CHARMING CHRISTMAS׳ CAST BIOS JULIE BENZ (Meredith)
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‘CHARMING CHRISTMAS’ CAST BIOS JULIE BENZ (Meredith) – Julie Benz captivates any audience with her radiant beauty and infectious energy. The acclaimed actress is best-known for her work on Showtime’s multiple Golden Globe® winning and Emmy®-nominated hit series, “Dexter” as Rita Bennett, the title character’s tormented girlfriend, a role for which she won a 2006 Golden Satellite Award for Best Supporting TV Actress. In a twist that sent shockwaves through the fan community, Benz’s character was murdered in the season four finale, one of the most memorable send-offs in television history. After “Dexter,” Benz played a Master’s Degree-carrying stripper in a recurring role on the ABC hit, “Desperate Housewives.” She also starred in the Hallmark Channel Original Movie “Uncorked.” After this, Benz starred alongside Michael Chiklis in ABC’s “No Ordinary Family.” Benz also had a recurring role on CBS’s drama series “A Gifted Man” alongside Patrick Wilson. Currently, Benz stars in Syfy’s hit series “Defiance.” Star of cult classics such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” “Angel” and “Roswell,” Benz has never been one to shy away from challenging roles and she continued her streak as a serial thriller alongside Sylvester Stallone in 2008’s action film, “Rambo,” performing stunts and starring as a missionary taken prisoner by sadistic Burmese soldiers and as the vengeful blue-collar wife of a murdered cop in “The Punisher: War Zone.” Benz returned to the big screen in “Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day,” reuniting herself with the original cast and in “Saw 5,” in which she plays one of JigSaw’s latest victims. Born and raised in Pennsylvania to a general vascular surgeon and a homemaker, Benz is the youngest of three children, all of whom are accomplished ice skaters. A natural performer, Benz competed in the 1988 U.S. Championships in junior ice dancing with her partner David Schilling, coming in 13th. When she was 14, Benz suffered a crippling stress fracture and had to take time off, but once she stepped off the ice, she was able to step onto the stage, something she had always been interested in. Starring in numerous community theater productions, Benz earned a whirlwind of attention. Benz’s first major role came at 16 when she was cast in the ‘Black Cat’ episode of the Dario Argento and George A. Romero horror film, “Two Evil Eyes,” sharing a notable scene with Harvey Keitel. Next came a recurring role on the first ever ABC and Nick At Night collaborative TV series, “Hi Honey, I’m Home.” Benz took a break from her budding career to attend New York University, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting. While attending, she graduated in three years with honors and studied abroad in Moscow, enriching her appreciation for the Stanislavski acting method. Upon graduation, Benz moved to Los Angeles and immediately earned her first guest-starring role on “Married with Children,” which helped open the door to features, including a role as the receptionist in the two-time Academy Award® winning film, “As Good as it Gets,” with Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. In one of the most critically acclaimed and cult classic TV series of all time, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” Benz starred as what appeared to be an innocent schoolgirl who was actually a fanged demon and ‘Buffy’s’ (Sarah Michelle Gellar) nemesis. The series was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 Best Shows of All Time, one of TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time and was voted #3 in TV Guide’s Top 25 Cult TV Shows of All Time. Her character ‘Darla’ also made a jump to the “Buffy” spin-off series “Angel,” in which Benz starred alongside David Boreanaz as ‘Angel’s’ forbidden lover. During “Buffy”, Benz also starred in the film “Jawbreaker” with Rose McGowan, Rebecca Gayheart, and Carol Kane and she recurred on the sci-fi series “Roswell” with Katherine Heigl. She appeared in the Steven Spielberg produced alien abduction miniseries, “Taken” with Dakota Fanning, and lent her voice to the popular “Halo 2” video game as Commander Miranda Keyes. Benz also made several special guest appearances on such hit TV shows as “Supernatural,” “CSI” and “Law and Order.” With a flourishing career, Benz resides in Los Angeles with her maltese-poodle mix, Bamboo. ### DAVID SUTCLIFFE (Nick) – Born in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, David Sutcliffe attended the University of Toronto. There, he was bit by the acting bug, which he pursued professionally after graduation. Shortly after moving to Los Angeles, Sutcliffe landed series regular roles on two television series: “Cold Feet” and “Grapevine.” Audiences may best recognize Sutcliffe from his role as Christopher on the Emmy® Award-winning series “Gilmore Girls,” on which he played father to Alexis Bledel’s character and ex-husband to Lauren Graham’s. Sutcliffe was seen on “Private Practice,” playing Kate Walsh’s love interest. He also starred as an average-Joe schoolteacher who falls in love with a movie star in his own comedy series, “I’m With Her,” opposite Teri Polo and has had guest appearances in the CBS comedy, “Accidentally on Purpose,” starring Jenna Elfman, Lifetime’s “Drop Dead Diva” and FOX’s “Lie to Me.” Most recently, Sutcliffe played the lead role on CBC’s television series “Cracked.” On the film front, Sutcliffe played opposite America Ferrara in the independent drama “Towards Darkness.” His film, “Happy Endings,” was the Opening Night Film at the Sundance Film Festival in 2005. Sutcliffe was part of an esteemed cast that included Lisa Kudrow, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tom Arnold and Steve Coogan, and the film was directed by Don Roos. Sutcliffe’s Additional credits include Disney's “Under the Tuscan Sun,” starring Diane Lane, the independent drama “Testosterone” and romantic comedy “Cake,” opposite Heather Graham. ### BRUCE GRAY (Harold) – Bruce Gray, an actor with a long and varied career in film, TV and stage, is perhaps best known as the father of the groom in “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gray acted in college productions at University of Toronto, where he received an M.A in Psychology. Gray has played a recurring role as an 83-year-old garage mechanic in the Spielberg production, “Falling Skies.” In Canada. Gray is best known as the star of “Traders,” for which he won a Gemini Award for Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Dramatic Series. Other series shot in Toronto, included the controversial “Playmakers” for ESPN and “Queer as Folk” for Showtime. Gray is a resident Director for Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills and a volunteer director at Toluca Lake Elementary School for The G.A.T.E Program. His most recent work is Spider's Web by Agatha Christie. Audrey Linden from Hollywood Examiner writes, "I have reviewed theatre at the Geffen Playhouse, The Ahmanson, The Mark Taper Forum, The Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Hollywood Bowl etc. We certainly have an abundance of very good theatre here in Los Angeles. Theatre 40's Spider's Web by Agatha Christie is in a class by itself as a British drawing room murder mystery. Bruce Gray directed a fine ensemble cast in this ‘whodunit’ with just the right comedic touches. Kudos to Bruce Gray and his fine cast." Gray moved to England in 1960, beginning his professional career as the juvenile lead at the Theatre Royal in Bath. Returning to Toronto, he started his own theatre company Aries Productions while doing regional theatre and working on TV, principally in the series “Son of a Hundred Kings” and “Strange Paradise.” This lead to theatre work in the United States, where he starred opposite Diana Sands in The Owl and the Pussycat and played Jesus in Godspell. He was encouraged to move to New York, where he landed the title role in Who Killed Richard Cory?, thus becoming a member of the Circle Rep. He was also under contract to several soaps, including Somerset and The Edge of Night, opposite Kim Hunter. Several national tours followed with Patty Duke in My Fat Friend, and later Too True to be Good. A move to Hollywood in the 80’s led to dozens of guest starring roles on television’s “Happy Days,” “The Hulk,” “Head of the Class,” “ER,” “Criminal Minds,” “Without a Trace” and “Boston Legal.” Gray also had recurring roles on “Murder She Wrote,” “Murphy Brown,” “Tour of Duty,” “Charmed,” “Star Trek” and “Medium.” During this period he also guest starred in a number of movies of the week, including: “Sinatra,” “The Exxon Valdez,” “LBJ,” “Breaking Up” and “The Last Debate.” Feature films include, “Between Friends” opposite Carol Burnett, “Let’s Get Harry,” “For the Boys,” “Starship Troopers,” “SWAT” and “Evan Almighty.” Gray also continued his stage career, winning awards for his performances in Quartermaine’s Terms, The Good Doctor, and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolfe? This production led to a tour of the USA as well as the USSR in 1989, the year of the collapse of the Soviet Union. Bruce Gray shot “Crimson Peak” directed by Guillermo del Toro in Toronto last summer, which opens in 2015. --HALLMARK CHANNEL-- .