Hugh Dillon

Hugh Dillon, actor, singer, songwriter (b at Kingston, Ont 31 May 1963). Hugh Dillon was brought up in Kingston and briefly attended Queen's University but left before receiving his degree and went to England, where he became a street busker to pay the rent. Returning to Canada, he joined the rock band The Headstones in 1987. In 1996, The Headstones were nominated for 2 Juno Awards: best group and rock album for Teeth and Tissue. After 6 albums and extensive touring, the band folded in 2003. Dillon then formed The Hugh Dillon Redemption Choir and released 1 album in 2005. The Headstones reunited for a series of concerts in Toronto in 2011.

During the filming of one of the band's music videos, Hugh Dillon caught the eye of director Bruce MCDONALD (Roadkill, Highway 61), who cast him in a small but pivotal role as a vicious racist provocateur in Dance Me Outside (1994). Dillon's fierce demeanour and outlandish stage performance made him ideal for the lead in McDonald's next film, HARD CORE LOGO (1996). In the intense, self-destructive role of lead singer Joe Dick, Dillon basically played himself opposite the more seasoned actor Callum Keith RENNIE and stole the film. A critical success, Hard Core Logo was a disappointment at the box office on its initial release but it established Dillon as a capable actor and the film became something of a cult favourite among fans of hard-core punk music on DVD.

More film and television roles followed the release of Hard Core Logo. Hugh Dillon appeared in Don MCKELLAR's quirky series Twitch City, Degrassi: The Next Generation, the American indie feature Down to the Bone (2004), McDonald's television movie The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess (2004) and the remake of Assault on Precinct 13 (2005). In 2006, Dillon had a substantial part in the popular first TRAILER PARK BOYS film, Trailer Park Boys: The Movie, and was nominated for a GENIE AWARD for best supporting actor.

In 2007 he was cast as a lead in the well-received Canadian series Durham County, about a Toronto homicide detective who moves to a suburban community to start over after the death of his partner, and received a 2008 Gemini Award nomination for best performance by an actor in a continuing leading dramatic role. A year later, while still acting in Durham County, he was cast as the lead in the CTV Toronto-shot police drama Flashpoint, about an elite Strategic Response Unit (styled after the Toronto Emergency Task Force), which was picked up for broadcast in the US on the CBS network.