Doug McGrath Biography
Canadian actor Doug McGrath's turn as "Pete" in Goin' Down the Road (1970) forever earned him his place in history. For his outstanding performance, he took home a Canadian Film Award (now called a Genie Award) for Best Performance by a Lead Actor, an award he shared with costar Paul Bradley. Following this auspicious debut, McGrath was seen in Wedding in White (1972), The Hard Part Begins (1973), Black Christmas (1974) and Russian Roulette (1975). He broke into the Hollywood market with roles in the Clint Eastwood films The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and The Gauntlet (1977). Meanwhile, he also appeared on the small screen in the TV movie Helter Skelter (1976) and made guest appearances in episodes of The Rookies (1975), Baretta (1976) and The Incredible Hulk (1979).
After appearing in Clint Eastwood's adventure film Bronco Billy (1980), McGrath once again attracted attention when he played the supporting role of Coach Warren in Porky's (1982). His performance brought him a Genie nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role. He went on to guest roles in Falcon Crest, Little House on the Prairie and Dynasty. He also appeared in small roles in the movies The Escape Artist (1982), Coming Out Alive (1984), Clint Eastwood's Pale Rider (1985), Cold Front (1989) with Martin Sheen and the Steven Spielberg-romantic adventure Always (1989), which starred Richard Dreyfuss and Holly Hunter.
During the 1990s, Doug appeared in two features, 1991's The Rocketeer opposite Bill Campbell, Jennifer Connelly and Alan Arkin, and the 1993 action Quick, starring Teri Polo and Martin Donovan. On television, he appeared in the TV movies What Love Sees (1996) and Inherit the Wind (1999) and in an episode of Providence (1999).
In the next decade, McGrath found roles in the made-for-TV film The Mutant Watch (2000), John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars (2001) starring Natasha Henstridge and Jason Statham, and in the 2004 comedy series This Is Wonderland, in which McGrath appeared as Ralph, he was handed a Gemini nod for Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role Dramatic Series. The same year, he appeared in other Canadian productions like the drama film My Brother's Keeper and the made-for-TV film H2O. In 2005, McGrath had a cameo role as Thomas Mitchell's father inOur Fathers, a TV drama starring Ted Danson, Christopher Plummer and Ellen Burstyn.
In 2011, Doug reprised his role in a sequel to the film that started it all, Goin' Down the Road, entitled Down the Road Again.