Adrian Paul
Encyclopedia
Adrian Paul Hewett better known as Adrian Paul, is an actor
best known for his role on the television
series Highlander: The Series
as Duncan MacLeod
. In 1997, he founded The Peace Fund
charitable organization.
, England in 1959, the first of three brothers to an Italian
mother and a British
father. Paul first became a model, then a dancer and choreographer. In 1985, he left Europe
for the United States to pursue a dance and modeling career.
Paul has spent time in the theater with numerous plays, the most notable of which being a guest appearance in Beauty and the Beast
which he has stated helped shape his acting ability.
in the syndicated television
series Highlander: The Series
, in 1992. Paul also starred in the spin-off movie, Highlander: Endgame
(2000), and the fifth Highlander film: Highlander: The Source
, released as a made-for-TV movie on the SCI-FI channel on 15 September 2007.
His first role was on the ABC
television series, The Colbys
as the Russia
n ex-patriate ballet dancer, Kolya (1987–1988). This was followed by guest appearances on the television shows Beauty and the Beast (1987), Murder, She Wrote
(1984), Tarzan
(1991), Relic Hunter
(1999), and as himself in WWF
SmackDown (1999). He appeared in a January 2003 episode of Charmed
and off Broadway in the play Bouncers. He also appeared in the made-for-TV movies Shooter (1988) and The Cover Girl Murder (1993) which starred Lee Majors
.
He appeared in a regular role in the second season of the television series War of the Worlds
(1989–1990) as John Kincaid, three episodes of Dark Shadows (1991)
as Jeremiah Collins, and made a pilot for CBS
Television for a series called The Owl (1991). In 2001, he starred in Tracker
.
Paul's first film appearance was in the 1988 film Last Rites
, which starred Tom Berenger
. He starred in the remake of The Masque of the Red Death
(1989), a re-telling of the Edgar Allan Poe
tale. He also appeared in Sheena Easton
's "Days Like This" music video as her love interest and Duran Duran
's "My Own Way" music video as a dancer.
Other movies which he has starred or co-starred are Dance to Win (also known as War Dancing) (1989), Love Potion No. 9 (1992) as Enrico Pazzoli, Dead Men Can't Dance (1997), Susan's Plan
(also known as Dying to Get Rich) (1998), Merlin: The Return (1999) as Lancelot
, Convergence (also called Premonition) (1999), The Void
(2001), The Breed
(2001), Code Hunter (2002), Nemesis Game
(2003) Throttle
(2005), and Phantom Below
(also known as Tides of War) (2005). In 2006 he co-starred in the horror film Séance and in Little Chicago. He also starred as Ananias Dare in the Sci Fi original film Wraiths of Roanoke
(2007), Sir Francis Drake
in the Sci Fi original film The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake
(2009), and the futuristic thriller Eyeborgs. Upcoming projects include the thriller/drama The Heavy.
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
best known for his role on the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series is a fantasy-adventure television series featuring Duncan MacLeod of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the Highlander. It was an offshoot and another alternate sequel of the 1986 feature film with a twist: Connor MacLeod did not win the prize and Immortals still exist post-1985...
as Duncan MacLeod
Duncan MacLeod
Duncan MacLeod is a fictional character from the Highlander multiverse. Duncan MacLeod serves as the protagonist for the TV continuation of the Highlander franchise, which comprises Highlander: The Series and its spin-off movies, Highlander: Endgame and Highlander: The Source...
. In 1997, he founded The Peace Fund
The Peace Fund
The Peace Fund is a charitable organization, founded by Adrian Paul, dedicated to the worldwide improvement of the living, educational and health conditions of children. It meets this goal by distributing funds raised through various activities to organizations whose focus is the care of children...
charitable organization.
Early life
Paul was born in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England in 1959, the first of three brothers to an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
mother and a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
father. Paul first became a model, then a dancer and choreographer. In 1985, he left Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
for the United States to pursue a dance and modeling career.
Paul has spent time in the theater with numerous plays, the most notable of which being a guest appearance in Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
which he has stated helped shape his acting ability.
Career
He was cast in the role that would bring him to the most prominence to date, that of Duncan MacLeodDuncan MacLeod
Duncan MacLeod is a fictional character from the Highlander multiverse. Duncan MacLeod serves as the protagonist for the TV continuation of the Highlander franchise, which comprises Highlander: The Series and its spin-off movies, Highlander: Endgame and Highlander: The Source...
in the syndicated television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series
Highlander: The Series is a fantasy-adventure television series featuring Duncan MacLeod of the Scottish Clan MacLeod, as the Highlander. It was an offshoot and another alternate sequel of the 1986 feature film with a twist: Connor MacLeod did not win the prize and Immortals still exist post-1985...
, in 1992. Paul also starred in the spin-off movie, Highlander: Endgame
Highlander: Endgame
Highlander: Endgame is a 2000 fantasy film originally released on September 1, 2000. It is the fourth theatrical release in the Highlander film series, and it serves as both a continuation of the Highlander films and the Highlander television series...
(2000), and the fifth Highlander film: Highlander: The Source
Highlander: The Source
Highlander: The Source is the fifth installment of the Highlander film series, directed by Brett Leonard, and was intended to be the first film of a planned trilogy on SciFi Channel though no further direct sequels are currently planned. Adrian Paul reprises his role as Duncan MacLeod from the...
, released as a made-for-TV movie on the SCI-FI channel on 15 September 2007.
His first role was on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television series, The Colbys
The Colbys
The Colbys is an American prime time soap opera, which originally aired on ABC from November 20, 1985 to March 26, 1987. The Aaron Spelling-produced series was a spin-off of Dynasty, which had been the highest rated series for the 1984-1985 U.S. television season...
as the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n ex-patriate ballet dancer, Kolya (1987–1988). This was followed by guest appearances on the television shows Beauty and the Beast (1987), Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
(1984), Tarzan
Tarzan
Tarzan is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungles by the Mangani "great apes"; he later experiences civilization only to largely reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adventurer...
(1991), Relic Hunter
Relic Hunter
Relic Hunter is an anglophone Canadian television series, starring Tia Carrere and Christien Anholt. Actress Lindy Booth also starred for the first two seasons; Tanja Reichert replaced her for the third...
(1999), and as himself in WWF
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
SmackDown (1999). He appeared in a January 2003 episode of Charmed
Charmed
Charmed is an American television series that originally aired from October 7, 1998, until May 21, 2006, on the now defunct The WB Television Network. The series was created in 1998 by writer Constance M...
and off Broadway in the play Bouncers. He also appeared in the made-for-TV movies Shooter (1988) and The Cover Girl Murder (1993) which starred Lee Majors
Lee Majors
Lee Majors is an American television, film and voice actor, best known for his starring role as Colonel Steve Austin in The Six Million Dollar Man and as Colt Seavers in The Fall Guy ....
.
He appeared in a regular role in the second season of the television series War of the Worlds
War of the Worlds (TV series)
War of the Worlds is a television program that ran for two seasons, from 1988 to 1990. The series is an extension of the original 1953 film The War of the Worlds, using the same War Machine, often incorporating aspects from the film, radio adaptation, and original novel into its mythology.Though...
(1989–1990) as John Kincaid, three episodes of Dark Shadows (1991)
Dark Shadows (1991)
Dark Shadows, often referred to as Dark Shadows: The Revival Series, is a re-imagining of Dan Curtis's original Dark Shadows television series which aired from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971 on ABC. It aired as a weekly show during primetime...
as Jeremiah Collins, and made a pilot for CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
Television for a series called The Owl (1991). In 2001, he starred in Tracker
Tracker (TV series)
Tracker is a 2001 Canadian science fiction television series starring Adrian Paul and Amy Price-Francis. The series is based on a short story by Gil Grant and Jeannine Renshaw...
.
Paul's first film appearance was in the 1988 film Last Rites
Last Rites (film)
Last Rites is a 1988 thriller film written and directed by Donald P. Bellisario and starring Tom Berenger.-Synopsis:Father Michael is a New York priest with close ties to the Mafia crime syndicate -- his father is a don. The priest's brother-in-law, a mafia boss, is murdered while having sex with...
, which starred Tom Berenger
Tom Berenger
Tom Berenger is an American actor known mainly for his roles in action films.-Early life:Berenger was born as Thomas Michael Moore in Chicago to an Irish Catholic family. Berenger's father was a printer for the Chicago Sun-Times. Berenger has a sister, Susan...
. He starred in the remake of The Masque of the Red Death
The Masque of the Red Death (film)
The Masque of the Red Death is a 1964 British horror film starring Vincent Price in a tale about a prince who terrorizes a plague-ridden peasantry while merrymaking in a lonely castle with his jaded courtiers. The film was directed by Roger Corman; the screenplay by Charles Beaumont and R...
(1989), a re-telling of the Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
tale. He also appeared in Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton
Sheena Easton is a Scottish recording artist. Easton became famous for being the focus of an episode in the British television programme The Big Time, which recorded her attempts to gain a record contract and her eventual signing with EMI Records.Easton rose to fame in the early 1980s with the pop...
's "Days Like This" music video as her love interest and Duran Duran
Duran Duran
Duran Duran are an English band, formed in Birmingham in 1978. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s and a leading band in the MTV-driven "Second British Invasion" of the United States...
's "My Own Way" music video as a dancer.
Other movies which he has starred or co-starred are Dance to Win (also known as War Dancing) (1989), Love Potion No. 9 (1992) as Enrico Pazzoli, Dead Men Can't Dance (1997), Susan's Plan
Susan's Plan
Susan's Plan is a 1998 black comedy film directed by John Landis and starring Nastassja Kinski, Dan Aykroyd, Billy Zane, Rob Schneider, Lara Flynn Boyle and Michael Biehn. The plot revolves around Susan's plan to kill her former husband and collect his life insurance....
(also known as Dying to Get Rich) (1998), Merlin: The Return (1999) as Lancelot
Lancelot
Sir Lancelot du Lac is one of the Knights of the Round Table in the Arthurian legend. He is the most trusted of King Arthur's knights and plays a part in many of Arthur's victories...
, Convergence (also called Premonition) (1999), The Void
The Void (film)
The Void is a 2001 American direct-to-DVD science-fiction thriller film which follows a scientist who has discovered that a man who's been attempting to solve an energy crisis has inadvertently created a black hole which, unless stopped, will swallow the world.The film features Amanda Tapping as...
(2001), The Breed
The Breed
The Breed is a 2001 horror film with an estimated budget of 4 million dollars.The film features a dystopic future in which vampires are a marginalized race living in formerly Jewish ghettos, often shot in actual abandoned Jewish ghettos...
(2001), Code Hunter (2002), Nemesis Game
Nemesis Game
Nemesis Game is a film directed and written by Jesse Warn. This New Zealand movie, called Paper, Scissors, Stone in Canada, is a mystery- thriller involving complex riddles....
(2003) Throttle
Throttle (film)
Throttle is a 2005 American thriller film starring Grayson McCouch. Other cast members include Adrian Paul and Amy Locane. It was filmed entirely in Denver, Colorado. It has several hidden references to a similar movie, Steven Spielberg's Duel...
(2005), and Phantom Below
Phantom Below
Phantom Below is the first film released by Hawaii-based studio Pacific Films. Its world premiere was at the Hawaii International Film Festival on March 31, 2005...
(also known as Tides of War) (2005). In 2006 he co-starred in the horror film Séance and in Little Chicago. He also starred as Ananias Dare in the Sci Fi original film Wraiths of Roanoke
Wraiths of Roanoke
Wraiths of Roanoke , is a 2007 Sci Fi original movie, directed by Matt Codd and stars Adrian Paul, Frida Show, Rhett Giles, Michael Teh, and George Calil....
(2007), Sir Francis Drake
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake, Vice Admiral was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, slaver, and politician of the Elizabethan era. Elizabeth I of England awarded Drake a knighthood in 1581. He was second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada in 1588. He also carried out the...
in the Sci Fi original film The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake
The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake
The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake is a made for TV movie starring Adrian Paul and Sofia Pernas, released on January 17, 2009.-Plot:The year is 1592, after an encounter with a sultan who is holding his daughter Isabella for ransom Captain Drake must find what the sultan has asked for before his...
(2009), and the futuristic thriller Eyeborgs. Upcoming projects include the thriller/drama The Heavy.