Louis Del Grande


Louis Del Grande is a Canadian television writer and actor. He is best known for starring in the Canadian mystery/comedy series Seeing Things.

Early life

Del Grande was born on March 23, 1943. He grew up in Union City, New Jersey, United States. By the late 1980s, he moved to Cape Breton Island.

Career

Del Grande moved to Toronto in 1964, drawn to Canada by the Stratford Festival, and soon found work as a stand-up comedian and comedy writer. In 1975, he was hired as head writer for a new sitcom, The King of Kensington, which became a hit in Canada until the end of the decade. He also appeared in the show a handful of times as Fred, a friend of Al Waxman's lead character Larry King. Del Grande later became the show's co-producer.
When asked by the CBC if he had any projects he could star in, Del Grande created, wrote and produced Seeing Things, which aired from 1981 to 1987. Del Grande played a crime-solving clairvoyant tabloid reporter who was separated from his wife Marge. Despite being on the marital outs, Marge helped Louis with his investigations and even drove him all over the city. The series was popular and won Del Grande four Gemini Awards, two for best actor in a comedy and two for the show itself.
Outside Canada, Del Grande is probably best known as the ConSec scanner in the infamous "head explosion" scene in the David Cronenberg movie Scanners. He has also appeared in numerous TV movies and series, including Due South, The Outer Limits and Goosebumps.