Nicholas Campbell

Nicholas Campbell (born 24 March 1952) is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. He is a four-time Gemini Award winner, a three-time Genie Award nominee, and a Canadian Screen Award nominee. He is known for his portrayal of the eponymous character, coroner Dominic Da Vinci, on the crime drama television series Da Vinci's Inquest (1998-2005) and its spin-off Da Vinci's City Hall (2005-2006).

In film, Campbell is known for his collaborations with director David Cronenberg, starring in Fast Company (1979), The Brood (1979), The Dead Zone (1983), and Naked Lunch (1991). He has also notably appeared in A Bridge Too Far (1977), The Boys Club (1996), New Waterford Girl (1999), Prozac Nation (2001), Turning Paige (also 2001), Cinderella Man (2005), and Goon (2011). As a director, he made the acclaimed music documentary Stepping Razor: Red X.

Early life
Campbell was born in Toronto and raised in Montreal. He went to Toronto's Upper Canada College and Kingston's Queen's University where he originally studied Political Studies but later switched to English and Drama. He continued his studies in England studying five years at Drama Studio London and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

Career
Campbell started his acting career in the United Kingdom. He spent 40 weeks touring the country with the York Theatre Royal Repertory Company.

His debut film role was in The Omen, released in 1976. He subsequently played small roles in The Eagle Has Landed (1976), the James Bond movie The Spy Who Loved Me (1977), and the World War II epic A Bridge Too Far (1977). His co-starred in the 1977 ITV televised play Come Back, Little Sheba, opposite Laurence Olivier, Joanne Woodward and Carrie Fisher. He returned to Canada in 1979.

His starring film and television credits include series leads on Diamonds and The Hitchhiker. Campbell was third-billed in the 1985 movie Certain Fury. Playing Billy Quinn in CBC's Major Crime (1997) he won a Gemini Award for best actor for his work. His television credits also include the role of Bobby Kennedy in Hoover vs. The Kennedys (Gemini nominee for best actor in a miniseries), Going Home (nominated for BAFTA Award), and The Valour and the Horror. Other works include The Sleep Room, Diana Kilmury: Teamster (Gemini nomination for best supporting actor in a drama) and The Diary of Evelyn Lau.

Campbell has also worked extensively with David Cronenberg, appearing in such films as Naked Lunch, The Dead Zone, Fast Company, and The Brood. Campbell has made guest appearances on TV shows including Space: 1999, Airwolf, Blue Murder, (Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role Dramatic Series in 2001) A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Street Legal, Republic of Doyle, and Highlander: The Series.

In addition to his acting career, Campbell is also an accomplished filmmaker. He wrote and directed the 1992 documentary film Stepping Razor: Red X, which received a Genie Award nomination for Best Feature Length Documentary at the 14th Genie Awards.

Da Vinci's Inquest
Campbell's role as coroner Dominic Da Vinci in Da Vinci's Inquest brought him critical acclaim. Da Vinci's Inquest was nominated for many Gemini Awards. Of the 11 Geminis the show won, it received three for best writing in a dramatic series and three for best dramatic series. Campbell received the Gemini Award for best performance in a continuing leading dramatic role for his work on the series. Campbell also directed a number of episodes of Da Vinci’s Inquest, being nominated in 2003, for the Directors Guild of Canada team drama award.

Controversy
In October 2022, Campbell was suspended from the CBC television series Coroner, after an incident where he referred to Black grip technician by the n-word on a different production. The grip, Andre Mike, stated he was clearing stones for Campbell's path, he heard the actor say, "You winter niggers are used to this kind of weather." When the director of photography asked for clarification, Campbell said, "Well, you know, you northern niggers are used to it."

Campbell apologized in a statement to CBC News, but claimed he did not say any slurs, and was repeating a story secondhand. "That word should never be spoken aloud, certainly not by the likes of me, a white guy who is old enough to know better. It doesn't matter the context in which it was said. It doesn't matter that I was retelling a story, or that I was actually quoting someone else's usage of that word. That horrible and divisive word should never come out of my mouth. And it never will again." Mike stated he didn't accept Campbell's apology. After Mike complained to the producers, CBC announced they would suspend Campbell from the show.