Polaris (convention)
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Polaris (convention)
Polaris (formerly Toronto Trek) was an annual science fiction and fantasy convention held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and in Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. It began in 1986 as a relaxacon as Toronto Trek Celebration. Two years later, in 1988, Toronto Trek Celebration 2 took place. In 1989 it dropped the word "Celebration" and became simply "Toronto Trek". For its twenty-first convention in 2007, the name was changed to "Polaris". At Polaris 26, held July 5–7, 2012, it was announced Polaris had come to an end and that a new convention would replace Polaris in 2013. The convention went from +5,000 weekend memberships (at one event --it never had that amount ever before or again) and mostly hovered between 1200 to 1700 members. The board felt extreme pressure due to rapid expansion of for profit events, and looked at various options, including running a Doctor Who event for the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, called Reversed Polarity. Increased hotel space costs and actor g ...
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Science Fiction Convention
Science fiction conventions are gatherings of fans of the speculative fiction genre, science fiction. Historically, science fiction conventions had focused primarily on literature, but the purview of many extends to such other avenues of expression as films, television, comics, animation, and games. The format can vary but will tend to have a few similar features such as a guest of honour, discussion panels, readings and large special events such as opening/closing ceremonies and some form of party or entertainment. Science fiction conventions started off primarily in the UK and US but have now spread further and several countries have their own individual conventions as well as playing host to rotating international conventions. History The precise time and place of the first science fiction convention is a matter of some dispute. The idea and form was clearly anticipated in Robert Bloch's short story about a large convention of writers, "The Ultimate Ultimatum" (''Fantasy M ...
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Dichen Lachman
Dichen Lachman (; born 22 February 1982) is an Australian actress. She earned recognition starring as Katya Kinski in the soap opera '' Neighbours'' (2005–2007) and as Sierra in Joss Whedon's science fiction drama series ''Dollhouse'' (2009–2010). Lachman went on to portray Suren in the supernatural comedy-drama series '' Being Human'' (2012), Tani Tumrenjack in the military action-drama series '' Last Resort'' (2012–2013), Jiaying in the superhero drama series ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' (2014–2020), Reileen Kawahara in the cyberpunk drama series ''Altered Carbon'' (2018–2020), Frankie in the crime drama series '' Animal Kingdom'' (2018–present), and Ms. Casey in the thriller series ''Severance'' (2022–present). Lachman has appeared in numerous films, such as '' Aquamarine'' (2006), ''Bled'' (2009), ''Lust for Love (2014 film), Lust for Love'' (2014), ''Too Late (2015 film), Too Late'' (2015), ''Bad Therapy (film), Bad Therapy'' (2020), and ''Jurassic World Domini ...
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Kai Owen
Kai Owen (born 4 September 1975) is a Welsh actor of stage and screen, known to Welsh audiences for his numerous roles on Welsh language television and to worldwide audiences for his portrayal of Rhys Williams in ''Torchwood'' and Pete Buchanan in ''Hollyoaks''. Background and personal life Owen was born in the town of Llanrwst in the Conwy Valley in North Wales, where his family still lives. His father Mark is a GMB union official and his mother Yvonne is a cleaner at the British Legion Club. He was educated at Watling Street Primary School, Llanrwst and Ysgol Dyffryn Conwy. He attended Mountview Theatre School, London for three years, graduating in 1998. Owen lived with his actor fiancée Sarah Wilson in East Finchley, London and in 2010 moved with son Bobby to Warwickshire. He ran the 2009 London Marathon for the children's cancer charity CLIC Sargent, and also ran the Virgin London Marathon on 25 April 2010. He is a patron of Llandudno Youth Musical Theatre. Televisi ...
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Alaina Huffman
Alaina Kalanj (also known as Alaina Huffman) (born April 17, 1980), is a Canadian film and television actress, best known for the television series ''Painkiller Jane (TV series), Painkiller Jane'', where she played the character Maureen Bowers. She played Black Canary, Dinah Lance / Black Canary in the TV series ''Smallville (TV series), Smallville'', and Tamara Johansen, 1st Lt. Tamara Johansen in ''Stargate Universe'', where she was a regular cast member. She played the part of the demon List of Supernatural characters#Abaddon, Abaddon in the American dark-fantasy television series ''Supernatural (U.S. TV series), Supernatural''. Biography Huffman was born Alaina Kalanj in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She is of Croatian descent. At the age of 13, she went to her first audition for a Fox Family Channel Television pilot, pilot, where she was offered the main role. A scout for a modeling agency instead recruited Huffman, and she was set to model in high fashion runwa ...
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Robin Dunne
Robin Dunne (born November 19, 1976) is a Canadian actor who has had numerous leading roles in sequels throughout his career, but is perhaps best known for his role as Doctor Will Zimmerman in the science fiction television series ''Sanctuary''. Personal life Robin Dunne was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and attended the Etobicoke School of the Arts. Robin Dunne's mother is a native of Dublin in the Republic of Ireland. He was married to actress Heidi Lenhart, but divorced under pressures of living in Hollywood. In 2016, he married co-star Farrah Aviva on the sets of their movie ''Welcome to Nowhere''. In March 2021 the couple welcomed their first child, a daughter. Career One of Dunne's earliest starring roles was as Franz Bhaer in the television series ''Little Men'' from 1998–99. He also starred in UPN's short-lived '' As If'' as well as recurring guest roles on ''Dawson's Creek'' and ''Dead Like Me''. Dunne has also appeared in '' NCIS''. His most notable movie ...
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Brandon Sanderson
Brandon Winn Sanderson (born December 19, 1975) is an American author of high fantasy and science fiction. He is best known for the Cosmere fictional universe, in which most of his fantasy novels, most notably the ''Mistborn'' series and ''The Stormlight Archive'', are set. Outside of the Cosmere, he has written several young adult and juvenile series including ''The Reckoners'', the '' Skyward'' series, and the ''Alcatraz'' series. He is also known for finishing Robert Jordan's high fantasy series ''The Wheel of Time'' and has created several graphic novel fantasy series including ''White Sand'' and ''Dark One''. He created Sanderson's Laws of Magic and popularized the idea of "hard magic" and "soft magic" systems. In 2008, Sanderson started a podcast with author Dan Wells and cartoonist Howard Tayler called ''Writing Excuses'', involving topics about creating genre writing and webcomics. In 2016, the American media company DMG Entertainment licensed the movie rights to Sa ...
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Charlaine Harris
Charlaine Harris Schulz (born November 25, 1951) is an American author who specializes in Mystery fiction, mysteries. She is best known for her book series ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', which was adapted as the TV series ''True Blood''. The television show was a critical and financial success for HBO, running seven seasons, from 2008 through 2014. A number of her books have been bestsellers and this series was translated into multiple languages and published across the globe. Harris was born and raised in a small town in the Mississippi River Delta area of the United States. She now lives in Texas with her husband; they have three grown children and grandchildren. She began writing from an early age, and changed from playwriting in college to writing and publishing mysteries, including several long series featuring recurring characters. Life and career Harris was born and grew up in Tunica, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta. In her early work she wrote poems about ghos ...
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Melinda Clarke
Melinda Patrice "Mindy" Clarke (born April 24, 1969) is an American actress. Clarke is known for portraying Faith Taylor on the soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'' (1989–1990), Julie Cooper on Fox's teen drama series ''The O.C.'' (2003–2007), Lady Heather on CBS's crime drama series ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' (2001–2015) and Amanda on the action thriller series ''Nikita'' (2010–2013). Early life Clarke was raised in Dana Point, California. She is the daughter of actor John Clarke. One of three siblings, Clarke's sister, Heidi, died in 1994 of a malignant heart tumor. In 1987, Clarke graduated from Dana Hills High School, where she was a member of the drama club and took part in school productions. Career Clarke appeared on the daytime soap opera ''Days of Our Lives'' as Faith Taylor (where her father was a senior cast member), and starred in the television series '' Soldier of Fortune, Inc.'' She also guest-starred on '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' as the Amazon c ...
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Meaghan Rath
Meaghan Rath (born June 18, 1986) is a Canadian film and television actress. She is known for her television roles on '' Being Human'', '' 15/Love'', ''The Assistants'', and ''Hawaii Five-0''. Personal life Rath was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Her mother is of Indian Goan heritage. Her father is of English and Austrian-Jewish descent. She has a younger brother, Jesse Rath, who is also an actor. She studied Cinema and Communications at Dawson College. On May 16, 2020, Rath married English actor Jack Cutmore-Scott Jack Cutmore-Scott (born 16 April 1987) is an English actor. He is known for his roles in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC drama series ''Deception (2018 TV series), Deception''. Early life Born in London to two accountants, he spent a ga ... at their Hollywood Hills home. She announced her pregnancy with their child on July 6, 2021. She gave birth to a son at the end of summer that year. Filmography Film Television Awards and nominations Refer ...
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Adam Baldwin
Adam Baldwin (born February 27, 1962) is an American actor. He starred in '' Full Metal Jacket'' (1987) as Animal Mother, as well as in the television series ''Firefly The Lampyridae are a family of elateroid beetles with more than 2,000 described species, many of which are light-emitting. They are soft-bodied beetles commonly called fireflies, lightning bugs, or glowworms for their conspicuous production ...'' and its continuation film '' Serenity'' as Jayne Cobb. His roles include Stillman in ''Ordinary People'' (1980), Colonel John Casey (Chuck), John Casey in ''Chuck (TV series), Chuck'', and Mike Slattery in ''The Last Ship (TV series), The Last Ship''. Early life Baldwin was born in Winnetka, Illinois, and studied at New Trier High School, New Trier Township High School East in Winnetka. Career Appearing in a large number of films since 1980, Baldwin rose to prominence as the troubled outcast Ricky Linderman in ''My Bodyguard'' (1980) and moved on to bigger roles ...
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Armin Shimerman
Armin Shimerman (born November 5, 1949) is an American actor and author. Early life Shimerman was born into a Jewish family in Lakewood Township, New Jersey, Lakewood, New Jersey, on November 5, 1949, the son of accountant Susan and house painter Herbert Shimerman. When he was 15, he moved with his family to Los Angeles, where his mother enrolled him in a drama group in an effort to expand his social circle. He attended Santa Monica High School and was active in drama. As a senior, he played leading roles in school productions of ''Hamlet'', ''The Crucible'', and ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' before graduating in 1967. After graduating from University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA, he was selected to apprentice at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego. He began pursuing a career in theater and eventually moved to New York City, where he was a member of the Impossible Ragtime Theater. Returning to Los Angeles, he took roles in two CBS series to launch his television acting career. Car ...
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Ben Browder
Robert Benedict Browder (born December 11, 1962) is an American actor, writer and film director, known for his roles as List of Farscape characters#John Crichton, John Crichton in ''Farscape'' and Cameron Mitchell (Stargate), Cameron Mitchell in ''Stargate SG-1''. Early life Born in Memphis, Tennessee, Browder grew up in Charlotte, North Carolina. His parents were race car owners and operators. He attended Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina and graduated with a degree in psychology. He was a star player on the Furman football team. Browder met his wife, actress Francesca Buller, while studying at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Career Browder appeared as a recurring guest on the U.S. television show ''Party of Five'' as Sam Brody in its 3rd season in 1997. Browder and Buller moved with their two children to Australia during the production of ''Farscape'' (1999–2003), on which Browder starred as American astronaut List of Farscape characters#John ...
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