Brian Downey (born 31 October 1944 in St. John's,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

) is a Canadian actor best known for his portrayal of

Stanley Tweedle ''Lexx'' (also known as ''LEXX: The Dark Zone Stories'' and ''Tales from a Parallel Universe'') is a science fiction television series created by Lex Gigeroff and brothers Paul and Michael Donovan. It originally aired on April 18, 1997, on Can ...

in the

science-fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel univers ...

television series ''

Lexx ''Lexx'' (also known as ''LEXX: The Dark Zone Stories'' and ''Tales from a Parallel Universe'') is a science fiction television series created by Lex Gigeroff and brothers Paul and Michael Donovan. It originally aired on April 18, 1997, on Cana ...

''.

Career

Downey is a character actor who has appeared in various films and guest starring roles on TV, including '' Up at Ours'' and a recurring role on ''

Millennium A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting point (ini ...

''. His first film role was in a 1986 Andy Jones film called ''

The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood ''The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood'' is a 1986 surreal Canadian comedy film directed by Andy Jones (comedian), Andy Jones and written by Andy and Mike Jones (writer), Mike Jones, with the collaboration of a number of workshop participants. It st ...

'', which features the entire cast of

CODCO ''CODCO'' is a Canadian comedy troupe from Newfoundland, best known for a sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 1988 to 1993.Lexx ''Lexx'' (also known as ''LEXX: The Dark Zone Stories'' and ''Tales from a Parallel Universe'') is a science fiction television series created by Lex Gigeroff and brothers Paul and Michael Donovan. It originally aired on April 18, 1997, on Cana ...

'' creator Paul Donovan, dating back at least to 1988, when Donovan cast Downey in the

time travel Time travel is the concept of movement between certain points in time, analogous to movement between different points in space by an object or a person, typically with the use of a hypothetical device known as a time machine. Time travel is a w ...

adventure film ''

Norman's Awesome Experience ''A Switch in Time'' is a 1988 Canadian science-fiction comedy film written and directed by Paul Donovan, starring Tom McCamus, Lori Paton, Jacques Lussier and David Hemblen. It follows Norman, Umberto and Erica, a trio of accidental time travel ...

''. Downey also appeared as Cardinal Juan de Mella in Donovan's medieval TV thriller ''

The Conclave ''The Conclave'' is a 2006 Canadian/German film production directed by Christoph Schrewe. The script was written by Paul Donovan. Plot The plot centers on the conclave of 1458, which took place five years after the fall of Constantinople ...

''. Downey has worked with

Jessica Lange Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. She is the 13th actress to achieve the Triple Crown of Acting, having won two Academy Awards, three Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award, along with a Screen Actors G ...

, JoBeth Williams,

Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He is known for appearing in independent films and also as a character actor portraying a wide variety of roles both comedic and dramatic in films such as '' Lawn Dogs'' (199 ...

, and directors such as Joe Sargent. He won the only acting award at the 2010

Atlantic Film Festival FIN: Atlantic International Film Festival (known as The Atlantic International Film Festival until 2017) is a major international film festival held annually in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada since 1980. FIN is the largest Canadian film festival eas ...

for his role in ''Whirligig'', directed by Chaz Thorne, with whom he has worked on two previous features. He played the evil gang leader "The Drake", who runs the town in the feature film ''

Hobo with a Shotgun ''Hobo with a Shotgun'' is a 2011 exploitation action black comedy film directed by Jason Eisener, written by John Davies, from a story by Eisener, and starring Rutger Hauer. It is based on a faux- trailer of the same title featured in the Quentin ...

'', starring

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. Hauer's career began in 1969 with the title role in the Dutch television series ' ...

and directed by

Jason Eisener Jason Eisener is a Canadians, Canadian screenwriter, producer, editor and Film director, director. Life and career ''Grindhouse'' faux trailer contest and ''Hobo with a Shotgun'' (2007 - 2011) In 2007, Eisener entered and won the ''Grindhouse (f ...

. Downey is also a musician and writer. Before being recruited as an actor, he spent many years as a bass player, guitarist, and blues harmonica player. As of 2020, a Canadian talent management firm advertises him as a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s an ...

bandleader and drummer, playing swing music. He has been a writer for many stage plays and has led many scriptwriting workshops. His first full-length stage play, ''Peter's Other War'', was produced during the summer of 2009.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Downey, Brian 1944 births Male actors from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Living people People from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador