Biography
A classically trained stage star in his adopted home of Canada, Colm Feore became an increasingly familiar presence to movie and TV audiences as a prolific supporting actor in the 1990s.
Though he was born in the U.S. and spent the first years of his life in Ireland, Feore and his family moved to Ottawa when he was three and Canada became his official home. After studying acting at Canada's National Theater School, Feore built a distinguished Canadian stage career, performing in over 40 productions during 13 seasons with the prestigious Stratford Festival.
Feore began adding film and TV to his acting experience in the late '80s with such movies as
Iron Eagle II (1988) and Bethune: The Making of a Hero (1989), starring
Donald Sutherland. Feore himself starred as a 19th century doctor in
Beautiful Dreamers (1991). He caught the attention of film critics and art house audiences as the famed reclusive pianist Glenn Gould in
François Girard's biopic 32 Short Films About Glenn Gould (1994), a musically structured combination of documentary reminiscences and fancifully staged incidents from Gould's troubled life. Feore also appeared in the esteemed TV biopic
Truman (1995).
Feore's non-stage career expanded further in the latter half of the 1990s and into the 2000s with numerous roles in a wide range of projects. Along with the TV movie
Hostile Waters (1997), about a U.S.-Soviet submarine incident, Feore also acted in several major 1997 releases, playing an unlucky surgeon in
John Woo's blockbuster Face/Off and appearing in
Sidney Lumet's New York
policier Night Falls on Manhattan and black comedy
Critical Care. The following year, Feore played parts in both the Canadian action movie
Airborne (1998) and the Canadian action movie send-up
The Wrong Guy (1998). Whatever artistic credibility Feore may have sacrificed to star opposite
Shannen Doherty in the thriller
Striking Poses (1998) and play
Meg Ryan's fiancé in
City of Angels (1998) was mitigated by his appearance in
François Girard's
The Red Violin (1998). Feore subsequently played Marcus in
Titus (1999), Julie Taymor's ambitious reworking of Shakespeare's maligned Titus Andronicus, and joined the lauded ensemble cast of
Michael Mann's Oscar-nominated docudrama,
The Insider (1999). Feore's sharp features also enhanced his performance as Satan's minion in
Stephen King's TV miniseries
Storm of the Century (1999).
Though he spent part of 2000 acting in the New York Public Theater production of Shakespeare's Hamlet, Feore was soon back in front of the cameras in an eclectic mix of works. Along with the miniseries
Haven (2001), about the rescue of concentration camp refugees, Feore appeared in off-center murder mystery
The Caveman's Valentine (2001) and played Admiral Kimmel in
Michael Bay's overblown blockbuster
Pearl Harbor (2001). ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide