Wayne Robson (April 29, 1946 – April 4, 2011) was a Canadian television, stage, voice, and film actor known for playing the part of Mike Hamar, an ex-convict and sometime thief, on the Canadian sitcom '' The Red Green Show'' from 1993 to 2006, as well as in the 2002 film '' Duct Tape Forever''. Robson was also known as the

escape artist Escapology is the practice of escaping from physical restraint, restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, Cage (enclosure), cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, bu ...

character Rennes, "the Wren", from the 1997

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, space ...

film ''

Cube A cube or regular hexahedron is a three-dimensional space, three-dimensional solid object in geometry, which is bounded by six congruent square (geometry), square faces, a type of polyhedron. It has twelve congruent edges and eight vertices. It i ...

''. He was in the episode “A Miracle of a Rare Device” on The Ray Bradbury Theater in 1989.

Early life and career

Robson was born in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, British Columbia. He began his acting career on stage there but moved with his family to

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, Ontario, where he continued stage acting and appeared in Canadian television commercials in the 1970s. After receiving several small character roles in films such as '' McCabe & Mrs. Miller'' (1971) and ''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.The Grey Fox ''The Grey Fox'' is a 1982 Canadian biographical Western film directed by Phillip Borsos and written by John Hunter. It is based on the true story of Bill Miner, an American stagecoach robber who staged his first Canadian train robbery ...

,'' for which he was nominated for a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

for Best Supporting Actor. Robson voiced Bloom in the cartoon '' Pippi Longstocking'' and Matthew Cuthbert in '' Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series''. He also voiced Professor Cuthbert Calculus in ''The Adventures of Tintin'' between 1991 and 1992 and Melvin Fish in the animated series '' Bob and Margaret''. Robson played minor characters in such films as '' Finders Keepers'' (1984), ''

One Magic Christmas ''One Magic Christmas'' is a 1985 List of Christmas films, Christmas fantasy film directed by Phillip Borsos. It was released by Walt Disney Pictures and stars Mary Steenburgen and Harry Dean Stanton. It was shot in Meaford, Ontario with some scen ...

'' (1985), ''

Parents A parent is either the progenitor of a child or, in humans, it can refer to a caregiver or legal guardian, generally called an adoptive parent or step-parent. Parents who are progenitors are first-degree relatives and have 50% genetic meet. ...

'' (1989), Frank on '' The Rescuers Down Under'' (1990), '' Double, Double, Toil and Trouble'' (1993), '' Dolores Claiborne'' (1995), '' Two If by Sea'' (1996), ''

'' (1997), '' Wrong Turn'' (2003), ''

Welcome to Mooseport ''Welcome to Mooseport'' is a 2004 political satire comedy film directed by Donald Petrie, and starring Ray Romano and Gene Hackman in his final film role. It was filmed in Jackson's Point and Port Perry in Ontario. Plot Former President o ...

'' (2004), '' The Incredible Hulk'' (2008), and '' Survival of the Dead'' (2009). He appeared as Christie in the TV movie ''

The Diviners ''The Diviners'' is a novel by Margaret Laurence. Published by McClelland & Stewart in 1974, it was Laurence's final novel, and is considered one of the classics of Canadian literature. The novel won the Governor General's Award for English-l ...

'' (1993), based on the Governor General's Award-winning novel by

Margaret Laurence Jean Margaret Laurence (née Wemyss; July 18, 1926 – January 5, 1987) was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, and is one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-pr ...

, and as Holly Hunter's ailing father, Tug Jones, in the TV movie '' Harlan County War'' (2000). Robson was nominated and won several

Gemini Awards 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 th ...

. He appeared in the TV series and miniseries ''The New Twilight Zone'', ''The Good Germany'', '' Puppets Who Kill'', ''

Relic Hunter ''Relic Hunter'' is a Canadian adventure television series, starring Tia Carrere and Christien Anholt. It centres on Sydney Fox, a professor who is also a globe-trotting "relic hunter" who looks for ancient artifacts to return to museums and ...

'', 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 ...

''.

Death

Robson died while in rehearsals for ''The Grapes of Wrath'' at the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a repertory theatre organization that operates from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shak ...

in Stratford, Ontario, Canada, on April 4, 2011, from a heart attack, at age 64.

Selected filmography

*'' McCabe & Mrs. Miller'' (1971) – Bartender *''

Russian Roulette Russian roulette () is a potentially lethal game of chance in which a player places a single round in a revolver, spins the cylinder, places the muzzle against the head or body (their opponent's or their own), and pulls the trigger. If the ...

'' (1975) – Mechanic (uncredited) *'' Twice Upon a Time...'' (1979) - Desk clerk *''

Popeye Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by E. C. Segar, Elzie Crisler Segar.Improper Channels'' (1981) – Prisoner *''

The Grey Fox ''The Grey Fox'' is a 1982 Canadian biographical Western film directed by Phillip Borsos and written by John Hunter. It is based on the true story of Bill Miner, an American stagecoach robber who staged his first Canadian train robbery ...

'' (1982) – Shorty *'' Finders Keepers'' (1984) – Zev Tyndale *'' Just the Way You Are'' (1984) – Theater Assistant Manager *''

Mrs. Soffel ''Mrs. Soffel'' is a 1984 American drama film directed by Gillian Armstrong, starring Diane Keaton and Mel Gibson and based on the story of condemned brothers Jack and Ed Biddle, who escaped prison with the aid of Kate Soffel, the warden's wife. ...

'' (1984) – Halliday *''

'' (1985) – Harry Dickens *'' Bullies'' (1986) – Vern *'' Dead of Winter'' (1987) – Officer Huntley *'' Candy Mountain'' (1987) – Buddy Burke *''

Housekeeping Housekeeping is the management and routine support activities of running and maintaining an organized physical institution occupied or used by people, like a house, ship, hospital or factory, such as cleaning, tidying/organizing, cooking, shopp ...

'' (1987) – Principal *''And Then You Die'' (1987) – Wally Degan *''Goofballs'' (1987) – Stick *'' Something About Love'' (1988) – Myles *''

'' (1989) – Lab Attendant *'' Buying Time'' (1989) – Rolley *'' Bye Bye Blues'' (1989) – Pete *''Justice Denied'' (1989) – Roy Ebsary *''Love & Murder'' (1990) – Jeff *''Dark Horse'' (1990) – Elliot *'' The Rescuers Down Under'' (1990) – Frank the Lizard (voice) *'' Bingo'' (1991) – Four Eyes *'' Double, Double, Toil and Trouble'' (1993, TV Movie) – Gravedigger *'' Scales of Justice'' (1993) - Wilbert Coffin, episode "Regina v Coffin" *''April One'' (1994) – Wayne Brock *'' Dolores Claiborne'' (1995) – Sammy Marchant *'' Goosebumps'' (1995) - Jimmy O'James *'' National Lampoon's Senior Trip'' (1995) – Frank Hardin *'' When the Dark Man Calls'' (1995) – Billy Orr *'' Two If by Sea'' (1996) – Beano Callahan *'' Getting Away with Murder'' (1996) – Bartender *'' Pippi Longstocking'' (1997) – Bloom (voice) *'' Affliction'' (1997) – Nick Wickham *''

'' (1997) – Rennes *'' Babar: King of the Elephants'' (1999) – Marabou / Sales Manager (voice) *'' Redwall'' (1999) - Methuselah (voice) *''The Highwayman'' (2000) – Cruickshank *''

'' (2000) - Gubby Mok *'' Anne of Green Gables: The Animated Series'' (2001) – Matthew Cuthbert (voice) *'' Duct Tape Forever'' (2002) – Mike Hamar *''Mark Twain's Roughing It'' (2002) – Mr. Ballau *'' Interstate 60'' (2002) – Tolbert (Deep Stomach) *'' Wrong Turn'' (2003) – Maynard Odets *''

Cold Creek Manor ''Cold Creek Manor'' is a 2003 American thriller film directed by Mike Figgis, and starring Dennis Quaid, Sharon Stone, Stephen Dorff, Juliette Lewis, Kristen Stewart, and Christopher Plummer. The screenplay by Richard Jefferies tells th ...

'' (2003) – Stan Holland *''

'' (2004) – Morris Gutman *'' Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends'' (2004-2006, TV Series) - Mr Mantis (voice) *'' Stuck'' (2007) – Mr. Binckley *'' Wrong Turn 2: Dead End'' (2007) – Maynard Odets *''In Between'' (2007) – Professor *'' The Incredible Hulk'' (2008) – Boat Captain *'' The Timekeeper'' (2009) – Lomacki *'' Survival of the Dead'' (2009) – Tawdry *''Servitude'' (2011) – Donny (final film role)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robson, Wayne 1946 births 2011 deaths Male actors from Vancouver Canadian male film actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian male television actors Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Canadian Screen Award winners