Mike McPhaden
Mike McPhaden (born February 9, 1972) is a Canadian actor, playwright and television writer and producer,[1] most noted for his work on the television series Corner Gas Animated and Jann.
Theatre career[edit]
Originally from Winnipeg, Manitoba,[2] he began his career doing sketch and improvisational comedy with the Higher Than the Ground comedy troupe,[3] and began to have stage acting roles in the late 1990s,[4] later branching out into writing with his stage play Poochwater premiering at the 2000 SummerWorks theatre festival.[5] The play was inspired in part by rummaging through his grandfather's possessions after the older man's death, and discovering a stash of old electronics textbooks from his grandfather's service as a radio operator during World War II.[6] He returned to SummerWorks the following year both with his own play, Flight 198, and as an actor in Shawne McKeown and Marilo Nuez's play North East Side Story.[2]
After Poochwater received a followup staging at Theatre Passe Muraille in 2002,[7] McPhaden won two Dora Mavor Moore awards in 2003, for Outstanding New Play, Independent Theatre and Best Leading Actor, Independent Theatre.[8] The play received another follow-up production at Passe Muraille in 2005 due to its popularity.[9]
He also received a nomination for Best Original Play, General Theatre in 2007 for Noble Parasites,[10] and a second nomination in the independent theatre category in 2009 for The Gladstone Variations, a collaboration with Brendan Gall, Rick Roberts and Julie Tepperman.[11]
Television work[edit]
After noting as early as 2005 that his Dora award for writing Poochwater had opened far more professional doors for him than his award for acting in it did,[12] he enrolled in the television writing program at the Canadian Film Centre in the 2006-07 cohort,[3] and had his first television writing credits on the series Taste Buds. He is now associated principally with television writing and production,[3] although he has continued to appear in occasional guest acting roles.
As a television writer he was a Canadian Comedy Award nominee for Best Writing in a Television Series at the 12th Canadian Comedy Awards for his work on the writing team for Men with Brooms,[13] a WGC Screenwriting Award nominee in 2018 for Bruno & Boots: This Can’t Be Happening at Macdonald Hall[14] and in 2020 for Jann,[15] and a Canadian Screen Award nominee as a producer of Jann at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.[16]
Personal life[edit]
He is married to actress Christine Horne.
References[edit]
- ^ Matthew Sorrento, "Practicable Jokes in Macdonald Hall: An Interview with Mike McPhaden". Film International, March 30, 2017.
- ^ a b Robert Crew, "Nerd takes off at SummerWorks fest ; Flight 198 opens at Factory stage tonight". Toronto Star, August 2, 2001.
- ^ a b c Greg David, "Mike McPhaden: What the Wizzle". TV, eh?, September 14, 2016.
- ^ "Good ideas left stranded". Toronto Star, April 18, 1999.
- ^ Kate Taylor, "The mysterious Mr. Poochwater". The Globe and Mail, August 9, 2000.
- ^ J. Kelly Nestruck, "Theatre for channel-flippers: Fast-paced comedy for those who 'watch CP24 to unwind'". National Post, February 5, 2009.
- ^ Kate Taylor, "Poochwater smart and delightful". The Globe and Mail, November 12, 2002.
- ^ Robert Crew and Christopher Hutsul, "Tarragon shows no mercy ; Takes 13 of 18 Dora awards in its theatre division Nothing for Mirvish, CanStage, Passe Muraille". Toronto Star, June 24, 2003.
- ^ Kamal Al-Solaylee, "An original returns to light up the stage". The Globe and Mail, February 7, 2005.
- ^ Kenneth Jones, "Toronto's Seussical and We Will Rock You Are Top Getters in Dora Nominations". Playbill, June 8, 2007.
- ^ Robert Cushman, "The play is the thing, not artificial categories; Dora stipulations make for some odd award nominees". National Post, June 27, 2009.
- ^ Kamal Al-Solaylee, "Poochwater revisited". The Globe and Mail, January 28, 2005.
- ^ Sam Mooney, "Canadian Comedy Awards Nominees Announced". Mooney on Theatre, June 10, 2011.
- ^ Regan Reid, "Kim’s Convenience, Alias Grace scribes up for WGC Awards". Playback, February 28, 2018
- ^ Greg David, "WGC Screenwriting Awards 2020 finalists announced". TV, eh?, March 5, 2020.
- ^ Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022.
External links[edit]
- 1972 births
- Living people
- 20th-century Canadian male actors
- 21st-century Canadian male actors
- 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
- 21st-century Canadian screenwriters
- 21st-century Canadian male writers
- Canadian male stage actors
- Canadian male television actors
- Canadian male film actors
- Canadian male dramatists and playwrights
- Canadian male screenwriters
- Canadian television writers
- Canadian television producers
- Canadian Film Centre alumni
- Dora Mavor Moore Award winners