Frederick Reginald Ironside (born February 12, 1950), better known as Michael Ironside, is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. A prominent character actor with over 270 film and television credits, he is known for playing villains and antiheroes, but has also portrayed sympathetic characters. He is best known for his roles in action and science fiction films, and had his breakthrough performance in the 1981 David Cronenberg film Scanners.
Ironside's other notable roles include Overdog in Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983), "Jester" in Top Gun (1986), Richter in Total Recall (1990), and Rasczak in Starship Troopers (1997). His signature deep voice has been lent to various video games and animated television shows, most notably as Sam Fisher in the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell franchise.
He is a four-time Gemini Award, a Genie Award, and a Canadian Film Award nominee.
Early life[]
Frederick Reginald Ironside was born in Toronto on February 12, 1950, the son of housewife Patricia June (née Passmore) and street lighting technician Robert Walter Ironside.[1] He has four siblings and is of English, Irish, and Scottish descent.[2] He attended the Ontario College of Art in Toronto. At age 15, he wrote a play called The Shelter, which won first prize in a university contest.[3] He also won the senior year writing award at Riverdale Collegiate Institute in 1968.[4]
Career[]
One of Ironside's first roles was as evil telepath Darryl Revok in Scanners (1981), an early film by David Cronenberg. He played the role of a serial killer, Colt Hawker, in the slasher film Visiting Hours (1982) and appeared in 1983 as Miler Crane in The A-Team episode "Taxicab Wars" as well as Overdog McNab in Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone.
Ironside's breakthrough role was as cynical antihero Ham Tyler in the television miniseries V: The Final Battle and its following 19-episode series (1984). He is also known for his roles in Top Gun (1986) as Naval Aviator Lieutenant Commander Rick "Jester" Heatherly, Extreme Prejudice (1987) as Major Paul Hackett, Watchers (1988) as a conscience-free mutant assassin, and Total Recall (1990) as Richter, the murderous henchman of Ronny Cox's villain Cohaagen. Ironside played the villainous General Katana in the science fiction sequel Highlander II: The Quickening (1991) and, after a brief stint in ER's inaugural season, he was tapped to replace Roy Scheider as captain of the high-tech submarine seaQuest in the third season of seaQuest DSV as Captain Oliver Hudson. However, NBC canceled the series after only thirteen episodes with Ironside as the star. In 1992, he starred as M. Emmet Walsh's brother in David Winning's thriller Killer Image. In 1993, he played Dial, the main antagonist of Free Willy. In 1994, Ironside starred as Luck Hatcher in the western Dead Man's Revenge. In 1995, Ironside had a brief cameo as Lt. Col. Stone in Major Payne. In 1997, Ironside was reunited with Total Recall director Paul Verhoeven for Starship Troopers. He appeared in The Perfect Storm (2000) and The Machinist (2004). He starred in the film Chaindance as a small-time crook, unable to make it on the outside, who was paired up with a disabled man. Ironside starred as Resistance General Hugh Ashdown in Terminator Salvation, reunited with his co-star from The Machinist, Christian Bale.[5] In 2003, Ironside guest starred in season 3 episode 20 ("Twilight of the Idols") of Andromeda.
Ironside voiced comic book villain Darkseid in the DC Animated Universe, including Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League and Justice League Unlimited. He later reprised the role in the 2018 video game Lego DC Supervillains and the 2020 DC Universe/HBO Max web series Harley Quinn. In one episode of The New Batman Adventures, he voiced Batman in a Batman: The Dark Knight Returns sequence. Another part he played in the DC Comics universe was Lois Lane's father, General Sam Lane in three episodes of Smallville.
Ironside has worked in video games as the voice of character Sam Fisher in the Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell games and General Jack Granger in Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars. He signed a five-year deal to portray Captain Jonas Trager in the SpaceWorks Television science-fiction series, Ice Planet, but the show was not produced.
In 2009, he starred in The Beacon under the direction of Michael Stokes.[5]
In 2010, Ironside guest starred in season 4, episode 1 ("Friends and Enemies") of Burn Notice.[6]
In 2011, Ironside appeared in the film: X-Men: First Class, playing the Captain of the 7th Fleet. He appeared in Justified playing a supporting role as a Detroit hitman the following year. He also voiced the role of Ultra Magnus in season 3 of the Transformers: Prime – Beast Hunters television series in 2013.[5]
Ironside appeared in the TV series Walker, Texas Ranger as 'The Chairman'.
In 2015, he appeared in the television series The Flash as Lewis Snart, the father of Captain Cold. Also in 2015, he starred as the main villain Zeus in the cult hit film Turbo Kid.
In 2016, he portrayed General Douglas MacArthur in the 4-part miniseries Tokyo Trial.
In 2018, he played J.P. Morgan in 4 episodes of TNT's The Alienist.
In 2021, he portrayed Eddie Williams, the father-in-law and boss of Hutch Mansell in the film, Nobody.
In 2022, he played Don Lucas in the Hulu miniseries The Dropout.
Personal life[]
Ironside married Karen Dinwiddie in 1986. They have one daughter together (born 1998) and he has another daughter from a previous marriage.[1][7]
Ironside has survived cancer of the bowel, prostate, and thyroid.[8]
Filmography[]
Film[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Outrageous! | Drunk | ||
| 1978 | High-Ballin' | Butch | ||
| Power Play | Torturer | Uncredited | ||
| 1979 | Summer's Children | Pimp | ||
| Stone Cold Dead | Murdered Police Detective | |||
| The Family Man | The Bartender | Television film | ||
| 1980 | Coming Out Alive | Gateway | ||
| Deadly Companion | Edgar | |||
| Suzanne | Jimmy | |||
| Coming Out Alive | Gateway | |||
| 1981 | Scanners | Darryl Revok | ||
| Surfacing | Wayne | |||
| 1982 | Visiting Hours | Colt Hawker | ||
| 1983 | American Nightmare | Sergeant Skylar | ||
| Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone | "Overdog" McNabb | |||
| 1984 | The Cap | Steve's Father | Short film | |
| The Surrogate | George Kyber | |||
| V: The Final Battle | Ham Tyler | Television miniseries | ||
| Best Revenge | Dealer | |||
| Terror in the Aisles | Darryl Revok | Documentary | ||
| 1985 | The Falcon and the Snowman | Lead FBI Agent | ||
| Murder in Space | Captain Neil Braddock | Television film | ||
| 1986 | Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling | Detective Lawrence | ||
| Top Gun | Lieutenant Commander Richard "Jester" Heatherly | |||
| 1987 | Extreme Prejudice | Major Paul Hackett | ||
| Nowhere to Hide | Ben Cutter | |||
| Hello Mary Lou: Prom Night II | Principal Bill Nordham | |||
| Race for the Bomb | Werner Heisenberg | Television miniseries | ||
| Ford: The Man and the Machine | Harry Bennett | Television film | ||
| 1988 | Office Party | Larry Gaylord | a.k.a. Hostile Takeover | |
| Watchers | Lem Johnson | |||
| 1989 | Murder by Night | Lt. Carl Madsen | Television film | |
| 1990 | Chaindance | J.T. Blake | Also screenwriter | |
| Total Recall | Agent Richter | |||
| 1991 | Highlander II: The Quickening | General Katana | ||
| McBain | Frank Bruce | |||
| Neon City | Harry M. Stark | |||
| 1992 | Guncrazy | Mr. Kincaid, Joy's Father | ||
| Killer Image | Luther Kane | |||
| Black Ice | Quinn | |||
| 1993 | Point of Impact | Roberto Largo | a.k.a. Spanish Rose | |
| Night Trap | Bishop | |||
| Free Willy | Dial | |||
| Father Hood | Jerry | |||
| 1994 | Fortunes of War | Carl Pimmler | Direct-to-video | |
| Red Scorpion 2 | Colonel West | |||
| The Killing Machine | Mr. Green | |||
| The Next Karate Kid | Colonel Paul Dugan | |||
| 1995 | Major Payne | Lieutenant Colonel Stone | ||
| The Glass Shield | Detective Gene Baker | |||
| Kids of the Round Table | Butch Scarsdale | |||
| Bolt | Billy Niles | Direct-to-video | ||
| 1996 | The Destiny of Marty Fine | Mr. Capelli | ||
| 1997 | Chicago Cab | Al | a.k.a. Hellcab | |
| Starship Troopers | Lieutenant Jean Rasczak | |||
| 1998 | Captive | Detective Briscoe | ||
| Ivory Tower | Marshall Wallace | |||
| Going to Kansas City | Mike Malone | |||
| Desert Blue | Agent Frank Bellows | |||
| Voyage of Terror | McBride | Television film | ||
| 1999 | The Omega Code | Dominic | ||
| 2000 | Heavy Metal 2000 | Tyler | Voice | [9] |
| The Perfect Storm | Bob Brown | |||
| Crime and Punishment in Suburbia | Fred Skolnick | |||
| Nuremberg | Colonel Burton C. Andrus | Television miniseries | ||
| 2001 | Down | Gunter Steinberg | a.k.a. The Shaft | |
| Children of the Corn: Revelation | The Priest | Direct-to-video | ||
| Ignition | Jake Russo | |||
| Mindstorm | Senator Bill Armitage | |||
| Dead Awake | Skay | |||
| Mindstorm | Senator Bill Armitage | Television film | ||
| Jett Jackson: The Movie | Dr. Kragg | |||
| 2003 | The Failures | Depressor | ||
| 2004 | The Machinist | Miller | ||
| 2005 | Reeker | Henry Tuckey | ||
| Deepwater | "Walnut" | |||
| Guy X | Guy X | |||
| 2006 | Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York | Levering | Television film | |
| Bloodsuckers | Muco | |||
| The Veteran | Mark "Doc" Jordan | |||
| 2008 | The Alphabet Killer | Captain Nathan Norcross | ||
| Surveillance | Captain Billings | |||
| Mutants | Colonel Gauge | |||
| 2009 | Terminator: Salvation | General Hugh Ashdown | ||
| The Butcher | Teddy Carmichael | |||
| Hardwired | Hal | |||
| The Beacon | Officer Ned Hutton | |||
| 2010 | The Bannen Way | Chief Bannen | ||
| Eva | Alfonse | |||
| Beneath the Blue | Blaine | |||
| Lake Placid 3 | Sheriff Tony Willinger | Television film | ||
| 2011 | X-Men: First Class | Captain of the 7th Fleet | ||
| 2012 | All God's Children | Peter | ||
| 2013 | Ice Soldiers | Colonel Desmond Trump | ||
| Stay | Frank | |||
| Transformers: Prime – Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising | Ultra Magnus | Voice; television film | [9] | |
| 2014 | Stan Lee's Mighty 7 | Xanar | ||
| Extraterrestrial | Travis | |||
| A Fighting Man | Max Wynn | |||
| 2015 | Synchronicity | Klaus Meisner | ||
| 88 | Sheriff Knowles | |||
| Turbo Kid | Zeus | |||
| 2016 | Patient Seven | Dr. Daniel Marcus | ||
| The Space Between | Nick | |||
| 2017 | Still/Born | Dr. Neilson | ||
| 2018 | Alterscape | Dr. Julian Loro | ||
| Knuckleball | Jacob | |||
| The Convent | The Magistrate | |||
| 2020 | Bloodthirsty | Dr. Swan | ||
| Tin Can | Wayne | |||
| 2021 | Nobody | Eddie Williams | ||
| 2022 | Dracula: The Original Living Vampire | Dr. Jack Seward | ||
| 2023 | BlackBerry | Charles Purdy | ||
| Late Night with the Devil | Narrator | Voice |
Television[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | For the Record | Policeman | Episode: "A Matter of Choice" | |
| 1979 | The Littlest Hobo | Bill | Episode: "Silent Witness" | |
| 1983 | The A-Team | Miler Crane | Episode: "The Taxi Cab Wars" | |
| Hill Street Blues | Schrader | Episode: "Midway to What?" | ||
| 1984 | Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer | Wade Bennett | Episode: "Warpath" | |
| 1984–1985 | V: The Series | Ham Tyler | 13 episodes | |
| 1985 | The Hitchhiker | Sheriff Lee | Episode: "Dead Man's Curve" | |
| 1987 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Lieutenant Rick Muldoon | Episode: "Man on the Edge" | |
| Danger Bay | Charles Fuller | Episode: "Pilot Error" | ||
| 1988 | The Ray Bradbury Theater | Acton | Episode: "The Fruit at the Bottom of the Bowl" | |
| 1990–1994 | Tales from the Crypt | Jerry / Burrows | 2 episodes | |
| 1995–2002 | ER | Dr. William "Wild Willy" Swift | 7 episodes | |
| 1995–1996 | seaQuest 2032 | Captain Oliver Hudson | 13 episodes | |
| 1997 | F/X: The Series | Montree | Episode: "Get Fast" | |
| 1997–2000 | Superman: The Animated Series | Darkseid | Voice; 7 episodes | [9] |
| 1998 | The New Batman Adventures | 1980s Batman | Voice; episode: "Legends of the Dark Knight" | |
| Witness to Yesterday | Vladimir Lenin | Episode: "Vladimir Lenin" | ||
| 1999 | Cold Squad | Chief Magnus Mulray | Episode: "Deadly Games: Part 1" | |
| 1999–2001 | The Outer Limits | Ambassador Prosser / General Quince | 2 episodes | |
| 2000 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Nolan "The Chairman" Pierce | 4 episodes | |
| 2002 | The Last Chapter | Bob Durelle | 6 episodes | |
| The District | Dmitri Putin | 2 episodes | ||
| 2003 | Justice League | Darkseid | Voice; episode: "Twilight" | [9] |
| 2003–2004 | Andromeda | The Patriarch | 2 episodes | |
| 2004 | Justice League Unlimited | Darkseid | Voice; 2 episodes | [9] |
| Jackie Chan Adventures | Dragon Scout Leader | Voice; episode: "Dragon Scouts" | ||
| Medical Investigation | Ben Graybridge | Episode: "Price of Pleasure" | ||
| 2004–2010 | Smallville | General Sam Lane | 3 episodes | |
| 2005 | Young Blades | Cardinal Mazarin | 13 episodes | |
| 2005-2006 | Desperate Housewives | Curtis Monroe | 2 episodes | |
| 2006 | Stargate SG-1 | Seevis | Episode: "Crusade" | |
| Masters of Horror | Mr. Chaney | Episode: "The V Word" | ||
| 2008 | Criminal Minds | John | Episode: "Elephant's Memory" | |
| 2008–2009 | Wolverine and the X-Men | Colonel Moss / Dr. Brooks | Voice; 6 episodes | [9] |
| 2009 | Cold Case | Commandant Murillo | 3 episodes | |
| 2010 | Castle | Victor Racine | Episode: "Den of Thieves" | |
| Burn Notice | Gregory Hart | Episode: "Friends and Enemies" | ||
| 2012 | Justified | Sarno | Episode: "Measures" | |
| The Haunting Hour: The Series | Margolin | 2 episodes | ||
| Community | Lieutenant Colonel Norbert Archwood | Episode: "Basic Lupine Urology" | ||
| 2013 | Vegas | Porter Gainsley | 4 episodes | |
| Transformers: Prime | Ultra Magnus | Voice; 9 episodes | [9] | |
| 2014 | Rake | Victor | Episode: "Three Strikes" | |
| 2015 | The Flash | Lewis Snart | Episode: "Family of Rogues" | |
| 2016 | Tokyo Trial | General Douglas MacArthur | 4 episodes | |
| Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles | Emperor Zanmoran | Voice; episode: "The Arena of Carnage" | [9] | |
| 2018 | The Alienist | J.P. Morgan | 4 episodes | |
| This Is Us | Grandpa Pearson | Episode: "Vietnam" | ||
| 2019 | Hawaii Five-0 | Robert Castor | Episode: "E'ao lu'au a kualima" | |
| 2020–2023 | Harvey Quinn | Darkseid | Voice; 4 episodes | |
| 2021 | Hidden Assets | Richard Melnick | 6 episodes | |
| 2022 | The Dropout | Don Lucas | 4 episodes | |
| 2022–2023 | Barry | Andrei | 2 episodes |
Video games[]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Project I.G.I. | David Llewellyn Jones | Uncredited | |
| 2002 | Run Like Hell | Commander Mason | [9] | |
| Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell | NSA Agent Sam Fisher | |||
| 2004 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow | |||
| 2005 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory | |||
| 2006 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Essentials | |||
| Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent | ||||
| 2007 | TimeShift | Dr. Krone | ||
| Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars | General Jack Granger | |||
| 2010 | Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Conviction | NSA Agent Sam Fisher | [9] | |
| 2018 | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Wildlands | Also motion capture | ||
| Lego DC Super-Villains | Darkseid | [9][10] | ||
| 2020 | Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Breakpoint | NSA Agent Sam Fisher | Also motion capture |
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Michael Ironside". Canadian Actors Info. Archived from the original on December 28, 2005. Retrieved on January 16, 2014.
- ↑ Allis, Tim (July 16, 1990). "A Face You Can't Totally Recall? Bad Guy Michael Ironside Chased Arnold Schwarzenegger to Mars". People. Retrieved on January 16, 2014.
- ↑ "Michael Ironside Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved on January 16, 2014.
- ↑ "Michael Ironside_1968_Grade_11_Poem2.jpg by Rainer Bessel". PBase. Retrieved on September 16, 2020.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Tinnin, Drew (January 26, 2015). "Exclusive: Michael Ironside Talks Turbo Kid". Dread Central.
- ↑ Fowler, Matt (June 2, 2010). "Burn Notice: "Friends and Enemies" Review". IGN. Retrieved on January 16, 2014.
- ↑ "Michael Ironside Actor, Performer" (in fr). Première. Retrieved on September 16, 2020.
- ↑ Ironside, Michael (April 13, 2018). "Ghost Recon Wildlands: Michael Ironside Talks Splinter Cell Crossover". YouTube. Ubisoft. Retrieved on April 14, 2018.
- ↑ 9.00 9.01 9.02 9.03 9.04 9.05 9.06 9.07 9.08 9.09 9.10 "Michael Ironside (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved on October 4, 2023. "A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its opening and/or closing credits and/or other reliable sources of information."
- ↑ Nieves, Davey (July 21, 2018). "SCDD'18: LEGO DC SUPER VILLAINS Cast and Devs Dish on Funever Evil". Comics Beat.
External links[]
- Michael Ironside at Arrow Wiki
- Michael Ironside at DC Wiki
- Michael Ironside at Splinter Cell Wiki
- Michael Ironside at Terminator Wiki
- Michael Ironside at V Wiki
Michael Ironside at the Internet Movie Database- Michael Ironside at AllMovie
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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia page Michael Ironside. The revision history lists the authors. The text on Warner Bros. Entertainment Wiki and Wikipedia is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA). |
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