Gross studied acting at the
University of Alberta in Edmonton, but he left during the third year of his study. He went back later to complete the half-credit needed to receive his fine arts degree. He appeared in several stage productions, such as
Hamlet and
Romeo and Juliet. Other productions in which he appeared include
Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme and
As You Like It. He wrote and directed the
curling movie
Men with Brooms. Gross starred in the television series
Slings & Arrows from 2003 to 2006 alongside his wife Martha Burns, which
The A.V. Club called "one of TV's greatest shows". In 2008, he attracted widespread attention in Canada when he wrote, co-produced, directed, and starred in the
Genie Award-winning film
Passchendaele, inspired by stories he heard from his grandfather, a
First World War soldier. The film received a mixed reception upon release. Despite this, it won several awards; namely five awards at the
29th Genie Awards, including Best Picture, and the
Golden Reel Award for Canada's top-grossing film of 2008. On March 2, 2009, Paul Gross was honoured for his film
Passchendaele, winning that year's National Arts Centre Award for achievement over the past performance year. From September 16, 2011, he appeared in a production of
Noël Coward's
Private Lives in
Toronto co-starring
Kim Cattrall (the production ended October 30, 2011); the production moved to
Broadway where it opened November 6 and closed on December 31, 2011. That year, he also produced a feature film with
Akshay Kumar called
Breakaway starring
Camilla Belle and Vinay Virmani. Between 2011 and 2014, he appeared in nine episodes as Kevin Crocker on
Republic of Doyle. More recently, Gross completed work on the contemporary war drama
Hyena Road, released on October 9, 2015.
Due South His role as upright
Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer
Benton Fraser in the
Due South television series (1994–1999) brought him increased recognition. Like fellow actor
David Marciano, he didn't want to do the show at first, and creator
Paul Haggis didn't even know if he wanted Gross for the role, but following a meeting, he was cast as
Constable Benton Fraser. When
Due South was revived for the third season, Gross returned in the role of Benton Fraser. He also took on duties as executive producer and writer. He earned an estimated salary of CA$2–3 million per season, and at the time was the highest-paid performer in Canadian television history. He wrote several episodes of the last season of the series. His favourite episodes include "Gift of the Wheelman" and "All the Queen's Horses", and his episodes "Mountie on the Bounty" and "Call of the Wild" are of a similar style. ==Personal life==