Feastday: May 30
Birth: 1549
Death: 1582
One of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales. Probably educated at Cambridge, England, he converted and studied in Rome and in Douai, France. In 1580, he returned to England, only to be arrested two years later. Luke was imprisoned in the Tower of London and subjected to the infamous device "Scavenger's Daughter." a hideous form of torture. He was then martyred at Tyburn.
American-Canadian actor For other people named Luke Kirby, see Luke Kirby (disambiguation).Luke Farrell Kirby (born June 29, 1978) is an American-Canadian screen and stage actor. In 2019, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his guest role as Lenny Bruce on the television series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
Early life
Kirby was born in Hamilton, Ontario, to American parents. His mother is from Brooklyn, New York, and his father grew up "along the eastern seaboard." His parents moved from New York City, New York, to Canada in 1974. Kirby studied drama at the National Theatre School of Canada, a theatre conservatory which focuses on classical works, and graduated in 2000.
Career
Kirby has been performing since his teens after he was accepted at The National Theatre School of Canada. He graduated in May 2000 and after two auditions he began working on two separate projects: the CBS/Alliance mini-series Haven and director Léa Pool's feature Lost and Delirious.
Soon after, Kirby performed the role of Morgan in the Factory Theatre's production of Geometry in Venice in Toronto, a performance that garnered him a Best Actor nomination at the Dora Mavor Moore Awards. This was quickly followed by the role of Patroclus in Theatre for a New Audience's production of Troilus and Cressida directed by Peter Hall in New York City. In 2006, he performed in the Women's Project Theater production of Jump/Cut. Other theatre credits include Judith Thompson's premiere of Habitat at Canadian Stage followed by Daniel Brooks premiere of The Good Life at the Tarragon Theatre (both in Toronto). His latest theatre venture was in NYC where he performed the lead role in Defender of the Faith (Irish Repertory Theatre).
Kirby's first feature film was the role of Jim in Halloween: Resurrection. Other film credits include lead roles in Peter Wellington's feature Luck and Mambo Italiano directed by Émile Gaudreault. Mambo Italiano received a gala presentation at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival to a standing ovation and earned Kirby a Canadian Comedy Award Nomination. Kirby then performed in a part written for him in the feature film Shattered Glass produced by Cruise/Wagner. In 2007, he played the lead role of Ray Dokes opposite Rachael Leigh Cook and Keith Carradine in the Canadian feature All Hat. A 2009 film role had him opposite Lindsay Lohan in a feature titled Labor Pains.
In television, one of Kirby's favourite roles was the TMN/Showcase mini-series Slings and Arrows, featuring Canadian actors and directed by his friend Peter Wellington. Sex Traffic, a mini-series for Channel 4 and CBC that aired in the fall of 2004, had him working with British director David Yates, for which he received a Gemini nomination. That same year he received a second Gemini nomination for his guest starring role in the dramatic series The Eleventh Hour. In the fall of 2005, Kirby appeared as a series regular in HBO's Tell Me You Love Me, directed by Patricia Rozema. The first season aired in HBO in September 2007. He starred as Jimmy Burns in the 2009–2010 Canwest Global television series Cra$h & Burn.
In 2017, Kirby joined the cast of the Golden Globe winner The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, an original series from Amazon, as the comedian Lenny Bruce, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
From December 2019 through January 2020, Kirby starred in the Off-Broadway play "Judgment Day" at New York's Park Avenue Armory.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Lost and Delirious | Jake Hollander | |
| 2002 | Halloween: Resurrection | Jim | |
| 2003 | Mambo Italiano | Angelo Barberini | |
| 2003 | Shattered Glass | Rob Gruen | |
| 2003 | Luck | Shane Bradley | |
| 2004 | Window Theory | Brad | |
| 2004 | The Human Kazoo | Zacharia | Short film |
| 2004 | The Greatest Game Ever Played | Frank Hoyt | |
| 2007 | All Hat | Ray Dokes | |
| 2007 | The Stone Angel | Leo | |
| 2009 | Labor Pains | Nick Steinwald | |
| 2011 | Take This Waltz | Daniel | |
| 2012 | Fury | Ethan | |
| 2013 | Empire of Dirt | Russell | |
| 2015 | Mania Days | Marco | Also titled Touched with Fire |
| 2017 | A Dog's Purpose | Jim Montgomery | |
| 2017 | Another Kind of Wedding | Misha | |
| 2018 | Little Woods | Bill | |
| 2019 | Glass | Pierce | |
| 2020 | Percy | Peter Schmeiser | |
| TBA | Untitled Katie Holmes film |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Give Me Your Soul... | Narrator | Television documentary |
| 2001 | Haven | Daniel Weinzweig | Television mini-series |
| 2002 | Halloween: Resurrected | Himself | Television short |
| 2003–05 | Slings & Arrows | Jack Crew | 7 episodes |
| 2004 | Sex Traffic | Callum Tate | Television mini-series |
| 2005 | Bury the Lead | Josh Casey | Episode: "Hit Delete" |
| 2005 | It's Me...Gerald | Dr. Dan | Episode: "How Do You Know You've Hit Bottom?" |
| 2006 | Northern Town | Brian | |
| 2007 | Tell Me You Love Me | Hugo | 8 episodes |
| 2009 | Labor Pains | Nick Steinwald | Television film |
| 2009 | Flashpoint | Evan Hewson | Episode: "Last Dance" |
| 2009 | Law & Order | Bobby Amato | Episode: "The Drowned and the Saved" |
| 2009 | Law & Order: Criminal Intent | Andre Haslum | Episode: "Folie a Deux" |
| 2009–10 | Cra$h & Burn | Jimmy Burn | 13 episodes |
| 2012 | Elementary | Aaron Ward | Episode: "The Rat Race" |
| 2012–18 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Braden Leddy / Andrew Leibowitz | 2 episodes |
| 2012–14 | Republic of Doyle | Clyde Cowley | 2 episodes |
| 2013 | Person of Interest | Chris Beckner | Episode: "2 Pi R" |
| 2013–16 | Rectify | Jon Stern | 26 episodes |
| 2013 | Blue Bloods | Detective Wolf Landsman | Episode: "Men in Black" |
| 2015 | Show Me a Hero | Edwin E. McAmis | Episode #1.2 |
| 2015 | The Astronaut Wives Club | Max Kaplan | 10 episodes |
| 2015 | The Good Wife | Harry McGrath | Episode: "Cooked" |
| 2017–present | The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel | Lenny Bruce | 9 episodes |
| 2017 | The Good Fight | Harry McGrath | Episode: "Self Condemned" |
| 2017 | Bull | Harry Kemp | Episode: "Dirty Little Secrets" |
| 2018 | Blindspot | Christophe Bruyere aka Junior | 2 episodes |
| 2018–19 | The Deuce | Gene Goldman | 10 episodes |
| 2018 | Sorry for Your Loss | Tripp | Episode: "Welcome To Palm Springs" |
| 2019 | The Twilight Zone | Dylan | Episode: "Not All Men" |
| 2019 | Tales of the City | Tommy | 2 episodes |
| 2020 | Little Voice | Jeremy | 4 episodes |
Awards and nominations
- Nominated: Canadian Comedy Award for Pretty Funny Performance (2004 for Mambo Italiano)
- Nominated: Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series (2005 for Sex Traffic)
- Nominated: Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Guest Role Dramatic Series (2005 for The Eleventh Hour)
- Nominated: Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role (2010 for Cra$h & Burn)
- Won: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series (2019 for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)
