Nigel Bennett (born 19 November 1949) is an English-born Canadian actor, director and writer. He is best known for playing the

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...

patriarch Lucien LaCroix in the TV series ''

Forever Knight ''Forever Knight'' is a Canadian television series about Nick Knight (Forever Knight), Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire working as a police detective in modern-day Toronto, Ontario. Wracked with guilt for centuries of killing others, he seeks ...

'', for which he won the Canadian

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

for best supporting actor in a dramatic series.

Early life and education

Bennett was born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. Bennett first started acting at eleven, playing a Roman citizen in a school production of Shaw's ''

Antony and Cleopatra ''Antony and Cleopatra'' is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. The play was first performed around 1607, by the King's Men at either the Blackfriars Theatre or the Globe Theatre. Its first appearance in print was in the First Folio published ...

''. He graduated from the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

with a degree in theatre, and taught for a year and a half before beginning acting full-time. He had fifteen years of stage experience in Britain prior to moving to Canada. He attended Tettenhall College in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

Career

He has been in a number of major films such as '' Murder at 1600'', and '' The Skulls'', and many other TV series. He had recurring roles in '' Kung Fu: The Legend Continues'', and ''

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 ...

''. Teaming up with writer P.N. Elrod, Bennett co-authored a series of acclaimed "James Bond with fangs" vampire adventure novels for Baen Books. The "Lord Richard, Vampire" trilogy includes ''Keeper of the King, His Father's Son,'' and ''Siege Perilous.'' He also contributed the short story "Wolf and Hound" to "Dracula's London," a collection edited by Elrod for Ace Science Fiction. In 2006, he appeared in the Ken Finkleman miniseries '' At the Hotel'', for which he was nominated for a

. Bennett keeps himself busy with additional film and TV roles, stage work, convention and charity appearances. He was the artistic director of the Atlantic Theatre Festival in Wolfville,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Canada, in 2006–07.

Filmography

Film

Television

External links

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Nigel 1949 births Living people English horror writers English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors English male voice actors Male actors from Wolverhampton English emigrants to Canada Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian expatriates in England English people of Canadian descent Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Canadian Screen Award winners