Editing Michael Ironside

{{Short description|Canadian actor}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=July 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name          = Michael Ironside
| image         = Michael Ironside WOH-06 (cropped).jpg
| alt           = <!-- descriptive text for use by speech synthesis (text-to-speech) software -->
| caption       = Ironside in 2009
| birth_name    = Frederick Reginald Ironside
| birth_date    = {{birth date and age|1950|2|12}}
| birth_place   = [[Toronto]], [[Ontario]], Canada
| alma_mater    = [[Ontario College of Art]]
| occupation    = Actor
| years_active  = 1977–present
| spouse        = {{marriage|Karen Dinwiddie<br />|1986}}
| children      = 2 
}}
'''Frederick Reginald Ironside''' (born February 12, 1950), known professionally as '''Michael Ironside''', is a Canadian actor. A prominent [[character actor]] with over 270 film and television credits, he is known for playing villains and antiheroes, but has also portrayed sympathetic characters. He is best known for his roles in [[Action film|action]] and [[Science fiction films|science fiction]] films, and had his breakthrough performance in the 1981 [[David Cronenberg]] film ''[[Scanners]]''. 

Ironside's other notable roles include Overdog in ''[[Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone]]'' (1983), "Jester" in ''[[Top Gun]]'' (1986), Richter in ''[[Total Recall (1990 film)|Total Recall]]'' (1990), and Rasczak in ''[[Starship Troopers (film)|Starship Troopers]]'' (1997). His signature deep voice has been lent to various [[Video game|video games]] and [[Animation|animated]] television shows, most notably as [[Sam Fisher (Splinter Cell)|Sam Fisher]] in the ''[[Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell]]'' franchise and [[Darkseid]] in the [[DC Animated Universe]]. 

He is a four-time [[Gemini Awards|Gemini Award]], a [[Genie Awards|Genie Award]], and a [[Canadian Film Awards|Canadian Film Award]] nominee.

==Early life==
Frederick Reginald Ironside was born in [[Toronto]] on February 12, 1950, the son of housewife Patricia June (née Passmore) and street lighting technician Robert Walter Ironside.<ref name="fullname">{{cite web |url=http://www.canadianactors.info/michael_ironside_bio_info.htm |title=Michael Ironside |website=Canadian Actors Info |access-date=January 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051228061104/http://www.canadianactors.info/michael_ironside_bio_info.htm |archive-date=December 28, 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{not in citation given|date=December 2024}} He has four siblings and is of [[English Canadians|English]], [[Irish Canadians|Irish]], and [[Scottish Canadians|Scottish]] and Welsh descent.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Allis |first=Tim |url=https://people.com/archive/a-face-you-cant-totally-recall-bad-guy-michael-ironside-chased-arnold-schwarzenegger-to-mars-vol-34-no-2/ |title=A Face You Can't Totally Recall? Bad Guy Michael Ironside Chased Arnold Schwarzenegger to Mars |magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]] |volume=34 |number=2 |access-date=January 16, 2014 |date=July 16, 1990}}</ref> He attended the [[Ontario College of Art]] in Toronto. At age 15, he wrote a play called ''The Shelter'', which won first prize in a university contest.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800025929/bio |title=Michael Ironside Biography |website=[[Yahoo! Movies]] |access-date=January 16, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629001929/https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800025929/bio |archive-date=June 29, 2011}}</ref> He also won the senior year writing award at [[Riverdale Collegiate Institute]] in 1968.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Michael Ironside_1968_Grade_11_Poem2.jpg by Rainer Bessel |url=https://pbase.com/raineredward/image/145282169 |access-date=September 16, 2020 |website=PBase |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Career==
One of Ironside's first roles was as evil telepath Darryl Revok in ''[[Scanners]]'' (1981), an early film by [[David Cronenberg]]. He played the role of a serial killer, Colt Hawker, in the slasher film ''[[Visiting Hours (film)|Visiting Hours]]'' (1982) and appeared in 1983 as Miler Crane in ''[[The A-Team]]'' episode "Taxicab Wars" as well as Overdog McNab in ''[[Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone]]''.

Ironside's breakthrough role was as cynical antihero Ham Tyler in the television miniseries ''[[V The Final Battle|V: The Final Battle]]'' and its following [[V (1984 TV series)|19-episode series]] (1984). He is also known for his roles in ''[[Top Gun]]'' (1986) as [[Naval Aviator]] [[Lieutenant Commander]] Rick "Jester" Heatherly, ''[[Extreme Prejudice (film)|Extreme Prejudice]]'' (1987) as Major Paul Hackett, ''[[Watchers (film)|Watchers]]'' (1988) as a conscience-free mutant assassin, and ''[[Total Recall (1990 film)|Total Recall]]'' (1990) as Richter, the murderous henchman of [[Ronny Cox]]'s villain Cohaagen. In 1991, Ironside played the villainous General Katana in the science fiction sequel ''[[Highlander II: The Quickening]]'' and also starred in the film ''[[Chaindance]]'' as a small-time crook, unable to make it on the outside, who was paired up with a disabled man. After a brief stint in ''[[ER (TV series)|ER]]'''s inaugural season (1994), he was tapped to replace [[Roy Scheider]] as captain of the high-tech submarine ''seaQuest'' in the third season of ''[[seaQuest DSV]]'' as Captain Oliver Hudson. However, [[NBC]] cancelled the series after only thirteen episodes with Ironside as the star. In 1992, he starred as [[M. Emmet Walsh]]'s brother in [[David Winning]]'s thriller ''[[Killer Image (1992 film)|Killer Image]]''. In 1993, he played Dial, the main antagonist of ''[[Free Willy]]''. In 1994, Ironside starred as Luck Hatcher in the western ''Dead Man's Revenge''. In 1995, Ironside had a brief cameo as Lt. Col. Stone in ''[[Major Payne]]''. In 1997, Ironside was reunited with ''Total Recall'' director [[Paul Verhoeven]] for ''[[Starship Troopers (film)|Starship Troopers]]''. He appeared in ''[[The Perfect Storm (film)|The Perfect Storm]]'' (2000) and ''[[The Machinist]]'' (2004). Ironside starred as Resistance General Hugh Ashdown in ''[[Terminator Salvation]],'' reunited with his co-star from ''The Machinist'', [[Christian Bale]].<ref name="Iro">{{cite web |first=Drew |last=Tinnin |url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/87280/exclusive-michael-ironside-talks-turbo-kid/ |title=Exclusive: Michael Ironside Talks Turbo Kid |website=[[Dread Central]] |date=January 26, 2015}}</ref> In 2003, Ironside guest starred in season 3 episode 20 ("Twilight of the Idols") of ''[[Andromeda (TV series)|Andromeda]]''.

Ironside voiced comic book villain [[Darkseid]] in the [[DC Animated Universe]], including ''[[Superman: The Animated Series]]'', ''[[Justice League (TV series)|Justice League]]'' and ''[[Justice League Unlimited]]''. He later reprised the role in the 2018 video game ''Lego DC Supervillains'' and the 2020 [[DC Universe (streaming service)|DC Universe]]/[[HBO Max]] web series ''[[Harley Quinn (TV series)|Harley Quinn]]''. In one episode of ''[[The New Batman Adventures]]'', he voiced [[Batman]] in a ''[[Batman: The Dark Knight Returns]]'' sequence. Another part he played in the DC Comics universe was Lois Lane's father, General [[Sam Lane (comics)|Sam Lane]] in three episodes of ''[[Smallville (TV series)|Smallville]]''.

Ironside has worked in video games as the voice of character [[Sam Fisher (Splinter Cell)|Sam Fisher]] in the ''[[Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell]]'' games and [[Characters of the Global Defense Initiative#General Jack Granger|Jack Granger]] in ''[[Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars]]''. He signed a five-year deal to portray Captain Jonas Trager in the SpaceWorks Television science-fiction series, ''[[Ice Planet (film)#TV series|Ice Planet]]'' but the show was not produced.

In 2009, he starred in ''The Beacon'' under the direction of Michael Stokes.<ref name="Iro" />

In 2010, Ironside guest starred in season 4, episode 1 ("Friends and Enemies") of ''[[Burn Notice]]''.<ref>{{cite web |first=Matt |last=Fowler |url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2010/06/02/burn-notice-friends-and-enemies-review |title=Burn Notice: "Friends and Enemies" Review |website=[[IGN]] |date=June 2, 2010 |access-date=January 16, 2014}}</ref>

In 2011, Ironside appeared in the film: ''[[X-Men: First Class]],'' playing the Captain of the 7th Fleet. He appeared in ''[[Justified (TV series)|Justified]]'' playing a supporting role as a [[Detroit]] hitman the following year. He also voiced the role of [[Ultra Magnus]] in season 3 of the ''[[Transformers Prime]] Beast Hunters'' television series in 2013.<ref name="Iro" />

Ironside appeared in the TV series ''[[Walker, Texas Ranger]]'' as 'The Chairman'.

In 2015, he appeared in the television series ''[[The Flash (2014 TV series)|The Flash]]'' as [[Lewis Snart]], the father of [[Leonard Snart (Arrowverse)|Captain Cold]]. Also in 2015, he starred as the main villain Zeus in the cult hit film ''[[Turbo Kid]]''.

In 2016, he portrayed General [[Douglas MacArthur]] in the 4-part miniseries ''[[Tokyo Trial (miniseries)|Tokyo Trial]]''.

In 2018, he played [[J. P. Morgan]] in 4 episodes of [[TNT (American TV network)|TNT]]'s ''[[The Alienist]]''.

In 2021, he portrayed Eddie Williams, the father-in-law and boss of Hutch Mansell in the film, ''[[Nobody (2021 film)|Nobody]]''. 

In 2022, he played Don Lucas in the [[Hulu]] miniseries ''[[The Dropout]]''.

==Personal life==
Ironside married Karen Dinwiddie in 1986. They have one daughter together (born 1998) and he has another daughter from a previous marriage.<ref name="fullname" /><ref>{{Cite magazine |title=Michael Ironside Acteur, Interprète |trans-title=Michael Ironside Actor, Performer |url=https://www.premiere.fr/Star/Michael-Ironside |access-date=September 16, 2020 |magazine=[[Première (magazine)|Première]] |language=fr}}</ref>

Ironside has survived cancer of the [[Colorectal cancer|bowel]], [[Prostate cancer|prostate]], and [[Thyroid cancer|thyroid]].<ref>{{cite interview |last=Ironside |first=Michael |interviewer=Chris Watters |title=Ghost Recon Wildlands: Michael Ironside Talks Splinter Cell Crossover {{pipe}} UbiBlog {{pipe}} Ubisoft [NA] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVVvrSDGwvA |publisher=[[YouTube]] |date=April 13, 2018 |work=[[Ubisoft]] |access-date=April 14, 2018}}</ref>

==Filmography==
{{main|Michael Ironside filmography}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{commons category}}
*{{IMDb name|461}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ironside, Michael}}
[[Category:1950 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Canadian male film actors]]
[[Category:Canadian male television actors]]
[[Category:Canadian male video game actors]]
[[Category:Canadian male voice actors]]
[[Category:Canadian people of English descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Canadian people of Scottish descent]]
[[Category:Male actors from Toronto]]
[[Category:OCAD University alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century Canadian male actors]]
[[Category:21st-century Canadian male actors]]