Tom Rack is a Canadian actor and writer best known for his portrayal of henchman Zigesfeld in the 1991 film '' If Looks Could Kill'', and for twice portraying physicist Dr.

Robert Oppenheimer J. Robert Oppenheimer (; April 22, 1904 – February 18, 1967) was an American theoretical physicist. A professor of physics at the University of California, Berkeley, Oppenheimer was the wartime head of the Los Alamos Laboratory and is often ...

Career

A character actor with an impactful presence, Rack has worked extensively in film, television and on stage. He began his career on stage in Montreal, at the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts before appearing at the Phoenix Theatre, Laurentian Theatre, Théâtre du Rideau Vert and Centaur. Many of his formative years as an actor were spent working with the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

doing voice-over work for short films. Among his first feature film roles was Dr. Meister in ''

The Blue Man ''The Blue Man'' is a mystery, 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 technol ...

'' in 1985 and Faulkner in ''

Toby McTeague ''Toby McTeague'' is a 1986 Canadian children's action-adventure drama film directed by Jean-Claude Lord. It stars Yannick Bisson as Toby McTeague, a teenager training to compete in a dog sled race. The film was shot primarily in the small town o ...

'' in 1986, both films which were nominated for two

Genie Awards The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

. His best known role came in 1991, when he played the villain Zigesfeld in the James Bond spoof '' If Looks Could Kill'' starring

Richard Grieco Richard John Grieco Jr. (born March 23, 1965) is an American actor and former fashion model. He played Detective Dennis Booker in the popular Fox series ''21 Jump Street'' (1988–89) and its spin-off ''Booker'' (1989–90). He has also starre ...

. He has portrayed Doctor

on screen twice, in the 1987 mini-series ''

Race for the Bomb ''Race for the Bomb'' (french: La Course à la bombe) is a 1987 television 3-parts miniseries about the Manhattan Project, starting from the initial stages of scientific discovery that led to the creation of the atomic bomb, discovery of the Ulam-T ...

'' and in the 1996 TV movie ''Einstein: Light to the Power of 2''. In 2003, he had a supporting role as the leading character's father in ''Chasing Holden'', starring

DJ Qualls Donald Joseph Qualls (born June 10, 1978) is an American actor. He is best known for his work in films including ''Road Trip'' (2000), ''The New Guy'' (2002) and ''The Core'' (2003), and for several appearances on television series such as '' B ...

. Other notable roles include Mirak in the 1996 TV movie ''Ivana Trump's For Love Alone'' and Brother Abel, a psychotic priest in the 2002

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

television flick ''

The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire ''The Case of the Whitechapel Vampire'' is a non-canonical Sherlock Holmes film. The film was produced in 2002 for The Hallmark Channel as the last installment in a series of Hallmark Sherlock Holmes films. Plot Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson a ...

''. Rack also made brief appearances in the blockbuster films ''

Jesus of Montreal ''Jesus of Montreal'' (french: Jésus de Montréal) is a 1989 French Canadian comedy-drama film written and directed by Denys Arcand, and starring Lothaire Bluteau, Catherine Wilkening and Johanne-Marie Tremblay. The film tells the story of a grou ...

'', ''

300 __NOTOC__ Year 300 (Roman numerals, CCC) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Constantius and Valerius (or, less frequently, ...

'' and ''

The Greatest Game Ever Played ''The Greatest Game Ever Played'' is a 2005 American biographical sports film based on the early life of amateur golf champion Francis Ouimet and his surprise winning of the 1913 U.S. Open. The film was directed by Bill Paxton, and was his last ...

''. Rack has supplied voices for animation including ''

Animal Crackers An animal cracker is a particular type of cracker, baked in the shape of an animal, usually an animal either at a zoo or a circus, such as a lion, a tiger, a bear, or an elephant. The most common variety is light-colored and slightly sweet, but ...

'', ''

The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures ''The Country Mouse and the City Mouse Adventures'' is an animated television series co-produced by CINAR Films and France Animation, produced in association with Ravensburger Film & TV, WIC Entertainment, Reader's Digest (Season 1), TVOntario (S ...

'', ''

Billy and Buddy ''Boule et Bill'' (known in English as ''Billy & Buddy'') is a popular comic, created in 1959 by Belgian writer-artist Jean Roba in collaboration with Maurice Rosy. In 2003, the artistic responsibility of the series was passed on to Roba's former a ...

'', ''

Sea Dogs The sea, connected as the world ocean or simply the ocean, is the body of salty water that covers approximately 71% of the Earth's surface. The word sea is also used to denote second-order sections of the sea, such as the Mediterranean Sea, ...

'', ''

Lucky Luke ''Lucky Luke'' is a Western ''bande dessinée'' series created by Belgian cartoonist Morris in 1946. Morris wrote and drew the series single-handedly until 1955, after which he started collaborating with French writer René Goscinny. Their par ...

'', ''

Daft Planet Daft Planet is a Canadian cartoon, first airing on Teletoon. The first episode ran on September 2, 2002 and the show continued to run for almost two years even though only 13 episodes were produced. Its main claim to fame is that it was the first c ...

'', ''

Princess Sissi ''Princess Sissi'' (french: Princessé Sissi, it, La Principessa Sissi, also known as Saban's Sissi the Princess) is a children's animated series. It debuted on October 27, 1997 on France 3 and within the same time in Italy on Rai 1, and later ...

'', ''

The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo ''The Magical Adventures of Quasimodo'' is an animated television series based on Victor Hugo's 1831 novel ''Notre Dame de Paris''. The show was produced by Ares Films, CinéGroupe, Télé-Images, and Astral Media. It aired in 1996. The series ...

'', ''

Arthur Arthur is a common male given name of Brittonic languages, Brythonic origin. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. The etymology is disputed. It may derive from the Celtic ''Artos'' meaning “Bear”. An ...

'', ''

Marsupilami ''Marsupilami'' is a comic book character and fictional animal species created by André Franquin. Its first appearance was in the 31 January 1952 issue of the Franco-Belgian comics magazine '' Spirou''. Since then it appeared regularly in the ...

'', '' Ratz'', ''Ivanhoe'', ''

Wunschpunsch ''Wunschpunsch'' (french: Wounchpounch, german: Der Wunschpunsch) is a children's animated fantasy television series, co-produced by Saban International Paris, CinéGroupe and TF1, with the participation of Ventura Film Distributors B.V. and A ...

'', ''

Ripley's Believe It or Not! ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' is an American franchise founded by Robert Ripley, which deals in bizarre events and items so strange and unusual that readers might question the claims. Originally a newspaper panel, the ''Believe It or Not'' feat ...

'', ''

A Miss Mallard Mystery ''A Miss Mallard Mystery'' is a mystery animated series produced by the CINAR Corporation and Shanghai Animation Film Studio for the Teletoon network and OTV (Shanghai Media Group), loosely based on the Robert Quackenbush book series ''The Miss Ma ...

'' and ''

Patrol 03 ''Patrol 03'' is a Canadian and French animated television series that aired in 1998 and was broadcast on Teletoon in Canada and France 3 in France. Plot The show centers around a trio of animal police officers called Shorty, Wilfred and Carmen ...

''. He wrote one episode of

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

's ''

Are You Afraid of the Dark? ''Are You Afraid of the Dark?'' is a horror anthology television series. The original series aired on Nickelodeon from 1992 to 1996; the pilot episode aired respectively on YTV and Nickelodeon in 1990 and 1991. It led to two revival series, w ...

'', called "The Tale of the Pinball Wizard" in which he also played two characters, and in addition, he played The Watcher in the episode ''The Tale of Watcher's Woods''. Rack appeared as a contestant on ''

Jeopardy! ''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...

'' on September 27 and 28, 1993, amassing a total of $18,300 in winnings as a one-day champion. He lives 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 ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Reisler Talent Agency Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rack, Tom Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian male film actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors Canadian television writers Canadian male voice actors Canadian male television writers 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian male actors