Jere Alan Gillis (born January 18, 1957) is an American-born

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 ...

former professional

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two o ...

player, actor and stuntman.

Background

Gillis was born in

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U ...

and raised in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, the son of skier Gene Gillis (a member of the American alpine skiing team for the

1948 Winter Olympics The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games (german: V. Olympische Winterspiele; french: Ves Jeux olympiques d'hiver; it, V Giochi olimpici invernali; rm, V Gieus olimpics d'enviern) and commonly known as St. Moritz ...

), and

Rhona Wurtele Rhona is the name of: * Rhona Adair (1878–1961), British golf champion * Rhona Bennett (born 1976), American singer, actress and model * Rhona Brankin (born 1950), Labour Co-operative politician and Member of the Scottish Parliament * Rhona Brow ...

, a Canadian Olympic skier who competed at the 1948 Winter Olympics. His sister

Margie Gillis Margie Gillis (born July 9, 1953) is a Canadian dancer and choreographer. Gillis has been creating original works of modern dance for over thirty-five years. Her repertoire includes more than one hundred pieces, which she performs as solos, duet ...

is a dancer and choreographer, and member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

. His older brother Christopher Gillis was also an important dancer and choreographer, and a member of the

Paul Taylor Dance Company Paul Taylor Dance Company, is a modern dance company, formed by dancer and choreographer Paul Taylor (1930—2018). The modern dance company is based in New York, New York and was founded in 1954. Taylor originally performed in the companies of ...

Playing career

As a youth, Gillis played in the 1970

Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament The Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament (french: Tournoi international de hockey pee-wee de Québec) is an annual minor ice hockey event in Quebec City. The tournament was founded in 1960 to coincide with the Quebec Winter Carnival, ...

with a

minor ice hockey Minor hockey is an umbrella term for amateur ice hockey which is played below the junior age level. Players are classified by age, with each age group playing in its own league. The rules, especially as it relates to body contact, vary from c ...

team from

Mount Royal, Quebec Mount Royal (french: Mont-Royal, officially Town of Mount Royal, french: Ville de Mont-Royal, abbreviated TMR, french: VMR) is an affluent on-island suburban town located on the northwest side of the eponymous Mount Royal, northwest of Downtown M ...

. Drafted fourth overall in the 1977 NHL amateur draft by the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division of the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference, and ...

, Gillis played in the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey sports league, league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranke ...

(NHL) from 1977 to 1987 for the Canucks,

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its ho ...

Quebec Nordiques The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the ...

Buffalo Sabres The Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. The Sabres compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conf ...

and

Philadelphia Flyers The Philadelphia Flyers are a professional ice hockey team based in Philadelphia. The Flyers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home games in Wel ...

. From 1988 to 1991, he played in the United Kingdom for

Solihull Barons The Solihull Barons are an English ice hockey team from the town of Solihull who play at Solihull Ice Rink on Hobs Moat Road. The current team, which is the third incarnation of the Barons, was formed in 2005; they are named after the original ...

and

Peterborough Pirates The Peterborough Pirates were an English ice hockey team. It was established in 1982, as the senior adult semi-professional team of the newly formed Peterborough Ice Hockey Club. ''The Pirates'', based at the East of England Ice Rink, Peterbor ...

, finally playing five games in the Quebec Senior Provincial Hockey League in 1996–97.

Personal life

Upon retiring from ice hockey he became a stuntman in movies as well as a Scientologist.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

International

*''All statistics are taken from eliteprospects.com.''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gillis, Jere 1957 births Living people American men's ice hockey left wingers American stunt performers Buffalo Sabres players Bishop's College School alumni Canadian ice hockey left wingers Canadian stunt performers Cincinnati Stingers draft picks Fredericton Express players Hershey Bears players Sportspeople from Montreal Ice hockey people from Oregon National Hockey League first-round draft picks New York Rangers players Philadelphia Flyers players Quebec Nordiques players Rochester Americans players Sherbrooke Castors players Sportspeople from Bend, Oregon Vancouver Canucks draft picks Vancouver Canucks players Ice hockey people from Quebec American emigrants to Canada