Brian Downey (born 31 October 1944 in St. John's,

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

) is a Canadian actor best known for his portrayal of Stanley Tweedle in the

science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...

television series ''

Lexx ''Lexx'' (also known as ''LEXX: The Dark Zone Stories'' and ''Tales from a Parallel Universe'') is a science fiction television series created by Lex Gigeroff and brothers Paul Donovan (writer), Paul and Michael Donovan (producer), Michael Dono ...

''.

Career

Downey is a character actor who has appeared in various films and guest starring roles on TV, including '' Up at Ours'' and a recurring role on ''

Millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

''. His first film role was in a 1986 Andy Jones film called ''

The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood ''The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood'' is a 1986 surreal Canadian comedy film directed by Andy Jones and written by Andy and Mike Jones, with the collaboration of a number of workshop participants. It stars Andy Jones and Greg Malone. Plot And ...

'', which features the entire cast of

CODCO ''CODCO'' is a Canadian comedy troupe from Newfoundland, best known for a sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 1988 to 1993.Lexx ''Lexx'' (also known as ''LEXX: The Dark Zone Stories'' and ''Tales from a Parallel Universe'') is a science fiction television series created by Lex Gigeroff and brothers Paul Donovan (writer), Paul and Michael Donovan (producer), Michael Dono ...

'' creator Paul Donovan, dating back at least to 1988, when Donovan cast Downey in the

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

adventure film '' Norman's Awesome Experience''. Downey would star on ''Lexx'' through four made-for-TV films and the subsequent three-season TV series. He also appeared as Cardinal Juan de Mella in Donovan's medieval TV thriller ''

The Conclave ''The Conclave'' is a 2006 Canadian/German film production directed by Christoph Schrewe. The script was written by Paul Donovan and the main cast included Manu Fullola, Brian Blessed and James Faulkner. Plot The plot centers on the conc ...

''. Downey has worked with

Jessica Lange Jessica Phyllis Lange (; born April 20, 1949) is an American actress. With a career spanning over five decades, she is known for her roles Jessica Lange on screen and stage, on stage and screen. She has received List of awards and nominati ...

, JoBeth Williams,

Sam Rockwell Sam Rockwell (born November 5, 1968) is an American actor. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, for playing troubled police officer Jason Dixon in ''Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri'' (2017). He was nominated i ...

, and directors such as Joe Sargent. He won the only acting award at the 2010

Atlantic Film Festival The Atlantic International Film Festival is a major international film festival held annually in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada since 1980. AIFF is the largest Canadian film festival east of Montreal, regularly premiering the region's top films of ...

for his role in ''Whirligig'', directed by Chaz Thorne, with whom he has worked on two previous features. He played the evil gang leader "The Drake", who runs the town in the feature film ''

Hobo with a Shotgun ''Hobo with a Shotgun'' is a 2011 exploitation black comedy action film directed by Jason Eisener and written by John Davies. Based on Eisener's fictitious trailer of the same name from ''Grindhouse'' (2007), it is the second feature-length adap ...

'', starring

Rutger Hauer Rutger Oelsen Hauer (; 23 January 1944 – 19 July 2019) was a Dutch actor, with a career that spanned over 170 roles across nearly 50 years, beginning in 1969. In 1999, he was named by the Dutch public as the Best Dutch Actor of the Century. H ...

and directed by

Jason Eisener Jason Eisener is a Canadian filmmaker and film editor. Life and career ''Grindhouse'' faux trailer contest and ''Hobo with a Shotgun'' (2007–2011) In 2007, Eisener entered and won the ''Grindhouse'' fake trailer contest hosted by Robert Rodrig ...

. Downey is also a musician and writer. Before being recruited as an actor, he spent many years as a bass player, guitarist, and blues harmonica player. As of 2020, a Canadian talent management firm advertises him as a

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

bandleader and drummer, playing swing music. He has been a writer for many stage plays and has led many scriptwriting workshops. His first full-length stage play, ''Peter's Other War'', was produced during the summer of 2009.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Downey, Brian 1944 births Male actors from Newfoundland and Labrador Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Living people Entertainers from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador