Tyrone Benskin
This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification, as it includes attribution to IMDb. (April 2010) |
Tyrone Benskin | |
---|---|
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Jeanne-Le Ber | |
In office May 2, 2011 – August 4, 2015 | |
Preceded by | Thierry St-Cyr |
Succeeded by | District Abolished |
Personal details | |
Born | Bristol, England | 29 December 1958
Political party | New Democratic Party |
Residence | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
Profession | Actor, Theatre director, Unionist |
Tyrone Benskin (born 29 December 1958) is an English-Canadian actor, theatre director and politician. He was elected Member of Parliament in the Jeanne-Le Ber riding, in Montreal, Quebec, in the 2011 Canadian federal election and served as an MP until 2015.
Life and career[]
Benskin was born in Bristol, England but moved to Canada in 1968 at age nine.
Artistic career[]
Having studied theatre at both CEGEP and university levels in Montreal, Benskin has become a significant presence in theatre, film, television and music. His theatre credits include features appearances on such celebrated stages as the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, the National Arts Centre and the Centaur Theatre in Montreal.[1] His many acclaimed performances include Mr. M in the South African play and the 71-year-old Nelson Williams Johns in the Black Theatre Workshop/Centaur productions of Wade in the Water.
In his years, Benskin has frequently made several appearances in film and television such as Naked Josh, Largo Winch, The Wool Cap, Tales from the Neverending Story, Superstorm, , The Wrong Woman, The Killing Machine, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, 10.5: Apocalypse, Big Wolf on Campus, The Dead Zone, Radio Active, Ready or Not, Riverdale, , Sci-fighters, The Boys of St. Vincent, Mind Over Murder, Deacons for Defense, , , , Charlie Jade, The Christmas Choir, Forever Knight, Due South, Earth: Final Conflict, The Kiss, , 15/Love, F/X: The Series, Criminal Law, , Island of the Dead, Jack Paradise: Montreal by Night, 300, Night Heat, , , The Amityville Curse, , Sophie, Full Disclosure, Side Effects, TekWar: TekLords, Soul Survivor and Scanners II: The New Order.
Benskin also supplied the voice of Kobalt in the 1996 animated series of Flash Gordon and Bo and Wimzie's father Rousso in the children's television series Wimzie's House.[2]
Benskin is a published songwriter, composer, director and writer.
Before assuming elected office, Benskin served two mandates as National Vice-President of for ACTRA, Canada's national film and television actors' union, and served as artistic director of the Black Theatre Workshop, Canada's oldest black theatre company.
In politics[]
On 30 January 2011, Benskin was announced as the federal New Democratic Party candidate in the Montreal-area riding of Jeanne-Le Ber in the 2011 federal election. During the election, his candidacy was seen as one of the NDP's better chances for a gain in Quebec, and NDP leader Jack Layton described him as having minister potential.[3] On 2 May 2011, he was elected to the House of Commons of Canada with a substantial margin, defeating Bloc Québécois incumbent Thierry St-Cyr.
Benskin was named the Official Opposition's critic for Canadian Heritage, and later transferred to the Official Languages file as deputy critic. He was dropped from the shadow cabinet after party leader Thomas Mulcair learned that Benskin owed the Quebec revenue agency $58,000 for unpaid taxes from 2007 to 2011. Benskin apologized, attributing the non-payment to having precarious employment as an artist prior to becoming an MP.[4] Benskin did not stand as a candidate in the 2015 federal election.
Electoral record[]
hide2011 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures | |||
New Democratic | Tyrone Benskin | 23,293 | 44.66 | +28.96 | 25,255.34 | |||
Bloc Québécois | Thierry St-Cyr | 12,635 | 24.22 | -10.69 | 91,577.01 | |||
Liberal | Mark Bruneau | 10,054 | 19.28 | -12.98 | 93,534.65 | |||
Conservative | Pierre Lafontaine | 4,678 | 8.97 | -2.22 | 17,698.39 | |||
Green | Richard Noël | 1,377 | 2.64 | -2.14 | 3,679.20 | |||
Marxist–Leninist | Eileen Studd | 121 | 0.23 | – | 0.00 | |||
Total valid votes | 52,158 | 100.00 | ||||||
Total rejected ballots | 637 | 1.21 | +0.01 | |||||
Turnout | 52,795 | 59.61 | +1.95 |
Filmography[]
Film[]
- Adam's Wall – Mostafa
- (2002) as Arnold Ross
- The Amityville Curse – Video Technician
- Bears – Narrator
- – Guard
- The Boys of St. Vincent – Dr. Maynard
- – Dr. Nasser
- (1992) as Det. Austin
- (2000) as Radio
- – Detective Hogue
- The Christmas Choir – Bob
- – Curtis
- Criminal Law – Jackson
- Deacons for Defense – Archie
- Dead Like Me: Life After Death – Police Commissioner Cusek
- Death of a Ladies' Man - Jonathan Hébert
- Enemies: A Love Story – Cabbie
- – Lawyer
- – Juan
- Final Verdict – Det. Lewis
- Full Disclosure (2001) as Special Agent Draper
- – Dr. Carpenter
- I'm Not There (2007) as Mr. Avrin
- Island of the Dead (2000) as Dwight Truman
- Jack Paradise: Montreal by Night (Jack Paradise : Les nuits de Montréal) – Winston White
- – Hadley
- The Killing Machine – Doctor No.2
- – Haywood Burns
- The Kiss – Railway Station Doctor
- The Long Island Incident – Colin Ferguson
- – Landlord
- – Officer Kingman
- (1996) as Boyd
- Mind Over Murder – Julian Hasty
- Money – 3rd Broker
- – Dr. Henry Balmer
- My Nanny's Secret – Detective Drabant
- Naked City: Justice with a Bullet – Donovan
- – Judge Wolf
- Peepers – Helman
- – Police Officer No.2
- – Robert Hunter
- – Ward
- Relative Fear – Cop
- The Rival – Detective Martin
- Scanners II: The New Order – Store Owner
- Sci-fighters – Dr. Gene Washington
- – Workman
- – Stevenson
- – Narrator
- Stranger in the House – Slovitz
- Soul Survivor – Jerome
- Sunday Afternoon – Monty
- TekWar: TekLords – Dr. Brimell
- Thanks of a Grateful Nation – Supv. Meeker
- – Narrator
- – Noland James
- The Wool Cap – Clarence
- The Wrong Woman – Mitchum
- 10.5: Apocalypse – Jackson the Bartender
- 300 – Persian Emissary
Television[]
- Are You Afraid of the Dark? – Jack Palmer
- Big Wolf on Campus – Male Nurse St. Jacques
- Charlie Jade – Karl Lubinsky
- – Bill Marsden
- The Dead Zone – Orderley Dewey Morris
- Debris (TV series) - George Jones
- Due South – Mr. Shawl, Jeff Storey
- Durham County – Ranjit
- Earth: Final Conflict – Frank Rice
- Forever Knight – Jonah
- F/X: The Series – Judge
- Jupiter's Legacy - Willie Small
- Largo Winch – Waldo Buzetti
- Live Through This – Sparky
- Naked Josh – Tyrone Charpentier
- The Newsroom
- Night Heat – Mitch Malloy
- Radio Active – Coach Hadress
- Ready or Not – Mr. Edwards
- Riverdale – Mike
- Side Effects – Det. Watson
- Sophie – Mr. Byrd
- Superstorm – Murray Michaels
- – Prince of Morocco, Tubal, Duke of Venice
- Tales from the Neverending Story – Cairon
- Urban Angel – Agent No.1, Travis
- Wimzie's House – Rousso (voice)
- 15/Love – Mr. White
Animation[]
- Ace Ventura: Pet Detective – Additional Voices
- Anatole
- Animal Crackers
- Bad Dog – Judge Bigly
- Belphegor – Additional Voices
- Birdz – Additional Voices
- The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures – Additional Voices
- Diabolik
- Dragon Hunters
- Flash Gordon – Kobalt
- Flight Squad
- Freaky Stories
- Ivanhoe
- – Additional Voices
- Kassai and Leuk – Additional Voices
- The Legend of Sarila - Itak
- Malo Korrigan – Additional Voices
- Manivald - Moose
- A Miss Mallard Mystery – Additional Voices
- Mythic Warriors: Guardians of the Legend – Elpenor
- Ned's Newt
- The Neverending Story
- Patrol 03
- Pet Pals
- Pig City
- Princess Sissi – Joseph, Dania
- Rescue Heroes – Additional Voices
- Ripley's Believe It or Not! – Roger Glapion
- Silver Surfer
- – Narrator
- The Tofus – Additional Voices
- Tripping the Rift – Additional Voices
- – Additional Voices
- X-DuckX – Additional Voices
Video games[]
- Splinter Cell: Conviction – Lucious Galliard
- Evolution Worlds – Federico, Infantryman No.4
- Far Cry 2
- Jagged Alliance
- Jagged Alliance 2
- Jagged Alliance: Deadly Games
- Rainbow Six: Vegas – Additional Voices
- Splinter Cell
- Wizardry 8
References[]
- ^ "Stratford Festival Archives | Details".
- ^ Tyrone Benskin at IMDb
- ^ Patry-Cloutier, David. "Layton compte sur des candidats ministrables." , 15 April 2011.]
- ^ "Photo Galleries 1.1366303". 24 May 2013.
External links[]
- 1958 births
- English emigrants to Canada
- English male television actors
- English male film actors
- English male voice actors
- English male stage actors
- Canadian male television actors
- Canadian male film actors
- Canadian male voice actors
- Canadian male stage actors
- Black British male actors
- Black Canadian male actors
- Male actors from Bristol
- Male actors from Montreal
- New Democratic Party MPs
- Politicians from Montreal
- Canadian actor-politicians
- Members of the House of Commons of Canada from Quebec
- Black Canadian politicians
- Anglophone Quebec people
- People from Le Sud-Ouest
- Living people
- Canadian people of African-American descent
- 21st-century Canadian politicians
- Canadian artistic directors