Daniel Kash

Canadian actor Daniel Kash enjoyed a two-decade career as a character actor and occasional lead in both his native country and the United States, playing a variety of intense roles in such titles as "Aliens" (1986), "Due South" (CTV/CBS, 1994-99), and countless other features and television series. Trained for the stage in London, he made his debut with a minor role in "Aliens" before finding work on Canadian television, most notably in "Due South" and the biopic "Gross Misconduct: The Life of Brian Spencer" (CBC, 1993). He remained a staple on television throughout the decade, frequently playing authority figures with an elastic sense of the law, while also enjoying bit and supporting roles in movies. The new millennium found Kash busier than ever on both the small and silver screens while also adding a second career as a director on several short films to his lengthy resume. Like most character actors, Daniel Kash traded the spotlight for the security and scope of the work, which in turn made him a familiar and favorite face to audiences.

Born Daniel Joshua Kash in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on April 25, 1959, he was one of five children by conductor and violinist Eugene Kash and the famed operatic contralto Maureen Forrester. His younger sister, Linda Kash, was a Second City veteran whose credits included several of Christopher Guest's "mockumentary" features. Daniel Kash's own acting journey began as a student at the Drama Centre in London, which preceded his screen debut as an ill-fated Marine in James Cameron's blockbuster "Aliens." Upon returning to North America, Kash worked steadily on stage and in Stateside and Canadian content filmed in his native country. Supporting roles eventually led to his first starring turn as real-life Canadian hockey player Brian "Spinner" Spencer in director Atom Egoyan's 1993 TV drama "Gross Misconduct: The Life of Brian Spencer." The following year, he co-starred with Paul Gross, who wrote "Gross Misconduct," in the popular comedy-drama "Due South." His character, the brash Detective Louis Gardino, was killed off during the show's second season, after which Kash resumed his busy schedule of television appearances. In the late '90s and early 2000s, Kash became a staple of American features shot in Canada, including "Don't Say a Word" (2001), and Lasse Hallstrom's "The Shipping News" (2001). Between these assignments, there were countless roles on television series, most notably as a morally conflicted police officer on "The Line" (Movie Central/The Movie Network, 2009) and a recurring role on the acclaimed comedy-drama "Less Than Kind" (CityTV/HBO Canada, 2008- ). He also directed three short films, including the award-nominated comedy "Germgirl" (2001), which starred his wife, actress Hayley Tyson. By the end of the 2000s, Kash amassed an impressive list of credits in the new millennium, from bit roles in Ron Howard's "Cinderella Man" (2005), to supporting turns in the unsettling thriller "Mama" (2013). He also enjoyed substantive recurring roles on such high-profile series as "Alphas" (SyFy, 2011-12) and "Orphan Black" (Space, BBC America, 2013- ).