
Anthony Bekenn
Acting
Biography
Anthony Bekenn was born in East Africa, in the southern part of Tanzania during a cyclone. His father, Michael, was a district officer in the Tanganyika government, the result being that Anthony lived a peripatetic life up to the age of eight. Initially he was home schooled by his mother, Sheila, who had previously been a school teacher in Wolverhampton in the UK. He was subsequently educated in England, attending Tettenhall College, when his parents returned there in the early sixties. He completed high school in Canada, after the family emigrated to Vancouver B.C. in 1967. He completed a degree in History and English at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver in 1974, and then decided to try his hand at acting. He attended the Webber-Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England, which merged with Central School of Speech and Drama in 2006. Anthony's first professional stage appearance was in Victoria B.C. in "Equus". An extensive career has followed, working in television and numerous theatres across Canada, including the Stratford Festival (Taming of the Shrew, Comedy of Errors, Coriolanus, Misanthrope), and the Shaw Festival (1993-2013). His favourite roles include the title role in the CBC film "The Greening Of Ian Elliot", Bluntschli in "Arms and the Man", Gary in "Noises Off", The Archbishop of Rheims in "St Joan", Oxenby in "The Dresser", the Colonel in "Journey's End", Alfred Bridgenorth in "Getting Married", Giles Lacy in "Rebecca", Fancourt Babberley in "Charley's Aunt", and Jesus in the female "Odd Couple" with Sandy Dennis and Stella Stevens. Starting in 1993, Anthony was part of the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, appearing in thirty eight productions.
Known For

A Victorian-era Toronto detective uses then-cutting edge forensic techniques to solve crimes, with the assistance of a female coroner who is also struggling for recognition in the face of tradition, based on the books by Maureen Jennings.
Murdoch Mysteries

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. The pilot episode and two other episodes were edited into the film Alien Tracker.
Tracker

Two losers rob a rich guy and discover that, among the loot, they've taken a rare painting worth $2.8 million. John Larroquette plays his usual rude, selfish character-here named Gus - and he suckers Willy (Gregory Harrison) into his scheme to rob the mansion. The two losers have to try to figure out how to sell the valuable but high-profile item without getting busted. They travel the world looking for potential buyers but always end up short. Everyone can see that they are novices in the art world and buffoons in general.
Hot Paint

This Oscar-nominated animated short tells the story of a dapper young remittance man who is sent from England to Alberta to attempt ranching in 1909.
Wild Life

ShortsHD is once again bringing the wildly popular Oscar nominated short film program (Live Action, Animation, and Documentary) to theaters in the US, Canada, and Europe beginning February 10th. The theatrical release of the Academy Award nominated short films has met with enthusiastic audiences ever since its launch 6 years ago, giving people around the world an opportunity to see the nominated films prior to the Academy Awards ceremony on February 26th.
The Oscar Nominated Short Films 2012: Animation

A Canadian artist turned diamond merchant in Vienna, Austria risks his life to smuggle Jews out of the Third Reich.
Charlie Grant's War
A teenage girl falls in love with a boy, then discovers that his mother is the drunk driver who killed her sister.
When We First Met

The swaggering Petruchio agrees to marry the spitting hellcat, Katherine.