Duncan Regehr - Biography

Biography

Regehr was born in Lethbridge, Alberta and raised in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. His mother, Dorothy Mary (née Mulkern), was UK-born and his father, Peter Regehr, was a Russian artist. After numerous appearances in Canadian theatre, television (e.g., in the family TV show Matt and Jenny on the Wilderness Trail), and notable roles on radio for the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, he and his wife, Catherine, moved to Los Angeles, California, where he began to develop his work in film. Shortly after arriving, he was hired to play the villain, Prince Dirk Blackpool, opposite Jeff Conaway's, Prince Erik Greystone in the short-lived 1983 fantasy/comedy series Wizards and Warriors. He went on to star in many more US television films, including the 1984 television mini-series Last Days of Pompeii, as Lydon, the gladiator; as Errol Flynn in the 1985 CBS film, My Wicked, Wicked Ways based on the autobiography of Flynn; and on the science fiction series V as the Visitor military leader Charles. He also starred in the 1982 mini-series The Blue and the Gray as Captain Randolph. In 1987, Regehr was cast in the role of Count Dracula in the film The Monster Squad, which has since become a sentimental cult favorite and was re-released in a two-disc 20th Anniversary DVD in 2007.

One of Regehr's best-known roles to date was in Zorro as Don Diego de La Vega and his alter ego, the swashbuckling hero, Zorro. Regehr portrayed the masked hero for 88 episodes on The Family Channel from 1990 to 1993.

Other well-known roles include numerous TV guest appearances. He was guest actor on Cybill, Murder, She Wrote, Hotel and the seventh-season Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Sub Rosa" as Ronin, a ghost who falls in love with Beverly Crusher. He also appeared in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Bajoran First Minister Shakaar Edon, Kira Nerys' lover.

Less known about Duncan Regehr is that he has been painting and drawing since childhood. An accomplished and exceedingly successful artist, Regehr first exhibited his artwork in 1974 at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. The following year he showed at the Yorkville Art Center in Toronto. Since then, he has had numerous exhibitions in Canada, the USA, Britain and Europe. His work is found in important collections worldwide, including the Jilin Collection (China), The Kunsthallen (Copenhagen), Focus on the Masters Archives for the Getty Museum (USA), and the Syllavethy Collection of Scotland (GB). Regehr's automonograph, The Dragon's Eye: An Artist's View, received international acclaim and was lauded by art critics and literary reviewers as a book of visual and poetic excellence. In 1996 he won the American Vision Award of Distinction in the Arts, and was granted the lifetime appellation 'Royal Canadian Artist' with honours in the year 2000 by the Royal Canadian Academy of Art for his outstanding artistic achievements.

On November 10, 2008 Duncan Regehr was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Fine Arts by the University of Victoria, in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Some of his art work are also displayed in art galleries in the region.

He lives and works out of studios in the United States and Canada. His art and Curriculum Vitae may be viewed on his website.