English-born Canadian actor
Robert Charles Wisden[1] (Brighton, 2 June 1958)[2] is an English-born, Canadian actor who has an extensive career in Canadian and American film and television, for which he has won a Gemini Award.[3]
Best known for playing U.S. President Richard Nixon in the 2009 American neo-noir superhero film Watchmen, he has acted on many series, including Da Vinci's Inquest, Smallville, The X-Files, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Highlander and Jeremiah.[4]
Early life
Born in 1958 in Brighton, East Sussex in England, Wisden moved with his family from Britain to Canada when he was fifteen. He made his film debut in Firebird 2015 AD (1981), landing a key supporting part alongside Darren McGavin and Doug McClure. Four years later he started his television career starring as Terry Dunne in Atom Egoyan's In This Corner (1985).[5]
Career
Acting
Wisden is best known for his role as United States President Richard Nixon in Zack Snyder's film adaptation of the DC graphic novel Watchmen, Chief Coroner James Flynn in the Canadian TV series Da Vinci's Inquest, and Ken Browning in Final Destination. In 1994, he landed a supporting role in the epic turn-of-the-20th-century drama Legends of the Fall. He played Robert Patrick Modell - a character created by Vince Gilligan - in the classic The X-Files episode Pusher (1996) and the 1998 follow-up episode Kitsunegari.
Teaching
In 2006, Wisden graduated from Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Education degree.[3] He taught at Heritage Woods Secondary School for two school years (2006–2007), substituting for the main drama teacher. He went on to become the Head of Theater Arts at St.George's School for Boys in Vancouver, British Columbia.[6][7] In 2019, Wisden realised a long-held dream when he oversaw the school's successful production of Les Misérables.[8]
Awards
In 2000, he won a Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series for The Sheldon Kennedy Story (1999).[9]
