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Brian Markinson

Brian Markinson is a Canadian actor whose career moves easily among film, television and theatre. Born in Brooklyn on September 14, 1961, he has appeared in a wide range of American and Canadian productions, often turning up as an authority figure or as someone distinctly more calculating and menacing. One of Markinson’s most prominent television roles was Police Chief Bill Jacobs on Da Vinci’s Inquest and Da Vinci’s City Hall. His television work also stretches across science fiction, crime drama and comedy, with appearances in Continuum, Arctic Air, Traveler, NCIS, The L Word, NYPD Blue, Psych, Supernatural, Touching Evil, Taken and Dark Angel. His credits include episodes of Stargate SG-1 and three Star Trek series: The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine and Voyager. He has also appeared in The X-Files, Millennium, Mad Men and Fargo, as well as the television film Lucky 7. Markinson’s film career includes three consecutive Woody Allen movies in supporting character roles: Sweet and Lowdown in 1999, Small Time Crooks in 2000 and The Curse of the Jade Scorpion in 2001. He also appeared in more than six projects directed by Mike Nichols, including Charlie Wilson’s War. Those repeated collaborations suit an actor whose strength lies in giving supporting roles a firm, specific presence without demanding that the story stop for him. His work onstage adds another dimension to that career. Markinson has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway and in regional theatres across Canada. On Broadway, he replaced Kevin Spacey in Lost in Yonkers, and in 2016 he led the Arts Club Theatre Company’s Vancouver revival of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. Across those different settings, Markinson has remained a dependable character actor with a particular feel for power, suspicion and threat.