Chuck Shamata
Birthday: Born in in
Deathday: Alive
Chuck Shamata's career spans four decades in film, television and theatre. Among his most recent credits are the feature films One Week, The Sentinal, Cinderella Man and War Games 2; the cable movies Tipping Point,The Engagement Ring and Kojak (and the ensuing series). Don Shebib's classic Between Friends - often recognized by critics as one of Canada's all time best - was the film for which Shamata received his first Genie Award nomination, and was presented with a Migliore Attore award by the legendary Vittorio De Sica at the Sorrento Film Festival. His other feature credits include The Spreading Ground with Dennis Hopper, Joshua Then and Now with James Woods, Power Play with Peter O'Toole, The Devil and Max Devlin with Bill Cosby and Night Friend with Art Carney. On the small screen, Shamata was nominated for a Gemini Award for his starring role as a family man facing his homosexuality in the network film The Running Man. Other network movie credits include A Father for Brittany, On Thin Ice: The Tai Babilonia Story, the Cable Ace Award-winning Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story, Echoes in the Darkness and Between Friends alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Carol Burnett. He played Pierre Salinger in the mini-series Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and for Showtime Networks he co-starred in the Tony Bill-directed cable feature Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story; as mafia boss Sam Giancana in The Family; The Thin Blue Lie with Rob Morrow; and Escape Clause with Paul Sorvino. On stage, Shamata played Dr. Astrov opposite Peter O'Toole in Uncle Vanya in Toronto and Chicago, Torvald in A Doll's House and leading roles in Doc, Good Woman of Setzuan, To Clothe The Naked, You're Gonna Be Alright Jamie Boy, Battering Ram, My Fat Friend, Chapter Two, The Country Girl and The Indian Wants The Bronx in theaters from Halifax to Los Angeles. - IMDb Mini Biography
TV Credits
FX: The Series
Character: Mini the Pickpocket
Rollie Tyler, a special effects expert, helps his detective friend solve crimes by making criminals see what they want to see. But what is real and what is illusion?...
Highlander: The Raven
Character: Martin Foster
Highlander: The Raven was a short-lived spin-off from the television series Highlander, continuing the saga of a female Immortal. The series followed the character of Amanda, an Immortal who had a recurring role in Highlander: The Series. The series was filmed in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Paris, France and was produced by Gaumont Télévision and Fireworks Media in association with Davis-Panzer Productions....
La Femme Nikita
Character: Stephan Vacek
La Femme Nikita was a Canadian action/drama television series based on the French film Nikita by Luc Besson. The series was co-produced by Jay Firestone of Fireworks Entertainment and Warner Bros.. It was adapted for television by Joel Surnow. The series was first telecast in North America on the USA Network cable channel on January 13, 1997, and ran for five television seasons—until March 2001. The series was also aired in Canada on the over-the-air CTV Television Network. La Femme Nikita was t...
Twice in a Lifetime
Character: Coach Rybeck
Prematurely deceased people are given the opportunity to correct something that went wrong in their lives and thus change them for the better....
Sidestreet
Character:
Sidestreet was a Canadian television drama, which aired Sundays on CBC from 1975 to 1978. It starred Sean McCann and Donnelly Rhodes as police working the mean streets of 1970s Toronto. The producers of "Sidestreet:" wanted to feature community service officers instead of ordinary detectives. They aimed to concentrate on issues such as blockbusting, strikebreaking, rape, poverty, and the problems of the elderly in the city, instead of major crimes....
For The Record
Character: Ben Carfield
For The Record, a series of one-hour and ninety-minute film dramas, started on the series, Performance, as a subseries called Camera ’76. Aired Sundays 9:00-10:00 p.m., January 1977 to 1986. A collection of docudrama-style short stories on diverse but socially relevant (and very Canadian) topics such as unemployment, euthanasia, spousal abuse, televangelists, aboriginal issues, and anglophone-francophone relations. This series attracted most of the 'big name' Canadian actors and directors of th...
War of the Worlds
Character: Bradley
Humanity must resume its war against the Martians when they revive after decades of hibernation following their defeat in the 1950s. The fate of Earth may very well rest in the hands of a small yet courageous band: astrophysicist Harrison Blackwood, paraplegic computer wizard Norton Drake, microbiologist Suzanne McCullough and military man Paul Ironhorse....
Blood & Treasure
Character: Sharif Gazal
An antiquities expert teams up with an art thief to catch a terrorist who funds his attacks using stolen artifacts....
Kojak
Character: Henry Mussina
Kojak is an American television series starring Ving Rhames, airing on the USA Network cable channel, and on ITV4 in the United Kingdom. It was a reimagined version of the 1973-1978 series starring Telly Savalas. Rhames portrays Lieutenant Theo Kojak of the New York City Police Department, a skilled plain clothes detective with a shaved head and an affinity for jazz, fine clothing, and lollipops. As with the original series, he is fond of the catchphrase "Who loves ya, baby?" The series lasted ...
Republic of Doyle
Character: Anton Strata
Jake Doyle and his ex-cop father, Malachy, run a Newfoundland detective agency. Their rugged seaside town never lacks for intriguing cases, and the Doyles don't always land on the right side of the law....
Echoes in the Darkness
Character: Costopoulos
This mini-series is a critically acclaimed drama of psychological intrigue, conspiracy and murder. It began in 1979 with the grisly discovery of school teacher Susan Reinert's nude, battered body. It ended seven years later, after one of the most massive homicide investigations in history....
The Listener
Character: Charles Harrow
Toby Logan is a highly skilled paramedic with a secret – he can read minds. Toby never really knew his parents and grew up in foster care, this coupled with his secret, which he shares with no one, has made him a bit of a loner. Until now, Toby has kept his ability hidden, exploring its possibilities only with his long time mentor and confidante Dr. Ray Mercer....
ReGenesis
Character: Eric Dixon
ReGenesis is a Canadian television program produced by The Movie Network and Movie Central in conjunction with Shaftesbury Films. The series, which ran for four seasons, revolves around the scientists of NorBAC, a fictional organization with a lab based in Toronto. The organization investigates problems of a scientific nature, such as bio-terrorism, mysterious diseases or radical changes in environment throughout Canada, the United States, and Mexico. NorBAC is headed by David Sandström, the chi...
This Is Wonderland
Character:
Alice De Raey is a newly minted attorney who joins the chaotic world of criminal justice in Toronto. She's exposed to the seamier side of life, the backroom deals that make the system work accompanied by the usual eccentric characters....
The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Character: Philip Bellamy
The New Alfred Hitchcock Presents is an American anthology series that aired on NBC from 1985 to 1986, and on the USA Network from 1987 to 1989. The series is an updated re-imagining of the classic 1955 series Alfred Hitchcock Presents....
Movie Credits
Cinderella Man
Character: Father Rorick
The true story of boxer Jim Braddock who, following his retirement in the 1930s, makes a surprise comeback in order to lift his family out of poverty....
Escape Clause
Character: Captain Vincent Nalli
A man finds out that his wife has paid $10,000 to have him killed. Then both the would-be killer and the wife turn up dead ......
Scanners
Character: Tony (uncredited)
After a man with extraordinary—and frighteningly destructive—telepathic abilities is nabbed by agents from a mysterious rogue corporation, he discovers he is far from the only possessor of such strange powers, and that some of the other “scanners” have their minds set on world domination, while others are trying to stop them....
Princes In Exile
Character: Dr. Merritt
Diagnosed as having a brain tumor, seventeen-year-old Ryan is angrily resigned to the fact that he may not live to see another year. With time running out, he clings to two goals: publishing his journal and losing his virginity. But as Ryan finds fresh strength from his new friends' optimism and defiant refusal to surrender to cancer, his perspective changes....
Nowhere to Hide
Character: Mike Watson
Marine officer Rob Cutter and his wife Barbara have a son named Johnny. Rob discovers that two newly delivered helicopters in his squadron have crashed because a defective part, a C-ring, has been made of a weaker, less expensive alloy. Before Rob can go public with this, Rob is killed on the orders of corrupt General Howard, who did not want Rob to go public with the defective part. Howard believes that Barbara, who is also a marine, now has the part, so Howard and his henchmen set out to kill ...
Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story
Character: Al Binder
The story of one of America's first female reporters....
Death Wish V: The Face of Death
Character: Sal Paconi
Paul Kersey is back at working vigilante justice when his fiancée, Olivia, has her business threatened by mobsters....
The House by the Lake
Character: Harry
Harry is a rich dentist who often brings women up to his rural lakehouse. One weekend, he invites Diane, a former fashion model. On their way to the house, Diane runs a gang of thugs off the road. Humiliated, the thugs track down the couple for revenge....
The Devil and Max Devlin
Character: Jerry Nadler
When Max dies in an accident, he goes straight to Hell. But the Devil Barney makes him an offer: if he manages to get three innocent youths to sell him their souls in the next two months, he may stay on Earth. Max accepts, and returns to Earth, equipped with special powers. However, his task is harder than expected, especially when seven year old Tobi demands that he marry his mother....
Crimes of Fashion
Character: Sal Hugo
Brooke, a plain but creative and hard-working student at the top fashion school in the nation, who has come a long way from her tough childhood spent going from one foster home to another as an orphan. She has always dreamed of becoming a fashion designer, and is thrilled to finally be on her way. But, when the grandfather she never knew about passes away, her life is suddenly turned upside down. Not only has he left her his estate, but he's left her in charge of the family business, as mob boss...
Stone Cold Dead
Character: Sgt. Tony Colabre
Sergeant Boyd's police search to find a sniper who has been shooting hookers....
The Italian Machine
Character:
This TV play, written and directed David Cronenberg, explores one of his enduring themes: obsessive relationships with technology. A group of bike fanatics determine to get their hands on a Ducati 900 Desmo SuperSport owned by a rich guy, by any means necessary....
The Two Mr. Kissels
Character: Bill Kissel
Drama based on a true story. Rich, high-flying brothers Robert and Andrew Kissel seemingly have everything: beautiful wives who love them, great jobs and huge houses. But beneath the surface lie resentments and secrets that will eventually be their horrible undoing...
Saving Emily
Character: Russo
After learning that their young daughter, Emily, is suffering from leukemia, Cheryl and Greg have no choice but to seek out Cheryl's violent ex-husband, Kurt, to have him tested as a possible bone marrow donor. Cheryl is particularly disturbed about seeing Kurt again, since her testimony sent him to prison ten years earlier....
Behind the Red Door
Character: Father
Natalie, a gifted New York photographer, has a troubled past reflected in her art. When she struggles to make ends meet in the city, her agent, arranges an assignment in Boston for a considerable sum of money. Unable to turn it down in her dire straits, Natalie takes the job -- only to find that her estranged gay brother, Roy, is the employer. Roy wants to mend their broken past, but must convince her to stay long enough to do so....
Welcome to Blood City
Character: Ricardo
Five strangers awake, finding themselves with no memory in a world resembling the wild west. Their task is to become exempt from being killed - what the townspeople refer to as being "immortal" - by killing twenty of the other inhabitants of the town under the scrutiny of the sheriff (Jack Palance), otherwise they will spend their lives in slavery....
The Engagement Ring
Character: Johnny Anselmi
A long-lost engagement ring still divides childhood sweethearts who are now in their golden years. Now, her daughter (Heaton) and his nephew meet and find that their attraction is hindered by the old feud....
The Thin Blue Lie
Character: Vinnie
Philadelphia, 1976. The city of Brotherly Love is waging a successful war against crime led by its tough-talking mayor, Frank Rizzo. But a maverick investigative reporter, Jonathan Neumann, has heard some troubling rumors: stories of innocent people victimized by a "goon squad" of law enforcement officers....
On Thin Ice: The Tai Babilonia Story
Character: Connie Babilonia Sr.
The true story of Olympic champion figure skater Tai Babilonia, her rise to fame and her fall from grace....
Hyper Sapien: People from Another Star
Character:
Three aliens from the planet Taros land on Earth and are befriended by a Wyoming rancher's son....
Still Mine
Character: Judge
Craig, a fiercely determined New Brunswick farmer, sets out to build a more suitable house for his ailing wife, Irene, despite their children's concerns. As he starts building, he is blindsided by the bureaucratic codes and officials. As Irene becomes increasingly ill, Craig fights back. Based on a true story....
When Justice Fails
Character: Captain Tanner
A detective (Jeff Fahey) investigating the murders of two sex offenders gets involved with a beautiful district attorney (Marlee Matlin) who becomes a main suspect....
Virus
Character: Leo Burns
A United States Presidential bodyguard risks everything to save the day when a truck chock full of biological weapons contrives to crash in a National Park....
A Father for Brittany
Character: Bob Minkowitz
Keith and Kim Lussier are a childless couple who are given custody of a 3-month-old foster child, Brittany. However, tragedy strikes when Kim dies of cancer in the middle of the adoption process, leaving Keith to fight for Brittany's custody alone....
Sugartime
Character: Michael Delfano
Sam Giancana is a ruthless mob boss from Chicago. During a trip to Las Vegas, he sees a performance by the McGuire Sisters, a popular singing group with a pure image. Sam is attracted to Phyllis and begins aggressively courting her. The two enter into an epic romance, but it brings unwanted attention and tarnishes Phyllis's reputation. For Sam, however, the consequences are far more drastic, landing him in trouble with the law and his fellow mobsters....
Flash of Genius
Character: Professor Irwin
In this David vs. Goliath drama based on a true story, college professor Robert Kearns goes up against the giants of the auto industry when they fail to give him credit for inventing intermittent windshield wipers. Kearns doggedly pursues recognition for his invention, as well as the much-deserved financial rewards for the sake of his wife and six kids....
The Sentinel
Character: Director Overbrook
A secret service agent is framed as the mole in an assassination attempt on the president. He must clear his name and foil another assassination attempt while on the run from a relentless FBI agent....
I Miss You, Hugs and Kisses
Character: Gershen Isen
Successful businessman Charles Kruschen (Donald Pilon) is accused of bludgeoning to death his beautiful but manipulative model wife Magdalene (Elke Sommer). As the trial draws to a close, Charles reflects on the events leading up to the terrible incident......
Unfinished Business
Character: Carl
Seventeen year old Izzy Marks lives in Toronto with her divorced mother and finds her life boring and directionless. Meant to be a sequel to Don Owen's acclaimed 1964 film "Nobody Waved Good-bye", "Unfinished Business" looks at life two decades later for Peter and Julie's (Peter Kastner and Julie Biggs) daughter Isabelle "Izzy" Marks (Isabelle Mejias). Curious, funny and intelligent, 17 year old Izzy feels the frustrations of her limiting environment and the pull of a more exciting, larger wor...
Bonanno: A Godfather's Story
Character: Santo Trafficante
The true life story of mafia boss Joesph Bonanno. The story spans from Bonanno's early beginings in Italy, to his conquests in America....
One Week
Character: Gerald Tyler
Ben Tyler has been diagnosed with cancer. With a grim chance of survival in the best case scenario even if he immediately begins treatment, he instead decides to take a motorcycle trip from Toronto through the Canadian prairies to British Columbia....
Clown
Character: Walt
A loving father finds a clown suit for his son's birthday party, only to realize the suit is part of an evil curse that turns its wearer into a killer....
Power Play
Character: Hillsman
A thriller, released 1st November 1978, based on the non-fiction book Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook by Edward N. Luttwak....
Starcrossed
Character: Chairman
An alien woman is running from a deadly enemy and tries to hide on Earth where she meets a young mechanic, who helps her to get back home and to fight for the freedom of her people....
In Like Flynn
Character: Danton
Life is one cliff-hanger after another for a bright and beautiful woman and the reluctant young man who joins her in defying death as they investigate a series of baffling murders and disappearances in the Caribbean for a mysterious novelist whose best-selling thrillers are based on chilling reality....
WarGames: The Dead Code
Character: Bill Carter
Computer hacker Will Farmer engages a government super-computer named Ripley in an online terrorist-attack simulation game. Little does Farmer know that Ripley has been designed to appeal to potential terrorists, and certain software glitches have in turn made him become paranoid....
Guilty Hearts
Character: Det. Mike Virgilio
Quiet and unassuming church organist Jenny Moran is depressed with her marriage to working-class Matt and leaves him. Jenny begins an affair with the manipulative and charming Dr. Stephen Carrow, who is also deacon of her church and a married man. Someone kills Carrow's wife after she learns of the affair between Jenny and her husband. The murderer is caught and confesses, but that confession leads to new lies which tear apart Jenny Moran's life....
Whitewash: The Clarence Brandley Story
Character: Don Brown
Based on the true story of Clarence Brandley, a black man wrongly accused in 1980 of the murder of a 16-year-old white high school girl named Cheryl Ferguson. Brandley worked at Conroe High School, where Ferguson was visiting as a member of the Belleville High School volleyball team. Three days after her body was discovered, Brandley was arrested as the murderer. Jew Don Boney, a popular activist and Houston city council member, leads the fight to uncover the truth about the Ferguson murder. Mik...
Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
Character: Pierre Salinger
Told in flashbacks as Jackie reflects on her life, mini is divided in two parts: Life as a Kennedy and life after Camelot....
Between Friends
Character: Chino
An ex-con, his daughter and her two friends plan the elaborate heist of a nickel mine in Northern Ontario....
A Time to Live
Character: Dr. Strathmore
The problems of a mother who helps her son in his struggles against muscular dystrophy. From the true story of Peter and Mary-Lou Weisman....
Mafia Princess
Character: Louie
Looks at the life of mafia boss Salvatore Giancana. Especially his troubled relationship with his family....
Miss Sloane
Character: Bill Sanford
An ambitious lobbyist faces off against the powerful gun lobby in an attempt to pass gun control legislation....
Between Friends
Character: Dr. Seth Simpson
Two middle-aged women with nothing in common meet by accident and develop a close friendship while continuing to deal with their own lives....
Running
Character: Howard
An Olympic hopeful marathon runner hopes his success will be the answer to his marriage woes and other personal problems....
Act of Vengeance
Character: Millard Atler
In 1969, an administrator runs against the corrupt president of the United Coal Miners Union, and becomes the target of a murder plot....
Snap Decision
Character: Jack Bradley
Inspired by a true story, a young widowed mother finds herself on trial for child pornography and abuse after allowing her best friend to photograph her daughters and friend....
Gone Tomorrow
Character: Frank Thompson
Five years after taking the fall for his younger brother, a tormented ex-con flees parole to find his kidnapped baby niece. One step ahead of the police, and one behind an unraveling criminal syndicate, he must once again sacrifice everything in the name of family....
The Perfect Neighbor
Character: Detective Lupo
A disturbed new neighbor fixates on another woman's husband....
Spreading Ground
Character: Capt. Neiman
Veteran Detective Ed Delopre and partner Mike McGivern have their hands full when they hit the pavement in search of a dangerous killer with five dead bodies already on his record. The mayor, in a rush to see peace restored in her city, makes a deal with the mob instead of waiting for Delopre and McGivern's results. Now that both sides of the law are involved in the killer's capture, the city is turned upside down....
Break a Leg
Character: Hit-man
A hit-man meets his mark for breakfast to discuss his assassination....
Night Friend
Character: Jack
A priest goes to great lengths in an effort to get a teenage prostitute off the streets....
Uncut Gem
Character: Max
A robber falls for the girl his gang kidnaps during a jewelry store robbery....
Breakthrough
Character: Fire Chief
Tragedy strikes when a woman named Joyce's son falls through the ice on a frozen lake and is trapped underwater for over 15 minutes. After being rushed to the hospital, the 14-year-old boy continues to fight for his life as Joyce, her husband and their pastor stay by his bedside and pray for a miracle....
DC 9/11: Time of Crisis
Character: Shelton
This is the story of the days directly after 9/11, and the president's whereabouts. Scheduled to air shortly before the second anniversary of the September 11 attacks, DC 9/11 takes an inside look at the Bush Administration, beginning with the day of the attacks, and following the President's journey to Ground Zero, culminating with his now famous national address nine days after the attacks....
Joshua Then and Now
Character: Seymour Kaplan
Based on a novel by Mordecai Richler, allegedly his autobiography, it tells the story of a Jewish writer, from his life as a young boy in Montreal to his more complicated grown-up life....
A Simple Fucking Gesture
Character: Man
A couple in traffic doesn’t get the “thank you” wave they deserve after another driver cuts in. According to its director, “this film was written while in traffic.”...
Alegría: An Enchanting Fable
Character: Narrator (Voice)
Frac, a mime who is suffering from a severe bout of depression, happens to meet a troupe of circus entertainers and immediately falls in love with one of the stars, Giulietta. But while his affection for Giulietta and admiration for the performers gives him a new lease on life, Giulietta's father, the leader of the troupe, opposes the relationship and is determined to keep them apart. Meanwhile, Frac and Giulietta discover a gang of children who are held prisoner by a criminal leader who forces ...
Family of Strangers
Character: Tim
Julie must disclose her family's medical history before undergoing major surgery: when she questions her family, she discovers that she was adopted and, later, that her conception was the product of a rape....
The Terry Fox Story
Character: Wilson
The true story about the Canadian cancer amputee hero who decided to run across Canada on only one leg to raise money for cancer research....