Adrian Paul
Paul in 2015
Born (1959-05-29) 29 May 1959 (age 64)
London, England, United Kingdom
OccupationActor
Years active1981–present
Spouse(s)Meilani Paul (1990–1997)
Alexandra Tonelli (2009–present)
Children3

Adrian Paul Hewett (born 29 May 1959)[1] is an English actor best known for the title role of Duncan MacLeod on the television series Highlander: The Series.[2][3][4][5] In 1997, he founded the Peace Fund charitable organisation.[6]

Early life

Paul was born in London,[1] the first of three brothers, to an Italian mother and a British father. He attended St Mary's Grammar School (as was) in Sidcup, Kent, where in his time in 6th Form, he established something of an empire based in the school library selling first so-called "stales" from the baker's in Sidcup High Street, progressing to a selection of biscuits. Paul first became a model, then a dancer and choreographer. As a teenager, he was a capable football player and made several appearances for Cray Wanderers in the London Spartan League between 1976 and 1978.[7] In 1985, Paul moved to the United States to pursue careers in dance and modeling.

Paul spent time in the theatre, appearing in numerous plays, and has stated that these, along with an early television appearance on Beauty and the Beast (1987), helped to shape his acting abilities.

Career

Paul's first role was on the ABC television series The Colbys in 1986, as ballet dancer Nikolai "Kolya" Rostov. This was followed by guest appearances on various television shows, including the aforementioned Beauty and the Beast (1987), two episodes of Tarzán (1991), Murder, She Wrote (1992), Relic Hunter (1999), and as himself in WWE SmackDown (1999). He also appeared in a January 2003 episode of Charmed and in the Off-Broadway play Bouncers (1987), as well as in the television films Shooter (1988) and The Cover Girl Murders (1993), the latter of which starred Lee Majors.

Paul's first film appearance was in the 1988 film Last Rites, which starred Tom Berenger. He starred in the remake Masque of the Red Death, a re-telling of the Edgar Allan Poe tale. He also appeared in Sheena Easton's "Days Like This" music video as her love interest and Duran Duran's "My Own Way" music video as a dancer.

In 1989, he appeared in a regular role in the second season of the television series War of the Worlds as John Kincaid, three episodes of the 1991 Dark Shadows remake as Jeremiah Collins, and made a pilot for CBS Television for a series called The Owl (1991). In 2001, he starred in Tracker.[8]

In 1992, Paul was cast in his most widely known role of Duncan MacLeod in the syndicated television series Highlander: The Series, which first aired in October 1992.[9][10][11] He would portray the role on and off for the next 15 years, also starring in the big screen sequel Highlander: Endgame (2000),[12][13] and the television film Highlander: The Source, released on the Sci-Fi Channel on 15 September 2007.

Other films in which he has starred or co-starred are Dance to Win (1989), Love Potion No. 9 (1992), Dead Men Can't Dance (1997), Susan's Plan (1998), Merlin: The Return (1999) as Lancelot, Convergence (1999), The Void (2001), The Breed (2001), Storm Watch (2002), Nemesis Game (2003) Throttle (2005), and Phantom Below (2005). In 2006, he co-starred in the horror film Séance and in Little Chicago. A year later, Paul appeared as Ananias Dare in the Sci-Fi Channel original film Wraiths of Roanoke (2007).

Also in 2007 Paul played the lead role in the TV movie Tides of War as Commander Frank Habley, a gay officer in charge of a submarine that infiltrates North Korean waters where he instinctively discovers a secret stealth North Korean submarine and destroys it. The fleeting moments of Commander Habley and fellow officer Tom Palatonia's relationship, played by Mike Doyle come to an abrupt end due to a fire aboard the submarine where Tom is killed while fighting the blaze. Tides of War also costars Matthew St. Patrick of Six Feet Under fame as Lieutenant Commander Steven Barker.

In 2008, Paul began voice acting the character of Patrick O'Brien in the animated War of the Worlds television show. He starred as Sir Francis Drake in the Sci-Fi Channel original film The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake (2009),[14] the futuristic thriller Eyeborgs (2009), and the thriller-drama The Heavy (2010). In 2012, Paul did a character voice-over in the Malaysian animated science fiction film War of the Worlds: Goliath. Paul starred in the 2013 science fiction film AE: Apocalypse Earth, a post-apocalyptic action-adventure film.

In 2015, he made a guest appearance as Commandant Leitner in Strike Back. In March 2019, he joined the CW series Arrow in a recurring role, playing a villainous character named Dante.[15]

Personal life

Paul married actress Meilani Figalan in 1990. The couple divorced in 1997. Paul married long-time girlfriend Alexandra Tonelli in 2009. They have three children, a daughter born in 2009, and two sons born in 2012 and 2020.

Since the late 1980s, he has studied a range of martial arts, including Taekwondo, Choy Li Fut, and Hung Gar Kung Fu, and has been featured on the covers of Impact (three times), Inside Kung Fu, Karate International (four times) and Martial Arts Insider.[16]

Filmblips

Paul is also involved in the development and production side of the entertainment industry. In 2008, he joined with Zoltan Furedi and founded Filmblips, an independent film and television media production company.[17]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1988 Last Rites Tony
1989 Dance to Win Billy James
Masque of the Red Death Prospero
1992 Love Potion No. 9 Enrico Pazzoli
1997 Dead Men Can't Dance Shooter
1998 Susan's Plan Paul Holland
1999 Convergence Brady Traub / Young Brady
2000 Highlander: Endgame Duncan MacLeod
Merlin: The Return Lancelot
2001 The Breed Aaron Gray
The Void Professor Steven Price
2002 Storm Watch Neville
2003 Nemesis Game Vern
Alien Tracker Cole Also executive producer
2004 Moscow Heat Andrew Chambers
2005 Throttle Gavin Matheson
Little Chicago Frank Newcome
2006 Séance Spence
2009 Eyeborgs Robert J. "Gunner" Reynolds
The Heavy Christian Mason
Nine Miles Down Thomas "Jack" Jackman
2011 Cold Fusion Colonel Jack Unger
2012 War of the Worlds: Goliath Patrick O'Brien Voice role
2013 AE: Apocalypse Earth Lieutenant Frank Baum
Dante's Hell Animated Ulysses Voice role
2014 Black Rose Matt Robinson
Apocalypse Pompeii Jeff Pierce
Outpost 37 General Dane Voice role
2015 Touched Brad
Kids vs Monsters Greg Lovett
2016 The Secrets of Emily Blair Roizman
2017 The Fast and the Fierce Coleman
Christmas Crime Story David Carlisle
2018 Snap Shot Alden Flower
2019 Wild League James Parker
TBA Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse Parker Nichols Post-production[18]

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1986–1987 The Colbys Nikolai "Kolya" Rostov 19 episodes
1988 Shooter Ian Television film
Beauty and the Beast Dmitri Benko Episode: "Ashes, Ashes"
1989–1990 War of the Worlds John Kincaid 20 episodes
1991 Dark Shadows Jeremiah Collins 3 episodes
The Owl The Owl Television film
1992 Murder, She Wrote Edward Hale Episode: "Danse Diabolique"
Tarzán Jack Traverse 2 episodes
1992–1998 Highlander: The Series Duncan MacLeod 117 episodes
1993 The Cover Girl Murders Patrice Television film
1995 Phantom 2040 Gunnar Voice role, 2 episodes
2001 Relic Hunter Lucas Blackmer Episode: "Vampire's Kiss"
2001–2002 Tracker Cole / Daggon 22 episodes, also executive producer
2003 Charmed Jeric Episode: "Y Tu Mummy También"
2005 Phantom Below Commander Frank Habley Television film
2007 Highlander: The Source Duncan MacLeod Television film
Wraiths of Roanoke Ananias Dare Television film
2009 The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake Sir Francis Drake Television film
2013 Deadly Descent: The Abominable Snowman Mark Forster Television film
The Confession Dylan Bennett Television film
2015 Strike Back Commandant Leitner Episode: "5.9"
Stormageddon Brian McTeague Television film
2017 12 to Midnight Father Templain Episode: "Red Sneakers"
2019 Arrow Dante 3 episodes
2022 S.W.A.T. Peter Galloway S5/E18 - "Incoming"

Music videos

Year Song Director(s) Notes
1981 "My Own Way" Russell Mulcahy
1988 "Eyes of a Stranger" Wayne Isham
1988 "Days Like This" Brian Grant

Stage

Production Year Role Theatre Notes
Bouncers 1987 Ralph Minetta Lane Theatre

References

  1. ^ a b Editors of Chase's Calendar of Events (10 October 2013). Chase's Calendar of Events 2014 with CD-ROM. McGraw Hill Professional. p. 301. ISBN 978-0-07-182950-2. Adrian Paul, 55, actor ("Highlander"), born London, England, 29 May 1959.
  2. ^ Donna Lettow (26 September 2009). Highlander(™): Zealot. Grand Central Publishing. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-446-56564-6.
  3. ^ Mary M. Lay; Janice J. Monk; Deborah Silverton Rosenfelt (2002). Encompassing Gender: Integrating International Studies and Women's Studies. Feminist Press at CUNY. p. 102. ISBN 978-1-55861-269-3.
  4. ^ Prouty (1 March 1994). Variety Television Reviews 1991–1992. Taylor & Francis. p. 430. ISBN 978-0-8240-3796-3.
  5. ^ Katie King (5 January 2012). Networked Reenactments: Stories Transdisciplinary Knowledges Tell. Duke University Press. p. 303. ISBN 978-0-8223-5072-9.
  6. ^ "Our Team". PEACE Fund. PEACE Fund. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  7. ^ "Cray Wanderers – A Complete Statistical Record". Cray 150 Publications. 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  8. ^ Frank Garcia; Mark Phillips (10 December 2008). Science Fiction Television Series, 1990–2004: Histories, Casts and Credits for 58 Shows. McFarland. p. 339. ISBN 978-0-7864-9183-4.
  9. ^ Gardner Dozois (15 May 1998). The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual Collection. St. Martin's Press. p. 58. ISBN 978-0-312-19033-0.
  10. ^ Paul Green (14 October 2009). Encyclopedia of Weird Westerns: Supernatural and Science Fiction Elements in Novels, Pulps, Comics, Films, Television and Games. McFarland. p. 112. ISBN 978-0-7864-5800-4.
  11. ^ The New York Times Theater Reviews (December 2001). The New York Times Film Reviews 1999–2000. Taylor & Francis. p. 380. ISBN 978-0-415-93696-5.
  12. ^ Stephen Jones (3 January 2014). The Mammoth Book of Best New Horror: 12. Constable & Robinson Limited. p. 38. ISBN 978-1-78033-712-8.
  13. ^ Leonard Maltin (3 September 2013). Leonard Maltin's 2014 Movie Guide. Penguin Group US. p. 1071. ISBN 978-1-101-60955-2.
  14. ^ Sue Parrill; William B. Robison (26 February 2013). The Tudors on Film and Television. McFarland. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-4766-0031-4.
  15. ^ Petski, Denise (4 March 2019). "'Arrow': Adrian Paul To Recur As Dante in CW Series". Deadline Hollywood.
  16. ^ "Adrian Paul". www.ma-mags.com. Retrieved 25 March 2017.
  17. ^ "About us". Filmblips. Filmblips. Retrieved 27 January 2017.
  18. ^ "Adrian Paul and Cara Jade Myers Join Cast for Hannover House Feature, "Wildfire: The Legend of the Cherokee Ghost Horse"". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 22 January 2023.

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