Gryphon Gallery: Matthew Frewer

April 22, 2022

Alumni

Stuart Brambley, Archivist Stuart Brambley, Archivist photo

Matt Frewer is an actor, singer, voice artist and comedian, who is best known for his groundbreaking portrayal of the pop-culture icon Max Headroom.

He attended Glenlyon Norfolk School (Glenlyon Preparatory School) from 1969 to 1972. Being a strong student athlete—tennis and football in high school—he had his heart set on being a hockey player, but after a serious injury at age 15 while attending Lakefield College, he changed course to acting.

Frewer spent a short time at Queens University in Kingston, before travelling to England to receive comprehensive training in acting at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. During this time, he played a number of minor roles in stage plays, studying for three years and graduating in 1980. While in England, he married English actress Amanda Hillwood, well known for her roles in the television series,’ A Very Peculiar Practice and Inspector Morse.

Frewer made his film acting debut in the 1983 film The Lords of Discipline and soon after got his “big break” appearing as Max Headroom—the World’s first computer-generated television host—a character, known for his wit and stuttering, electronic voice.

He went on to play iconic roles in many feature films like The Fourth Protocol (1987), Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989), Hercules (1997), Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb (2014) and Steven Spielberg’s The BFG (2016), as well as lead roles in PSI Factor, Taken, Intelligence, Da Vinci’s Inquest (earning a Gemini nomination), The Stand, Alice and Netflix’ The Order.

Frewer was also the voice of several prominent characters in animated series like Incredible Hulk (1996), Iron Man (1993) and Batman: The Animated Series (1993).

Matt continued his eccentric characterizations, including a Gemini Award-winning performance as Frederick Banting in the Canadian Children’s television series Mentors in 1998.

Frewer now lives in California, is a committed environmentalist, and serves as a spokesperson for the Rainforest Action Network. This is the seventeenth instalment of a series of articles entitled “Gryphon Gallery” created by our School Archivist that provide snapshots that celebrate the achievements of a variety of alumni and staff from throughout the history of GNS.