Paul Gross

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Paul Gross

Birth name	Paul Michael Gross
Born	April 30, 1959 (age 47) Calgary, Alberta Canada
Notable roles	Constable Benton Fraser in Due South
Spouse(s)	Martha Burns

Paul Michael Gross' (born April 30, 1959), is a Canadian actor, producer, director, singer and writer born in Calgary, Alberta. He has two children, Jack and Hannah, with fellow actor Martha Burns whom he married in 1987. He is internationally best known for his lead role as Constable Benton Fraser in the television series Due South.

[edit] Selected artistic credits

H2O (2004) -- Actor (Thomas David McLaughlin), Writer, Producer
Slings & Arrows (2003 to 2006) -- Actor (Geoffrey Tennant)
Men with Brooms (2002) -- Actor (Chris Cutter), Writer, Director
Hamlet (2000) -- Actor (Hamlet)
Due South (1994 to 1996 and 1997 to 1999) -- Actor (Benton Fraser), Writer, Director, Executive Producer
Whale Music (1994) -- Actor (Daniel Howl)
Married to It (1991) -- Actor (Jeremy Brimfield)
Getting Married in Buffalo Jump (1990) -- Actor (Alex Bresnyachuk)

[edit] Due South

Paul Gross's character in Due South is a Mountie who goes to Chicago in order to find the killers of his father. He does, but in so doing implicates several members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in the killing, and on charges of internal corruption. With this in mind, Fraser remains in Chicago as a "liaison" between the Chicago Police Department and the Canadian Consulate. However, during the show all he is seen to do is solve crimes with his friend Detective Ray Vecchio (David Marciano) and his life-long companion Diefenbaker a deaf half-wolf.

Benton Fraser is the archetypal Mountie, dogged, polite, and compulsively truthful. The themes of the series often featured his rigid moral code being tested by the realities of Chicago life.

After the show was cancelled twice by CBS, third and fourth seasons were commissioned by foreign television companies, with Paul Gross as Executive Producer. Gross himself was the first to say that he did not know what his new post would entail. In addition to this role, he wrote the season three opener "Burning Down the House", the two part season three finale "Mountie on the Bounty" and the two part series finale "Call of the Wild".

Gross also wrote and sang songs in the show (including season three's "32 Down on the Robert Mackenzie"), some of which can be found on the two Due South soundtracks.