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From the Official Press Kit for Due South, seen on CBS (in the
United States) and CTV (in Canada) Thursday Nights at 8:00 pm
EST. (7:00 pm Central etc.)
Copyright Alliance Communications Corporation
PAUL GROSS as Constable Benton Fraser
An Army brat, Paul Gross was born in Calgary, Alberta and was
educated in England, Germany, Washington D.C. and Canada before
earning a degree in Drama at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.
Following university, he performed extensively in Canadian regional
theaters in addition to forging a writing career. His first play,
The Deer and the Antelope Play, performed in Edmonton, won the
Clifford E. Lee National Playwriting Award and the Alberta Cultural
Playwriting Award (1982). His second play, The Dead of Winter,
a Gothic tale of family life in the Badlands of Alberta, was a
rousing success in its staging at the Toronto Free Theater.
Artistic Director John Neville then invited him to be playwright-in-residence
at the Stratford Festival which, in co-operation with the Toronto
Free Theatre, produced his Sprung Rhythm, a study of a megalomaniacal
heart surgeon. This play was originally commissioned for the
National Arts Center in Ottawa while Gross was the playwright-in-residence.
This was a position he also held at The Grand Theater Company,
under artistic director Robin Phillips. The Toronto Free Theater
also produced Thunder, Perfect Mind, a sci-fi multi-media rock
extravaganza, which ran for a year at Toronto's McLaughlin Planetarium.
For television he has written "In This Corner," an episode
of CBC's For The Record series, which dealt with terrorism and
its innocent victims and earned a Best TV Drama nomination at
the 1986 Gemini Awards. He also wrote the widely-acclaimed drama
Gross Misconduct, concerning the life of Brian Spencer which was
produced by CBC and directed by Atom Egoyan (this years winner
of the Cannes International Critics Prize for Exotica).
In between writing assignments, Gross occupies his time acting
both on stage and screen. His acting talents were recognized
with a Dora Award nomination for Romeo and Juliet (1985) and
a Dora Award for Best Performance in his role in the critically-acclaimed
North American premiere of Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching
Toward the Somme (1988), which played at Toronto's Canadian Stage.
On television and film, his numerous starring appearances include
Chasing Rainbows (CBC), Getting Married in Buffalo Jump, Cold
Comfort (Canadian
Features/1990), Buried On Sunday (Alliance/1992), Aspen Extreme
(Hollywood Pictures/1992), and Tales of the City (PBS Mini-series/1993).
DAVID MARCIANO as Ray Vecchio
Born and raised in Newark, New Jersey, David Marciano attended
Northeastern University in Boston with an intention of becoming
a biomedical engineer. After one, less-than-stellar year however,
he decided to pursue other career options. An aptitude test narrowed
the field to architecture or acting. He chose acting.
Beginning in June of 1983, Marciano spent a year working as an
actor in Boston. During that time, he also attended bartender
school and worked as a bartender. He appeared in little-theater
productions, one local movie, and a commercial for Northeastern
University, but he realized he needed more trainin
Fortunately, he was accepted into the Drama Studio of London at
Berkeley, California. Completing the one year course, he tried
finding work as an actor in New York for a time; then in December,
1985, moved to Los Angeles. After working in commercials, he
got his first major break: the guest star lead in an episode
of Wiseguy.
Other guest star roles followed in such series as Duet, China
Beach and Vietnam War Story. His film credits include Come See
the Paradise, Harlem Nights and Lethal Weapon II.
Marciano has recently completed Gypsy for CBS, a three-hour mini-series
with Bette Midler, Ed Asner, and Cynthia Gibb.
