Hugh Dillon

Hugh Dillon (born May 31, 1963) is a Canadian singer, actor, and television producer. The lead vocalist of the rock bands Headstones and Hugh Dillon Redemption Choir, his notable acting roles include Mike Sweeney in Durham County, Edward "Ed" Lane in Flashpoint, Nick in Left 4 Dead 2, Duncan Sinclair in X Company, and Donnie Haskell in Yellowstone. He is also a co-creator, executive producer, and series regular of the Paramount+ series Mayor of Kingstown.^[1]

Hugh Dillon
Dillon performing in 2017
Background information
Born	(1963-05-31) May 31, 1963 (age 61) Kingston, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Hard rock, rock 'n' roll
Occupation(s)	Singer, actor, producer
Years active	1987–present
Member of	Headstones Hugh Dillon Redemption Choir
Website	hughdillon.com

Early life

Dillon was born and grew up in Kingston, Ontario.^[2] Dillon grew up living on the same street as future NHL star Doug Gilmour and played hockey with him on the frozen swamp in their neighbourhood. Dillon also played hockey with Paul Langlois,^[3] future guitarist of The Tragically Hip. Dillon attended the Kingston Collegiate and Vocational Institute at the same time that David Usher, and members of The Tragically Hip such as Gord Downie attended the school.^[4] After high school, Dillon briefly attended Queen's University^[5] and lived in London, England,^[1] before moving to Toronto.^[6] He now divides his time between there and Los Angeles.^[7]

Music career

Dillon performing at K-Days 2015

Dillon is the lead singer for rock band Headstones. Formed in 1987, the band's debut album Picture of Health was released in 1993 and featured the singles "When Something Stands For Nothing", "Cemetery", "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" and "Three Angels". The album was met with critical acclaim and commercial success, being certified platinum in Canada for selling in excess of 100,000 copies. In a recording career that has spanned three decades, the band has released ten studio albums and numerous chart-topping singles.

After the Headstones broke up in 2003, Dillon formed the band Hugh Dillon Redemption Choir, an indie rock band whose style draws from country, pop, punk and new wave influences. Band members were guitarist J.P. Polsoni, Chris Osti on bass, keyboardist Ben Kobayashi, and percussionist Derek Downham.^[8] The band released an album, The High Co$t of Low Living, in 2005 through The Tragically Hip guitarist Paul Langlois's Ching Music label.^[9][10] Dillon also released a solo album entitled Works Well with Others in 2009 through Ching Music.

After their hiatus, original Headstones members (Dillon, Carr & White) reformed the band in 2011. In 2013, they crowdfunded their album, Love + Fury,^[11][12] through PledgeMusic. Love + Fury is the band's first top 10 album, and it garnered the band a No. 1 hit single. The Headstones followed up with another crowdfunded album in 2014, One in the Chamber Music. In 2015, Fuck It became the band's first-ever vinyl release.

Little Army was released on Cadence Music in 2017. The album included the No. 1 hit "Devil's On Fire". In 2019, the Headstones released Peopleskills, which yielded "Leave It All Behind" and "Horses", two No. 3 singles on the US Billboard charts.^[13]

Acting career

Dillon's first large-screen acting role was in director Bruce McDonald's 1995 film Dance Me Outside.^[14] He then played a leading role as Joe Dick in McDonald's 1996 feature film, Hard Core Logo.^[15][16]

Dillon has appeared in a number of feature films, including Lone Hero, Assault on Precinct 13, and Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning.^[17] In 2007, he was nominated for a 2007 Genie Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Trailer Park Boys: The Movie.^{[citation needed]} He starred opposite Vera Farmiga in the Sundance Film Festival award-winning movie, Down to the Bone. Dillon has guest-starred on various television programs, including The Eleventh Hour, ReGenesis, and Degrassi: The Next Generation. He has also created voice-overs a number of television and radio advertisements.^{[citation needed]}

Dillon starred as Mike Sweeney in the Canadian dramatic series Durham County.^[18] His performance earned him a Gemini nomination for Best Actor in 2008;^[19] the show itself won five Gemini awards and its second season was aired on TMN and Movie Central.

Dillon starred as Sergeant Ed Lane in the CTV/CBS police drama series Flashpoint, set in Toronto, which ran for five seasons between 2008 and 2012.^[20][21] Dillon won the "Shaw Media Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role" at the Canadian Screen Awards in 2014 for his performance in the episode "Fit for Duty" on Flashpoint.^[22]

Dillon is the co-creator and Executive Producer of the streaming service series Mayor of Kingstown on Paramount Plus. On August 5 via Deadline^[23] it was announced that Dillon would also become a series regular playing the role of Ian Ferguson, alongside Jeremy Renner, and he will return as Sheriff Donnie Haskell on season 4 of the cable series Yellowstone on Paramount, alongside Kevin Costner. He also played the role of Francis Becker on the third season of the American crime drama series, The Killing^[24] opposite Joel Kinnaman, simultaneously appearing on Continuum. Dillon played a lead role for three seasons of CBC's X Company. Dillon has also appeared in Twin Peaks, the film Wind River alongside Elizabeth Olsen and Jeremy Renner, Syfy's The Expanse, and the films The Humanity Bureau and I Still See You.^[25]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Dance Me Outside	Clarence Gaskill
1995	Curtis's Charm	Spitting White Trash Thug
1996	Hard Core Logo	Joe Dick / Joseph Mulgrew
1999	Johnny	Dell and Alice's Dad
2002	Lone Hero	King
2004	Down to the Bone	Bob
2004	Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning	Reverend Gilbert
2005	Assault on Precinct 13	Tony
2006	Hope and a Little Sugar	Bar Construction Worker
2006	Trailer Park Boys: The Movie	Sonny
2008	Surveillance	Steven
2008	About Face	The Agent
2008	Down to the Dirt	Renny
2011	Issues	Bobby	Short film
2015	The Offer	Richard	Short film
2016	Dark Harvest	Vincent
2017	Wind River	Curtis
2017	The Humanity Bureau	Adam Westinghouse
2018	I Still See You	Mathison

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Twitch City	Howard the Cannibal / Guy in the Convenience Store	2 episodes
2002–2003	Degrassi: The Next Generation	Albert Manning	3 episodes
2003	Blue Murder	Kevin Marshall	Episode: "Necklace"
2003	Starhunter	Gus	Episode: "Biocrime"
2004	The Eleventh Hour	Eddie	Episode: "Hard Seven"
2004	The Love Crimes of Gillian Guess	Bobby Tomahawk	TV movie
2004	The Wool Cap	Leather Jacket	TV movie
2004–2005	ReGenesis	Danny Dexter	3 episodes
2005	Our Fathers	Johnny DeFranco	TV movie
2007	The Gathering	Detective Gamble	2 episodes
2007–2010	Durham County	Mike Sweeney	Series lead
2008	The Quality of Life	Jean Tellier	TV movie
2008	Of Murder and Memory	Vincent Nichol	TV movie
2008	Ink: Alter Egos Exposed	Narrator	TV movie
2008–2012	Flashpoint	Ed Lane	Series lead
2013	The Killing	Francis Becker	12 episodes
2013	Continuum	Mr. Escher	7 episodes
2014	Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight	Gene	8 episodes
2015–2017	X Company	Colonel Duncan Sinclair	Series regular
2017	The Expanse	Lieutenant Sutton	3 episodes
2017	Twin Peaks	Tom Paige	Episode: "Part 7"
2018	The Detectives	Detective Rod Piukkala	Episode: "Stranger Calling"
2018–present	Yellowstone	Sheriff Donnie Haskell	Series regular
2021–present	Mayor of Kingstown	Ian Ferguson	Series regular, also Co-creator & Executive Producer

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2009	Left 4 Dead 2	Nick	Valve
2012	Dishonored	City Watch	Bethesda
2013	Resident Evil 6	Nick	Capcom X Valve Crossover DLC

Discography

Headstones

• Picture of Health (1993)
• Teeth and Tissue (1995)
• Smile and Wave (1997)
• Nickels for Your Nightmares (2000)
• The Greatest Fits (2001)
• The Oracle of Hi-Fi (2002)
• Love + Fury (2013)
• One in the Chamber Music (2014)
• Little Army (2017)
• PeopleSkills (2019)
• Flight Risk (2022)

Hugh Dillon Redemption Choir

• The High Co$t of Low Living (2005)

Solo

• Works Well with Others (the first solo album, released October 13, 2009, many of its songs are featured on the television show Flashpoint, track listing:

1. "Friends of Mine"
2. "Sentimental Me"
3. "Well on Your Way"
4. "Ten Feet Tall"
5. "Surface of the Sun"
6. "Reel to Reel"
7. "Lucky"
8. "Lost at Sea"
9. "Radio Plays"
10. "Bottom of a Dream"
11. "My Mistakes"
12. "Ignore That Call"
13. "Puzzle I Am"
14. "Don't Be Fooled"

References

1. Hart, Courtney (January 20, 2020). "Hugh Dillon Co-Created Show Gets Green Light from Paramount Network". Kingston Herald.
2. "The Hour: Hugh Dillon". CBC Television. Season 6, Episode 25, October 28, 2009
3. "Hab at Heart: Paul Langlois". NHL.com. February 4, 2020. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
4. "Headstones song recalls halcyon early days in Kingston". The Kingstown Whig-Standard. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
5. "Hugh Dillon". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
6. Hampson, Sarah (2013). "Hugh Dillon and the mathematics of a happy life". The Globe and Mail.
7. "Headstones' Hugh Dillon Has Seen Some Shit". vice.com. Retrieved February 1, 2021.
8. Newton, Steve (November 13, 2009). "Hugh Dillon covers a lot of ground on Works Well With Others". The Georgia Strait.
9. McLean, Steve (June 2006). Hot Canadian Bands. Lone Pine Pub. p. 62. ISBN 978-1-894864-53-4.
10. "The Hugh Dillon Redemption Choir — The High Co$t Of Low Living"^[usurped]. Chart Attack, June 7, 2005
11. Smith, Merideth (February 20, 2013). "Fans Fund New Album for The Headstones". Entertainment. Kingston Herald.
12. Burliuk, Greg (December 20, 2013). "'Gasoline and fire'". Kingston Whig-Standard.
13. Gerard, Steve (August 3, 2020). "Headstones Single "HORSES" Gallops Up Billboard Chart". Kingston Herald.
14. Watt, Laurie (November 13, 2015). "Hard-rocking Headstones driven by soft spot". Barrie Advance.
15. Ross, Mike (September 9, 2005). "Hugh Dillon changes direction". Edmonton Sun. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017.
16. Pike, David L. (2012). Canadian Cinema Since the 1980s: At the Heart of the World. University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division. ISBN 978-1-4426-1240-2.
17. Tilley, Steve (November 30, 2004). "Headstones' Hugh is acting up again". Canoe Showbiz. Archived from the original on March 31, 2017.
18. Sutherland, Sam (August 22, 2008). "Durham County: Season 1". Exclaim!.
19. Liss, Sarah (October 26, 2009). "No more Mr. Tough Guy". CBC News.
20. Bergstrom, Elaine (August 19, 2009). "Hugh Dillon's intensity rocks 'Durham County'". Channel Guide Magazine.
21. MacDonald, Gayle (July 9, 2008). "Television ripped from the headlines". Globe and Mail.
22. "Flashpoint - Fit for Duty CTV (Bell Media) Hugh Dillon". academy.ca. Shaw Media. 2014. Archived from the original on December 26, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2015.
23. Petski, Denise (August 2021). "'Mayor Of Kingstown': Hugh Dillon, Pha'rez Lass & Tobi Bamtefa Join Cast As Production Begins On Taylor Sheridan's Series For Paramount+". Deadline Hollywood.
24. "'Flashpoint's Hugh Dillon joins 'The Killing'". The Loop. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved June 3, 2013.
25. "Beyond the topics: how deep learning can improve the discriminability of probabilistic topic modelling". PeerJ Computer Science. Table 2: IMDB results. January 27, 2020. doi:10.7717/peerj-cs.252/table-2.

External links

• Official website
• Hugh Dillon at IMDb