PAUL SOLES

Paul Robert Soles, actor and television host, was brought up in downtown Toronto during the Depression, studied fine arts at the University of Western Ontario and began his career in radio while in his early twenties. Paul Soles was one of the original hosts of the CBC's popular TV program "Take 30," which went on the air in 1962.

He voiced one of his most enduring projects, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer," an animated stop-motion holiday special made in 1964 (his is the voice of Hermey, a misfit elf who wants to be a dentist), which was shot in Toronto and is still aired at Christmastime.

On stage, he's performed in The Diary of Anne Frank, in Macbeth, opposite Christopher Plummer, and in the original cast of Ragtime. His film credits include Ticket to Heaven (1981), Doug Henning's The Magic Show (1983), The Last Straw (1987), Falling over Backwards(1990, earning a GENIE Award nomination for best supporting actor), the Oscar-nominated documentary Colours of My Father: A Portrait of Sam Borenstein (voice, 1992), The Lotus Eaters (1993), The Five Senses(1999), Marlon Brando's last film The Score (2001) and Siblings(2004).

For decades Paul Soles has been a fixture in Canadian theatre, radio, television and film, where his face and voice have become instantly recognizable.