John Mann Biography

John Fraser Mann (born September 18, 1962 in Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian rock musician and actor.

Music

He is the lead vocalist (and, with Geoffrey Kelly, one of the principal songwriters) for the folk rock band Spirit of the West. He has also released two solo albums, Acoustic Kitty and December Looms.

Acting

In the 1980s, he studied theatre at Studio 58 in Vancouver, but then gave it up when he joined Spirit of the West.

He has appeared in several television shows as a guest actor, including Dark Angel, Stargate SG-1, Battlestar Galactica, Whistler, Cold Squad, Smallville, Da Vinci's Inquest and Blood Ties, and played recurring characters in the series Haunted and Intelligence. He also played a minor speaking role in the film Underworld: Evolution.

He played dual roles in the 2001 film Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal. The characters he portrayed are Slade Craven, the goth rocker who stages a concert in a 747 and Simon Flanders, a passenger of the flight who is a Satanic fan planning to crash the plane in Stull, Kansas in the disguise of Craven. Brian Dobson does the voice of Simon and during the hand-to-hand combat, Mann played Craven and Simon is played by Mann's stunt/body double.

His theatre credits include Of Mice and Men at The Vancouver Playhouse, The Three Penny Opera with The Vancouver Opera, Miss Saigon at The Arts Club Stanley Theatre, Joni Mitchell: The River at The Vancouver Playhouse and Cabaret at The Arts Club Stanley Theatre, playing The Emcee.

In 2010, he starred in a stage production of Bruce Ruddell's rock musical Beyond Eden, which was mounted in Calgary and Vancouver.

Family

He is married to actress and playwright Jill Daum. Their children use the combined surname Daumann. Their son Harlan Daumann, born in 1991, is also now a musician, whose song "By Tomorrow" was recorded by Mann on December Looms. They also have a daughter, Hattie.

Prior to marrying Daum, he was romantically linked with Jean Smith of the band Mecca Normal, who was revealed in the 2001 book Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995 as the inspiration behind one of Spirit of the West's best-known hit singles, "Political".

Discography

• Acoustic Kitty (2002)
• December Looms (2007)