Graham Abbey

Infobox actor
name = Graham Abbey


imagesize = 240px
caption = Graham Abbey as Gray Jackson in "The Border" (CBC, 2008)
birthname =
birthdate = birth date and age|1971|03|24
died =
location =

Graham Abbey was born on March 24, 1971. He considers Stratford, Ontario his hometown, although he didn’t move there until grade school.

History

At the then Stratford Festival of Canada (now Stratford Shakespeare Festival), an eleven year-old Graham Abbey took up small parts in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" and "The Merry Wives of Windsor". In the following season, he returned with roles in "As You Like It" and "Macbeth".

Despite the thrilling start as a forest gnome – not a fairy – at the Festival Theatre, where “there was a room full of doughnuts and I got to get out of school”, [ [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080105.ABBEY05/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Television/ globeandmail.com: Print Edition ] ] the young Mr. Abbey stopped acting. He left Stratford Central Secondary School, moved to Kingston, Ontario, and graduated from Queen's University with a degree in political science.

That was in 1997, when he rejoined the Stratford Festival with a leading role (Happy Loman in "Death of a Salesman"), a supporting role (Paris in "Romeo and Juliet)," and an ensemble role (the Chorus in "Oedipus Rex").

Eleven years later, Mr. Abbey still has the acting bug. He left the Stratford Festival in 2006, after performing in "Coriolanus" in his eighth consecutive season, and has since been focusing on film and television and a writing project of his own.

Current projects

Mr. Abbey's current projects include:
* Starring as Detective Sergeant Gray Jackson in the CBC drama "The Border". Season one begins again on Monday, June 23, at 9 ET;
* Appearing in the two-hour [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194621/ CBC adaptation] of William Shakespeare's Othello, slated to air June 8, 2008;
* Developing a script for a series tentatively titled "Brunswick Avenue".

Credits

Film and television credits

* "The Border" (2008) -- Gray Jackson
* "Heartland" (2007) -- Steve Redding in episode “Coming Home”
* "Billable Hours" (2007) -- Scott in episode “Monopoly Man, the Second”
* "The Jane Show" (2007) -- Richard in episode “Who's Got Spirit?”
* "'Til Death Do Us Part" (2007) -- Slade in episode “Funeral Parlour Murder”
* "The Madness of King Richard" (2003), interviews with members of the theatre community, regarding the Stratford Festival of Canada under Artistic Director Richard Monette -- Himself
* "" (2002), the National Film Board behind-the-scenes at the Stratford Festival of Canada's 49th season -- Himself
* " John Woo's Once a Thief" (1998) -- Special Agent Elk Diller in episode “The Director Files”
* "As You Like It" (1984), based on the 1983 production at the Stratford Festival of Canada -- Page

Stratford Festival credits

* "Coriolanus" (2006) -- Tullus Aufidius
* "The Lark" (2005) -- Warwick, Earl of Beauchamp
* "As You Like It" (2005) -- Jacques
* "King Henry VIII (All is True)" (2004) -- King Henry VIII
*"Macbeth" (2004) -- Macbeth
*"Love's Labour's Lost" (2003) -- Berowne
*"The Taming of the Shrew" (2003) -- Petruchio
*"Richard III, Reign of Terror" (2002) -- King Henry VII, Earl of Richmond
*"The Scarlet Pimpernel" (2002) -- Lambert
*"Romeo and Juliet" (2002) -- Romeo
*"Henry V" (2001) -- King Henry V
*"Henry IV, Part 2" (2001) -- Henry, Prince of Wales
*"Henry IV, Part 1" (2001) -- Henry, Prince of Wales
*"The Three Musketeers" (2000) -- D'Artagnan
*"The Importance of Being Earnest" (2000) -- Algernon Montford
*"Hamlet" (2000) -- Laertes
*"The School for Scandal" (1999) -- Sir Toby Bumper
*"The Tempest" (1999) -- Ferdinand
*"A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1999) -- Lysander
*"Two Gentlemen of Verona" (1998) -- Valentine
*"The Winter's Tale" (1998) -- Florizel
*"A Man For All Seasons" (1998) -- William Roper
*"Oedipus Rex" (1997) -- Chorus
*"Death of a Salesman" (1997) -- Happy Loman
*"Romeo and Juliet" (1997) -- Paris
*"As You Like It" (1983) -- Page
*"Macbeth" (1983) -- Young Macduff (understudy)
*"A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1982) -- Appears in
*"The Merry Wives of Windsor" (1982) -- Forest Gnome

Other theatre credits

*"The Pessimist", Tarragon Theatre, Toronto (2007) -- Philip
*"Long Day's Journey Into Night", Manitoba Theatre Centre, Winnipeg (2005) -- Jamie
*"Death of a Salesman", Theatre Aquarius (2004) -- Biff Loman
*"The Molière Comedies", Shubert Theatre, Chicago (2003) -- Valère
*"Robin Hood: The Merry Family Musical", Elgin Theatre, Toronto (2002) -- Robin Hood
*"Snow White and the Magnificent Seven", Elgin Theatre, Toronto (2001) -- Prince Don “Squeeze the” Charming
*"Proposals", Manitoba Theatre Centre, Winnipeg/Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto (1998) -- Ray Dolenz
*"Hello, Dolly!", York Minstrels, Toronto (1995) -- Cornelius Hackl
*"The School for Scandal", Chicago Shakespeare Theatre -- Charles Surface
*"A Midsummer Night's Dream", Festival of Classics, Toronto -- Demetrius
*"The Baker's Wife", Equity Showcase, Toronto -- Antoine
*"A Streetcar Named Desire", Firehall Theatre, Gananoque, Ontario -- Stanley Kowalski
*"Guys and Dolls", Grand Theatre, Kingston, Ontario -- Nicely-Nicely
*"Fiddler on the Roof", Grand Theatre, Kingston, Ontario -- Motel the Tailor

In the news

*" [http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=875784 Graham Abbey makes a run for The Border] ", "The Kingston Whig-Standard", January 26, 2008
*" [http://www.canada.com/windsorstar/news/entertainment/story.html?id=9bed5698-120f-4cac-8f02-cb74d2097680&k=2114 Crossing those acting borders] ", "The Windsor Star", January 7, 2008
*" [http://www.metronews.ca/column.aspx?id=99878 Investigating The Border] ", "Metro Canada", January 7, 2008
*" [http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080105.ABBEY05/TPStory/TPEntertainment/Television From the Bard to Border guard] ", "The Globe and Mail", January 5, 2008
*" [http://www.stcatharinesstandard.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=816990&auth=LORI+LITTLETON The Border's Niagara connection] ", St. Catharines Standard, December 13, 2007
*" [http://www.thestar.com/article/205840 Abbey not pessimistic as he leaves Stratford] ", "The Toronto Star", April 22, 2007

External links

*imdb name | id=2449744| name=Graham Abbey
*Mr. Abbey speaking on "CBC Radio: Q The Podcast" [http://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail-episode/433211/q-the-podcast-for-monday-january-8th-2008 episode for Monday, January 7, 2008]
* [http://www.grahamabbey.com/ GA.com] , the unofficial Graham Abbey fan site

References