Caleb Ross (born 10 December 1981) is a New Zealand film and

television actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lite ...

best known for his role as Lex in the cult science fiction television series '' The Tribe''. In 1998, he played Logan Patterson on ''

Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...

''. Throughout the years, he has appeared in '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', ''

Hercules: The Legendary Journeys ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' is an American television series filmed in New Zealand, based on the tales of the classical Greek culture hero Heracles (Hercules was his Roman analogue). Starring Kevin Sorbo as Hercules and Michael Hurst as ...

'', ''Mercy Peak'' and '' Revelations - The Initial Journey''.

Biography

Ross was one of 8 children born in

Whangārei Whangārei () is the northernmost city in New Zealand and the regional capital of Northland Region. It is part of the Whangārei District, a local body created in 1989 from the former Whangārei City, Whangārei County and Hikurangi Town coun ...

, New Zealand. He became interested in acting after watching ''

Les Misérables ''Les Misérables'' ( , ) is a French historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published in 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. In the English-speaking world, the novel is usually referred to by its origin ...

'' and, at the age of 9, he began performing in musical theatre in his hometown. As part of the Whangarei Amateur Opera and Dramatics Society, he participated in stage productions of ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hym ...

'', '' Jesus Christ Superstar'', '' Evita'' and ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

''. His father helped him get an agent shortly afterward and he made his acting debut, in an uncredited role, in the 1994 short film ''Avondale Dogs''. He also appeared in a commercial for

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

. He soon appeared in minor roles on ''

'', '' Xena: Warrior Princess'', ''Plainclothes'' and ''

''. At age 14, his first screen kiss was on that show. In 1999, he was cast in perhaps his best-known role as ''Lex'' on the science fiction teen drama '' The Tribe''. One of the main antagonists during the first series, his character eventually became part of his adopted tribe the ''Mall Rats'' although remained an

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform action ...

throughout the show's run. He was one of the few original cast members to appear in all five seasons, as well as being the only one in every episode (except two), and sang the lead vocals on the spin-off album '' Abe Messiah''. He was regarded as one of the main characters and was a trendy character; he is regarded as the one who made the show very popular. He made numerous promotional appearances for the show in New Zealand and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

which, in March 2001, included being interviewed on the early morning talk show ''

The Big Breakfast ''The Big Breakfast'' is a British breakfast light entertainment television programme that was broadcast on Channel 4. Originally presented by Chris Evans and Gaby Roslin, the show was latterly presented by Mo Gilligan and AJ Odudu. The p ...

''. Following the show's cancellation, he guest starred on Mercy Peak and '' Revelations''. He and Vanessa Stacey ('' Alice'') were both involved in behind-the-scenes work for ''The Tribe'' follow up series '' The New Tomorrow'', with Ross becoming a foley artist for the series, and was a unit assistant in the 2004 film '' Futile Attraction''. In September 2006, Ross made an appearance at the 2006 Dragon*Con convention in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

with ''Tribe'' co-stars

Tom Hern Thomas Hern (born 10 December 1984) is a New Zealand actor and independent film producer. He is known for producing NZ feature films ''The Dark Horse'', '' Everything We Loved'', and ''Pork Pie'' (a reboot of Kiwi classic ''Goodbye Pork Pie ...

(''

Ram Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep * Ram cichlid, a freshwater tropical fish People * Ram (given name) * Ram (surname) * Ram (director) (Ramsubramaniam), an Indian Tamil film director * RAM (musician) (born 1974), Dutch * ...

'') and Matt Robinson (''

Slade Slade are an English rock band formed in Wolverhampton in 1966. They rose to prominence during the glam rock era in the early 1970s, achieving 17 consecutive top 20 hits and six number ones on the UK Singles Chart. The ''British Hit Singles ...

''). In recent years, Ross has been in the process of publishing his autobiography. He has also been involved in several television and short film projects including a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly ei ...

with another former ''Tribe'' cast member Michael Wesley-Smith (''

Jack Jack may refer to: Places * Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community * Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community * Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas, USA People and fictional characters * Jack (given name), a male given name, ...

'') in the 2007 film ''The Last Great Snail Chase''. He has also indicated in interviews an interest in immigrating to Canada to continue his acting career.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Caleb 1981 births Living people New Zealand male film actors New Zealand male television actors People from Whangārei