest starred in numerous American and Canadian television projects including an episode of Star Trek: Voyager entitled "Nemesis" in which he played the recognizable humanoid, Brone.

In 1997, Michael starred in the world premiere of Judith Thompson's Sled at Toronto's Tarragon Theatre then returned to film, co-starring in the cult thriller Captured. He went on to record The Red Badge of Courage for CBC Radio and was seen in the television productions of This is Wonderland. He went on to make several more films including a cameo in the 2008 mystery-drama Blindness starring Julianne Moore.

In 2003, Michael began work on his first feature film, Sandstorm, a fact-based drama about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners in China. He wrote, directed and produced the entire project for under $5,000 with an all-volunteer cast. Mahonen, like the majority of the cast and crew of the picture, was a Falun Gong practitioner.^[1] Screened as a work-in-progress at film festivals around the world, the work received 29 awards including Best Feature Film, Best Drama, Best Director and Best Screenplay.

Filmography

Actor

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990-1996	Road to Avonlea	Gus Pike	28 episodes
1991	Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop	Norman Baker	Episode: "Abused Child"
1991	Conspiracy of Silence	Lee Colgan	TV movie
1992	Top Cops	Keith Gordon	Episode: "Robert Ruh"
1992	Personal Effects	Philip	Short film
1992	Giant Steps	Arvo Leek
1992	By Way of the Stars	Ben Davis	TV mini-series
1992	Secret Service	Chandler	Episode: "Social Insecurity/Inside Job"
1993	Collateral Damage	Nick	Short film
1997	Star Trek: Voyager	Brone	Episode: "Nemesis"
1997	Viper	Dirk Hanley	Episode: "Wilderness Run"
1998	Captured	Joey Breed	Video
2000	Canada: A People's History	John Jewitt	Episode: "When the World Began..."
2000	Strong Medicine	Anonymous / Joe	Episode: "Second Look"
2001	An Intrigue of Manners	Dorimant
2003	A Taste of Shakespeare	Malcolm	Episode: "Macbeth"
2004	This Is Wonderland	Patrick Bellamy	Episode: "1.5"
2007	All Hat	Steve Allman
2008	Blindness	Sergeant
2009	Crangle's Collision	Sydney	Short film

Director & writer

Year	Title	Notes
2004	Sandstorm	2005 - Won - Humanitarian Film Award 2004 - Won - Grand Jury Prize - Best Feature Film

References

1. Caitsoulis, Jeannette (4 September 2009). "Weathering Memories Of Rough Interrogation". New York Times. Retrieved 10 July 2012.

External links

• Michael Mahonen at the Internet Movie Database