Michael Mahonen (born 27 April 1964) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

actor,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

and

screen writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

History

Mahonen has

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

ancestry. After graduating from the Theatre Arts Program at

George Brown College George Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, GBC was chartered in 1966 by the government of Ontario and ...

in 1989, he auditioned for a young company formed for the

Citadel Theatre The Citadel Theatre is the major venue for theatre arts in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, located in the city's downtown core on Churchill Square. It is the third largest regional theatre in Canada. History It began in a former Salvati ...

in Edmonton. His first job as a professional actor involved the role of James Keller in "The Miracle Worker," as well as the roles of Lucius and Popilious Lena in "Julius Caesar." In 1990, Mahonen was chosen for the role of Gus Pike for the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

program ''

Road to Avonlea ''Road to Avonlea'' is a Canadian television series first broadcast in Canada between January 7, 1990, and March 31, 1996, as part of the ''CBC Family Hour'' anthology series, and in the United States starting on March 5, 1990. It was created b ...

''. He garnered three

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 ...

nominations in 1993, 1994, and 1995 for his work on the television series. In 1992, he starred as a jazz trumpet player with

Billy Dee Williams William December Williams Jr. (born April 6, 1937) is an American actor. He appeared as Lando Calrissian in the ''Star Wars'' franchise, first in the early 1980s for ''The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and ''Return of the Jedi'' (1983), and thirt ...

in the film ''Giant Steps''. He then played Lee Colgan in the CBC miniseries ''Conspiracy of Silence'', directed by

Francis Mankiewicz Francis Mankiewicz (March 15, 1944 in Shanghai, China – August 14, 1993 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada) was a Canadian film director, screenwriter and producer. In 1945, his family moved to Montreal, where Francis spent all his childhood. His f ...

. In 1994, Mahonen co-starred with

Michael Riley Michael Riley (born February 4, 1962) is a Canadian actor. From 1998 to 2000, he portrayed Brett Parker in ''Power Play''. He has acted in over 40 films and television series, including '' This Is Wonderland'', for which he received a Gemini Awa ...

in the television special "The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios". He played the character of Paul, a young man dying of the

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

virus after contracting it from a

blood transfusion Blood transfusion is the process of transferring blood products into a person's circulation intravenously. Transfusions are used for various medical conditions to replace lost components of the blood. Early transfusions used whole blood, but mo ...

a few years earlier. In the summer of 1994, he played the role of Jacob Mercer in "Salt Water Moon". This was part of David French's Mercer family saga set in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

. Mahonen also guest-starred in numerous American and Canadian television projects, including an episode of '' Star Trek: Voyager'' entitled "Nemesis", in which he played a humanoid named "Brone." In 1997, Mahonen starred in

Judith Thompson Judith Clare Thompson, OC (born September 20, 1954) is a Canadian playwright who lives in Toronto, Ontario. She has twice been awarded the Governor General's Award for drama, and is the recipient of many other awards including the Order of Canad ...

's "Sled" at

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

's Tarragon Theatre. He then returned to film, co-starring in the 1998 film ''Captured''. He went on to make several more films including ''

Blindness Visual impairment, also known as vision impairment, is a medical definition primarily measured based on an individual's better eye visual acuity; in the absence of treatment such as correctable eyewear, assistive devices, and medical treatment� ...

''. In 2003, Mahonen began work on his first feature film ''Sandstorm''. The film involved a fact-based drama about the persecution of

Falun Gong Falun Gong (, ) or Falun Dafa (; literally, "Dharma Wheel Practice" or "Law Wheel Practice") is a new religious movement.Junker, Andrew. 2019. ''Becoming Activists in Global China: Social Movements in the Chinese Diaspora'', pp. 23–24, 33, 119 ...

practitioners in China. He wrote, directed, and produced the entire film for under $5,000. The cast was made up of volunteers. The film received 29 awards including Best Feature Film, Best Drama, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mahonen, Michael 1964 births Living people Film directors from Ontario Canadian film producers Canadian male screenwriters Canadian male television actors People from Kirkland Lake Canadian people of Finnish descent Falun Gong practitioners George Brown College alumni Male actors from Ontario 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian male writers