Michael Ontkean

Michael Ontkean
Born	24 January 1946 (1946-01-24) (age 63) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Michael Ontkean (born 24 January 1946) is a Canadian actor.

Ontkean was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, the son of Muriel (née Cooper), an actress, and Leonard Ontkean, a boxer and actor.^[1]

Ontkean is best known for early roles in the film Slap Shot and the ABC series The Rookies. He is arguably most famous and well known for his role as Sheriff Harry S. Truman in David Lynch and Mark Frost's cult TV series Twin Peaks from 1990 - 1991. He also filmed scenes for Lynch's 1992 feature film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me but, like many others from the original TV series, his scenes were deleted from the final film.

He currently resides in Hawaii. His last acting appearance to date was in 2008 in the comedy TV show Sophie.

Acting career

Ontkean has appeared in many film and television roles including Christopher Wells in The Right of the People (1986), Sheriff Harry S. Truman in Twin Peaks (1990), In Defense of a Married Man (1990), In a Child's Name (1991), Legacy of Lies (1992), Rapture (1993), Vendetta II: The New Mafia (1993), The Man Next Door (1996), The Stepford Husbands (1996), Summer of the Monkeys (1998), A Chance of Snow (1998), Bear with Me (2000) and Mrs. Ashboro's Cat (2003). Earlier movie roles include Slap Shot (1977), the controversial gay film Making Love (1982), and Maid to Order (1987). His best-known early TV role was in the ABC series The Rookies (1972-1976), in which he played Officer Willie Gillis for the first two seasons. In 1979 he appeared in the classic, first ever episode of Tales of the Unexpected. He portrayed Tommy, an American sailor on leave in the West Indies who is tempted into an unsavoury bet. To win a luxury car, all he needs to do is to make his cigarette lighter ignite ten times in a row. If he loses, however, he has his little finger cut off.

Hockey career

Ontkean grew up playing hockey in British Columbia, and earned a hockey scholarship to the University of New Hampshire, a Division I program playing in the ECAC. Ontkean was a very capable player; in his three years on the varsity program (at the time he attended, 1965-1969, freshmen were still prohibited from playing on varsity teams in Division I), Ontkean scored 63 goals and 111 points in 85 games. He lead the team in goal scoring his junior year with 30 goals, and was second behind fellow Canadian Louis Frigon his senior year.

Ontkean's hockey prowess played a large role in his landing the role of Ned Braden in "Slap Shot," as he was able to perform all of his on-ice shots himself.

References

External links

• Michael Ontkean at the Internet Movie Database