Lex Gigeroff
Alexander Kier Gigeroff, known professionally as Lex Gigeroff (29 January 1962 — December 25, 2011), was a Canadian television writer and actor best remembered as a co-creator of the science fiction series Lexx. He also appeared in the comedy series Liocracy and the short film Treevenge.
Lex Gigeroff | |
---|---|
Born | Alexander Kier Gigeroff January 29, 1962 |
Died | December 25, 2011 49) Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada | (aged
Occupation | Screenwriter, actor |
Children | 2 |
Biography
Gigeroff was born in Ottawa. His father Alex K. Gigeroff (1931—2016) was a prominent artist, playwright and writer on criminology and the law who belonged to Macedonian Canadians: both of his parents were poor immigrants from Macedonian villages and "Gigeroff" was his father's immigrant's assigned name.[1][2] Lex's brother Andre Haines is an artist and musician who also contributed to the Lexx series as an actor and songwriter.[3][4]
Gigeroff grew up in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. When he was 10 he wrote a play for Cub Scouts which was picked up as a project for a youth group in Toronto and eventually staged.[5] In 1985 he graduated from Dalhousie University with a major in English; during the last year he served as the president of the Dalhousie Student Union.[6]
He also worked as an announcer at the CJLC-FM radio in the late 1970's and became actively involved with the campus-community radio CKDU-FM, serving as a programming manager from 1987 to 1989.[6][7] While performing a sketch in a radio comedy show he was noticed by Paul Donovan who invited Gigeroff to act in several of his movies.[5]
In 1993 he wrote and starred in a one-man stage show, and after Donovan saw it he shared his idea of a science fiction TV show with Gigeroff and Jeffrey Hirschfield which would eventually develop into the Lexx series.[5] Filming began in the fall of 1995 and the series was released by the Showcase channel in 1997; with strong ratings it lasted for four seasons and sold to over 100 countries around the world.[8][9] Apart from writing, Gigeroff also starred in various roles while his name became an inspiration for the show's title.[9]
He continued his writing and acting career, working in theatre, film and TV. Those included The Real Howard Spitz comedy and the Liocracy series, a number of short films and children's shows he created with Jason Shipley, a stage play Conrad and Barbara and a short comedy movie Benoit he wrote and directed in 2010. He was also working on his first feature film Gillian and Giles as a director which was to be shot in the Dominican Republic.[10][11]
Gigeroff died at his home in Fredericton, New Brunswick on December 25, 2011 from heart attack.[7][12][13] He moved to Fredericton several years earlier along with his wife, his daughter Andrea and son Kier.[7]
References
- Alex Gigeroff at the Canadian Macedonian Historical Society
- Nova Scotia Honours Alex Gigeroff with Resolution 1674 article at the Canadian Macedonian Books and Reviews, 14 July 2014
- Chris Muise. Artist Andre Haines draws inspiration from his pioneering father interview at the Halifax magazine, 16 March 2017
- Andre Haines on IMDb
- LEXX Interview: Lex Gigeroff is interviewed by theFrey at The SadGeezers Guide, March 2001
- Philip Doucette. In Memorian. Alex Gigeroff 1962-2011 article from the Dalhousie Magazine of the Dalhousie University Alumni, Winter 2012, p. 38
- Alexander Kier “Lex” Gigeroff at Find a Grave
- Frank Garcia, Mark Phillips (2009). Science Fiction Television Series, 1990-2004: Histories, Casts and Credits for 58 Shows. Jefferson: McFarland & Company. pp. 136—141 ISBN 978-0-7864-2483-2
- Ian Johnston. Dark Zone Adventures. Paul Donovan's Living, Oozing, Exploding Universe article from Cinefantastique Volume 28, Number 7, January 1996
- Carsten Knox. Memorial for LEXX co-creator this Sunday at The Coast, 4 January 2002
- Benoit at IMDb
- "Arts community mourns loss of writer, actor Gigeroff | The Chronicle Herald". Thechronicleherald.ca. Archived from the original on 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
- http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/rss/article/1467575 Archived May 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine