Bruce Greenwood

Born: 12th August 1956
Where: Ontario, Canada

Greenwood is probably best remembered for his portrayal of President John F Kennedy in the Cuban missile crisis drama Thirteen Days.

The sports fanatic pursued a career in acting after his hopes to make the grade as a professional skier ended when he damaged his knee.

That still didn't stop him coming a cropper on many a shoot: he fractured a leg touring Cruel Tears, broke his ankle filming The Climb and a finger making Knot's Landing.

After studying acting in London and New York he worked on the stage for a number of years and was toiling in a chemical factory when he got the call for his feature debut in 1980's Bear Island.

He followed this with a walk-on in Sly Stallone's First Blood (his 12 lines ended on the cutting room floor).

Roles followed in TV movies and series as well as the occasional big screen foray, including The Climb, Wild Orchid, Passenger 57 and Exotica in 1994.

After supporting roles in Dream Man, Father's Day and Thick As Thieves, co-starring Alec Baldwin, he found his stock rising.

He impressed in Double Jeopardy and got noticed for Rules of Engagement before Roger Donaldson cast him as the president for Thirteen Days opposite Kevin Costner.

Subsequent appearances have included Guy Ritchie's straight-to-video Madonna vehicle Swept Away and World War II submarine chiller Below.

He featured in the disaster movie The Core and the lacklustre cop comedy Hollywood Homicide with Harrison Ford.

In 2004, he starred in the Isaac Asimov sci-fi thriller I Robot with Will Smith and Bridget Moynahan.

The following year he appeared in the Oscar-winning biopic Capote and alongside Anthony Hopkins in The World's Fastest Indian.

Subsequent appearances have included the Tony Scott thriller Deja Vu and he also starred in the children's comedy Firehouse Dog. p>