Nigel Bennett (born 19 November 1949) is a British-Canadian actor, director, and writer who has been based in Canada since 1986. He is best known for playing the

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

patriarch Lucien LaCroix in the TV series ''

Forever Knight ''Forever Knight'' is a Canadian television series about Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire working as a police detective in modern-day Toronto, Ontario. Wracked with guilt for centuries of killing others, he seeks redemption by working as a ho ...

'', for which he won the Canadian

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

for best supporting actor in a dramatic series.

Early life and education

Bennett was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. Bennett first started acting at eleven, playing a Roman citizen in a school production of

Shaw's Shaw's and Star Market are two American supermarket chains under united management based in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts, employing about 30,000 associates in 150 total stores; 129 stores are operated under the Shaw's banner in Maine, Massac ...

Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' (First Folio title: ''The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed, by the King's Men, at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre in around ...

''. He graduated from the

University of Wales The University of Wales (Welsh language, Welsh: ''Prifysgol Cymru'') is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff � ...

with a degree in theatre, and taught for a year and a half before beginning acting full-time. He had fifteen years of stage experience in Britain prior to moving to Canada. He attended

Tettenhall College Tettenhall College is a co-educational independent day and boarding school located in the Wolverhampton suburb of Tettenhall in England. History The college was founded in 1863 by a group of prominent local businessmen and industrialists, most ...

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation Staffs.) is a landlocked county in the West Midlands region of England. It borders Cheshire to the northwest, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, Warwickshire to the southeast, the West Midlands Cou ...

Career

He has been in a number of major films such as ''

Murder at 1600 ''Murder at 1600'' is a 1997 American action thriller film directed by Dwight Little and starring Wesley Snipes and Diane Lane. Plot In a restroom in the White House, a janitor finds secretary Carla Town dead. Metropolitan Police homicide detect ...

'' and '' The Skulls'', and many, many other TV series. He had recurring roles in '' Kung Fu: The Legend Continues'' and ''

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 Donovan (writer), Paul and Michael Donovan (producer), Michael Dono ...

''. He also starred in a series of Oatmeal Crisp cereal commercials in the 1990s. Teaming up with writer P.N. Elrod, Bennett co-authored a series of acclaimed "James Bond with fangs" vampire adventure novels for Baen Books. The "Lord Richard, Vampire" trilogy includes ''Keeper of the King, His Father's Son,'' and ''Siege Perilous.'' He also contributed the short story "Wolf and Hound" to "Dracula's London," a collection edited by Elrod for Ace Science Fiction. In 2006, he appeared in the

Ken Finkleman Ken Finkleman (born 1946) is a Canadian television and film writer and producer, actor, and novelist. Biography Finkleman was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In Canada, Finkleman is best known as the writer, creator and producer of the CBC Televisi ...

miniseries '' At the Hotel'', for which he was nominated for a

. Bennett keeps himself busy with additional film and TV roles, stage work, convention and charity appearances. He was the artistic director of the

Atlantic Theatre Festival The Atlantic Theatre Festival (ATF) was a professional theatre company located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada. The Theatre Festival presented a "broad range of critically acclaimed theatre classics" during the summer in Wolfville's Festival The ...

Wolfville Wolfville is a Canadian town in the Annapolis Valley, Kings County, Nova Scotia, located about northwest of the provincial capital, Halifax. The town is home to Acadia University and Landmark East School. The town is a tourist destination du ...

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, Canada, in 2006–07.

Filmography

Film

Television

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Nigel 1949 births Living people English horror writers English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors Actors from Wolverhampton English emigrants to Canada Canadian expatriates in England English people of Canadian descent Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Canadian Screen Award winners