Michael Ironside
Born: February 12 1950
Where: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The seasoned character actor first shocked audiences as mind-blowing megalomaniac Dary Revok in the sci-fi horror classic Scanners.
His turn as a psychotic maverick led to a whole raft of baddie roles including Richter in Total Recall and Dial in Free Willy.
After studying at Ontario College of Art and the Canadian National Film Board, he worked locally before David Cronenberg cast him in Scanners in 1981.
Strong supporting roles followed including Lt Cmdr Rick 'Jester' Heatherly in Top Gun and Sheriff Pete in the action thriller Payback.
In 1991, he starred in Highlander II: The Quickening and went on to feature in a number of minor movies including Too Fast Too Young and One Way Out.
He was Lieutenant Jean Rasczak in Starship Troopers and went on to star alongside George Clooney in The Perfect Storm.
Apart from regular appearances in American TV's ER, he also shows up in Outer Limits and Seaquest DSV.
In 2004, he starred opposite Christian Bale in the psychological thriller The Machinist.
