James Thomas Kevin Byrnes
www.filmreference.com. OBC (born September 22, 1948) is an American

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 (), li ...

and

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

Life and career

Byrnes was born in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

on September 22, 1948. His mother was a homemaker, and his father was a municipal accountant. In 1968 he was drafted and served in the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

for a year in the

196th Infantry Brigade The 196th Infantry Brigade ("Chargers"), also known as the Charger Brigade was first formed on 24 June 1921 as part of the United States Army Reserve's 98th Infantry Division (United States), 98th Division with the responsibility of training soldi ...

."The Loss of His Legs Is No Handicap for Wiseguy's Jim Byrnes"
''

People A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...

'', May 21, 1990. He has lived in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, Canada, since the mid-1970s. On February 26, 1972, he was struck by a passing car while he attempted to help move a stalled truck on the

Island Highway The Island Highway is actually a series of highways that follows much of the eastern coastline of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. While the Island Highway has no officially designated starting point, it is understood to begin at the ...

North of Parksville, which injured his legs and forced them both to be

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indivi ...

. Fifteen years to the day after the accident, he started appearing on '' Wiseguy'' as Daniel Burroughs, better known as Lifeguard. It was his first major role and lasted until 1990. Later, he starred in the

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

television series '' Highlander: The Series'' as Joe Dawson, a member of a

secret society A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence a ...

known as the "Watchers." He reprised his role as Joe Dawson in '' Highlander: Endgame'' and '' Highlander: The Source'', later installments of the '' Highlander'' film series, as well as providing voices for the

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

'' Highlander: The Search for Vengeance''. He starred in his own short-lived TV show, called '' The Jim Byrnes Show''. He played a recruiting sergeant for the Union Army in an episode of ''Copper'' called "The Children of the Battlefield." His other television roles include '' Higher Ground'' and cartoon voices in '' Beast Wars: Transformers'', '' Beast Machines: Transformers'', ''

Shadow Raiders ''Shadow Raiders'' is a Canadian animated television series produced by Mainframe Entertainment and syndicated by The Summit Media Group, that aired from September 16, 1998, to June 23, 1999. The show was loosely based on the Trendmasters toy line ...

'', ''

Stargate Infinity ''Stargate Infinity'' (often abbreviated as ''SGI'' or just ''Infinity'') ( French: ''Stargate: Le Dessin Animé'') is a 2002-2003 animated science fiction television series co-produced by Les Studios Tex S.A.R.L. and DIC Entertainment Corporation ...

'', ''

Dinosaur Train ''Dinosaur Train'' is a CGI-animated preschool musical television series aimed for preschoolers ages 3 to 6. Created by Craig Bartlett, who created Nickelodeon's ''Hey Arnold!'', the series features a curious young ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' named ...

'' as Percy '' Paramacellodus'', Colonel

Nick Fury Colonel Nicholas Joseph "Nick" Fury Sr. is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/artist Jack Kirby and writer Stan Lee, he first appeared in ''Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos ...

in '' X-Men: Evolution'' and as Duke Dermail in '' Gundam Wing''. He appeared in the '' Taken''

mini series The Mini is a small, two-door, four-seat car, developed as ADO15, and produced by the British Motor Corporation (BMC) and its successors, from 1959 through 2000. Minus a brief hiatus, original Minis were built for four decades and sold during ...

, which broadcast on the

Sci-Fi Channel Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Launc ...

and an episode of '' Twilight Zone'' entitled " Harsh Mistress". He has also appeared on the

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. Lau ...

series ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

'', appearing as the father of Helen Magnus, played by

Amanda Tapping Amanda Tapping (born 28 August 1965) is a British-Canadian actress and director. She is best known for portraying Samantha Carter in the Canadian–American military science fiction television series ''Stargate SG-1,'' ''Stargate Atlantis,'' and ...

and as Shineoa San in an episode of '' Andromeda'' as well as the voice of Virgil Vox in nine additional episodes. As a musician, Byrnes has won the

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

for Blues Album of the Year three times, for ''That River'' in 1996 and ''House of Refuge'' on

Black Hen Music Black Hen Music is a Canadian independent record label founded in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1995. The music label was established by record producer and musician Steve Dawson of the band Zubot and Dawson. Black Hen Music began releasing al ...

in 2007, and for ''Everywhere West'' in 2011. Byrnes was also honoured at the 2006

Maple Blues Awards The Maple Blues Awards are Canada’s blues awards, "honouring the finest in Canadian blues". They are the only comprehensive national best in blues awards program. The program's goal is to promote blues music across Canada, and to recognize out ...

, as Male Vocalist of the Year. The

Canadian Folk Music Awards The Canadian Folk Music Awards are an annual music awards ceremony presenting awards in a variety of categories for achievements in both traditional and contemporary folk music, and other roots music genres, by Canadian musicians. The awards progr ...

recognized him as the Contemporary Singer of the Year in 2006 and 2009. In 2018 Byrnes performed with the Sojourners at a concert organized by the North Island Concert Society.

Filmography

Film

Television

Animation

Discography

Solo

* ''Burning'' (1981)

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...

(vinyl) * ''I Turned My Nights into Days'' (1987)

Stony Plain Records Stony Plain Records is a Canadian independent record label, which specializes in roots music genres such as country, folk, and blues. The label has released more than 300 albums. History Stony Plain was founded by Holger Petersen and Alvin Jahns ...

(vinyl) * ''That River'' (1995) Stony Plain * ''Love Is a Gamble'' (2001) One Coyote Music * ''Fresh Horses'' (2004)

* ''House of Refuge'' (2006) Black Hen Music * ''My Walking Stick'' (2009) Black Hen Music * ''Everywhere West'' (2011) Black Hen Music * ''I Hear the Wind in the Wires'' (2012) Black Hen Music * ''St. Louis Times'' (2014) Black Hen Music * ''Long Hot Summer Days'' (2017) Black Hen Music

Compilation Inclusions

*'' Vancouver Seeds 2'' (1981) *'' Saturday Night Blues: 20 Years'' (2006) CBCA

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

of live performances from the

Saturday Night Blues ''Saturday Night Blues'' is a Canadian radio program, which airs Saturday nights on CBC Music. Hosted by Holger Petersen, the program airs a mix of blues concerts, recordings and interviews with blues musicians. ''SNB'' first broadcast on CBC Radi ...

radio program on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

, hosted by

Holger Petersen Holger Petersen, (born 23 November 1949) is a Canadian businessman, record producer and radio broadcaster. He founded the independent roots music record label Stony Plain Records in 1975 with partner Alvin Jahns. The label was sold to True Nor ...

. Byrnes' "Blood In My Eyes" (also known as "I've Got Blood In My Eyes For You" and originally recorded on ''Fresh Horses'') is included.

References

External links

Jim Byrnes Website
* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Byrnes, Jim 1948 births Living people American amputees United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War American blues guitarists American male guitarists American emigrants to Canada American expatriate male actors in Canada American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Amputee actors Amputee musicians Black Hen Music artists Canadian amputees Canadian blues guitarists Canadian Folk Music Award winners Canadian male guitarists Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Guitarists from Missouri Juno Award for Blues Album of the Year winners Male actors from St. Louis Male actors from Vancouver Members of the Order of British Columbia Musicians from St. Louis Musicians from Vancouver Stony Plain Records artists United States Army soldiers 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century Canadian guitarists 21st-century Canadian guitarists 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian male actors