Marc Strange

Marc Strange might not be a household name for his acting, but he has spent more than four decades appearing on film and in television. Still the Canadian performer, writer and director will forever be remembered for his contributions to Canada's television culture, as co-creator of the country's longest running dramatic series, "The Beachcombers." Born in Kitchener, Ontario, Strange stayed in his home nation as he launched his acting career, first appearing in a small role in the family series "Forest Rangers" in 1963. His big-screen debut came in the Genevieve Bujold-starring thriller "Isabel" (1968), as a mysterious and potentially dangerous young man. Strange's acting career went on hiatus in 1972, though, when he and his wife, Lynn Susan Strange, started the aforementioned "Beachcombers," a saga about a man who salvages logs along the British Columbia coast. The show ran until 1990, with Marc writing several episodes, directing some others in 1989, and later writing the reprisal TV movie, "The New Beachcombers," in 2002. After returning to acting in the mid-1980s, including an appearance in a 1984 episode of "Beachcombers," Strange went on to land several more film and television gigs as a writer and performer. He has also worked in the United States, earning a small role in the cult Chris Farley comedy "Tommy Boy" (1995), and has served as a voice actor, notably as the superhero Forge in the "X-Men" animated series between 1992 and 1996.