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Anthony Lemke

Anthony Lemke has built the kind of screen career that moves easily across languages, genres and sides of the law. Born in Ottawa on October 7, 1970, the Canadian actor grew up attending French immersion schools in Nepean before studying theatre at the University of Waterloo. He later graduated with distinction from McGill University’s Faculty of Law, earning degrees in both common law and civil law—a substantial parallel path that never entirely displaced acting. His first professional part came onstage in Canadian playwright Allan Stratton’s Nurse Jane Goes to Hawaii. Television followed with La Femme Nikita, where his ability to speak Czech—learned during a year teaching English in the Czech Republic—helped him secure the role. Early screen work also included the deliberately villainous Captain Grisham in the fantasy series The Queen of Swords and James Murphy, son of Alex Murphy, in the 2001 miniseries RoboCop: Prime Directives. Even while attending law school in Montreal, Lemke continued to act, taking regular roles in 15/Love and CBC’s Rumours. Since returning to the profession full-time, he has accumulated credits in both English- and French-language productions. As David Rothstein in the Radio-Canada comedy-drama Les Hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin, he played an anglophone character whom La Presse counted among the few to have “mark[ed] the soul” of Quebecers. Further French-language work included recurring roles in Mémoires Vives, Mirador and Nouvelle Adresse. Lemke’s range is especially clear in the variety of television worlds he has occupied: Lost Girl, Blue Mountain State, The Listener and the police drama 19-2, where he appeared as SQ Officer Dan Malloy. His most sustained screen role arrived with Dark Matter. As the guarded, forceful Three, also known as Marcus Boone, Lemke appeared in all 39 episodes across the science-fiction series’ three seasons from 2015 to 2017. It is a fitting showcase for a career shaped by character parts, genre storytelling and a steady presence in Canadian television.