Ross Mullan (born 5 January 1967) is a Canadian-British actor and

puppeteer A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, called a puppet, to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. The puppet is often shaped like a human, animal, or legendary creature. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from ...

, known for portraying multiple

White Walker A White Walker is a humanoid creature from the HBO television series ''Game of Thrones'', and the George R. R. Martin novel series ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' on which it is based. Primarily referred to as the Others in the novels, White Walkers ...

s on the HBO television series ''

Game of Thrones ''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...

'' in its second through fourth seasons. He has appeared in episodes of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' and in the 2010 film '' Clash of the Titans''.

Early life

Mullan grew up in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

and attended Children's Theatre in the West End of Montreal. Later he did the theatre program at

John Abbott College John Abbott College ( French: ''Collège John Abbott)'' is an English-language public college located in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, Canada, near the western tip of the Island of Montreal. John Abbott College is one of eight English publ ...

and then

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

for their Theatre program.

Career

After completing University he moved to

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

and worked at the Oddyssey Theatre developing skills in mask and puppet movement theatre. Mullan moved to the UK on a whim after going there on vacation. He immediately started touring with theatre companies all over Europe, the Middle East, and Asia doing musical productions of David Copperfield, Gulliver's Travels, and Sherlock Holmes. He later transitioned to television doing puppet for a show called Dinotopia, the effects department wanted someone to animate this dinosaur and make it emote like a person. Ross also played Orsino in l,

Bath Theatre Royal The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacity for an audienc ...

's production of ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...

'', the title role of the Selfish Giant for

Leicester Haymarket Theatre The Leicester Haymarket Theatre is a theatre in Leicester, England, next to the Haymarket Shopping Centre on Belgrave Gate in Leicester City centre. History The Haymarket Theatre was opened by Sir Ralph Richardson and the opening season starte ...

and brought the critically acclaimed play ''Thick'' from the Edinburgh festival to New York City with sold out performances. Ross played the role of the 'Numbertaker' in the children's show,

Numberjacks ''Numberjacks'' is a British 3D animated children's television series, aimed particularly at children aged two to five, shown regularly on CBeebies and occasionally on BBC Two in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. It w ...

. The Numbertaker is a parody of

The Undertaker Mark William Calaway (born March 24, 1965), better known by the ring name The Undertaker, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Calaway spent the vast majority ...

, and is a live-action man (with an exaggerated top hat and a white robe), who removes numbers (or "numbers of things"). He also played

Nev the Bear Nev the Bear is a small, blue puppet bear that originally appeared in the CBBC television programme ''Smile''. Since 2007, Nev has starred in his own CBBC show '' Bear Behaving Badly'', alongside Barney Harwood. His name was created from the ...

as a co-starring actor in

Smile A smile is a facial expression formed primarily by flexing the muscles at the sides of the mouth. Some smiles include a contraction of the muscles at the corner of the eyes, an action known as a Duchenne smile. Among humans, a smile expresses ...

in 2002 and again in 2007, alongside

Barney Harwood Barnaby John "Barney" Harwood (born 7 November 1979) is a British actor and television presenter. He is known for his work with CBBC beginning in 2002. Career Television For CBBC, Harwood presented '' Prank Patrol'' and was a voice-over comment ...

, on another show called,

Bear Behaving Badly ''Bear Behaving Badly'' is a British children's sitcom which originally aired for four series and was broadcast between 3 September 2007 and 21 December 2010. Background The programme is centred around the daily adventures of Barney Harwood, h ...

. He played Pemphredo, one of the three blind Stygian witches, in '' Clash of the Titans'' (2010); one of the

werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...

in ''

Howl Howl most often refers to: *Howling, an animal vocalization in many canine species *Howl (poem), a 1956 poem by Allen Ginsberg Howl may also refer to: Film * ''The Howl'', a 1970 Italian film * ''Howl'' (2010 film), a 2010 American arthouse b ...

''; and The Silence and The Teller on ''

''. In June 2012 he played a

in "

Valar Morghulis "Valar Morghulis" is the tenth and final episode of the second season of HBO's medieval fantasy television series '' Game of Thrones''. The 20th episode of the series overall, the episode was directed by Alan Taylor, his sixth directing credit ...

", an episode of the HBO television series ''

''. He would reprise the role in the May 2013 episode " Second Sons", in which he is notably killed by

Samwell Tarly Samwell Tarly, or simply Sam, is a fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The charact ...

. He would play a different White Walker in the April 2014 episode " Oathkeeper". As of 2018 he is teaching animation at

University for the Creative Arts The University for the Creative Arts is a specialist art and design university in the south of England. It was formed in 2005 as University College for the Creative Arts at Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester when the Kent Inst ...

, in

Farnham Farnham ( /ˈfɑːnəm/) is a market town and civil parish in Surrey, England, around southwest of London. It is in the Borough of Waverley, close to the county border with Hampshire. The town is on the north branch of the River Wey, a trib ...

."Breaking the ice with a White Walker"

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. 5 April 2018. Retrieved 21 May 2019.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mullan, Ross Living people 21st-century British male actors British male television actors British male stage actors British male film actors 1967 births