Akin was born in
Kingston, Jamaica, as a middle brother of five sons. His parents moved to
Oshawa,
Ontario in 1953, and he and his brothers followed suit the next year. He has lived in Ontario ever since. Shortly after attending high school, Akin attended
Toronto's
Ryerson Theatre School. In 1975, he became the school's first acting graduate, landing a role just a few days later in a
Shaw Festival production of
Caesar and Cleopatra. He has also trained in Jing Mo
kung fu and
tai chi. Akin first came to prominence in the early 1980s when he performed on the zany comedy series
Bizarre. Other noteworthy roles include boxer Kid Cornelius in the "Shadow Boxer" episode of
Friday the 13th: The Series (1987) and his regular role as the wheelchair-using computer expert Norton Drake in the first season of
War of the Worlds, a sci-fi television series (1988–90). His recurring role as
Charlie DeSalvo in
Highlander: The Series has also brought him much recognition. In
Shake Hands with the Devil, he portrays
Kofi Annan, then United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. In 2007, Akin performed at the
Stratford Festival of Canada, a prestigious summer-long celebration of
theatre held each year in
Stratford,
Ontario,
Canada. He was cast in the title role of
William Shakespeare's
Othello, and also in the role of Crooks in the Festival's rendition of
John Steinbeck's
novella Of Mice and Men. Philip Akin can also be seen in a long list of guest appearances on television series for example:
F/X: The Series,
Mutant X,
Flashpoint (2008) and most recently,
The Expanse (2015). Akin is a founding member and was the artistic director (2006–2020) of the
Obsidian Theatre Company, a Canadian theatre company comprising seasoned actors of
African and Caribbean descent, devoted to the work of Black artists and creators. He won the
Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Direction of a Play/Musical in 2012 for his production of
Suzan-Lori Parks'
Topdog/Underdog, which starred
Kevin Hanchard and
Nigel Shawn Williams. In his role he helped foster mentorship programs aimed at Black theatre directors. In the final year of his tenure as artistic director of Obsidian, Akin was awarded the biennial Herbert Whittaker Award for Distinguished Contribution to Canadian Theatre - and was named one of the Canadian artists of 2019 by
The Globe and Mail. Upon his departure from Obsidian, the theatre established The Black Shoulders Award in Aikin's honour, to be awarded to Black artists to pursue their craft. ==Filmography==