Sunday, 3 June 2018

Dog River Denizens - Fred Ewanuick

Fred Ewanuick
(Hank Yarbo)



The internet is littered with genius. Sometimes you have to search for it but it is out there. Occasionally you surf into a website of such overwhelming, unrelenting sagacity that the writer of said site probably knows what sagacity means and didn't have to look it up like I just did.

In searching for details about today's subject I bumped into www.vipfaq.com . If ever a site was created as the embodiment of the internet as a whole this one is it. I salute its brilliance in getting down to the nitty gritty and sort of bringing you the answers to the questions you sort of want answered about your favourite celebrities. Here's a few nuggets of wisdom I have learnt from them about Corner Gas' very own Fred Ewanuick - 

Are there any photos of Fred Ewanuick's hairstyle or shirtless? 
VIPFAQ Answers: There might be. Unfortunately we can not access them on our system

Is Fred Ewanuick still alive?
VIPFAQ answers: Yes as far as we know. We don't have any information about his current health but being under 50 we hope everything is ok.

What is Fred Ewanuick's net worth?
VIPFAQ Answers: Fred Ewanuick's net worth is estimated to be in the range of  $276778165

See! Genius! A whole web page filled with the kind of in depth journalism that Bob Woodward can only dream about. Although I now feel it is a pointless task I will see if I can find some little tidbit of biographical information on Fred that hasn't already been covered by this behemoth of investigative media. 


Fred was born 23rd June 1971 in Port Moody, British Columbia. Fred had career goals at an early age, telling his mum he wanted to be a police dog! Growing up in the small town one of his first jobs was as a paper boy for a local free newspaper. This career did not last too long. Thinking no one really cared about the free journal he would throw his copies into a dumpster instead of delivering them and go to the arcade. Unfortunately, someone did care, snitched and Fred got fired. He also worked in the town bingo hall until his graduation from Port Moody Secondary School in 1989. In his younger life he wanted to become a truck driver as his Grandfather owned a trucking company where his mum and uncle both worked.

At college he enrolled in English, Women's Studies and Theatre. After college began to train with acting coach Shea Hampton. Shea has been teaching the art of acting for over twenty years and has worked with many actors and actresses that have gone on to have successful careers. As well as Fred she has tutored the likes of Seth Rogan and Peter Kelamis.

The Addams delighted in telling Pugsley that
his Zebra costume was rubbish
Fred soon started auditioning and landed his first television role in 1998 as a "Spinning Gnome" on The New Addams Family which was filmed in Vancouver. The episode, Cleopatra, Green of the Nile, tells the tale of Morticia Addams prize carnivorous plant Cleopatra who stops eating just before the big plant show! The show ran for two seasons and was popular with viewers it ran 65 episodes over all. Another episode would also feature Fred's Corner Gas chum Nancy Robertson in one of her first television roles. 

Fred continued to be cast in various television series. Notably he played Luke in five episodes of Dark Angel. The series, created by cinematic legend James Cameron, followed Max a genetically enhanced super soldier who escapes a military compound as child. Set in 2019, the plot follows Max as an adult continually evading capture and trying to find others like herself who escaped the system they were bought up in. Luke is a failed transgenic experiment who helps Max and is one of her closest allies. He works in communications and is a skilled computer hacker. A popular character, after the show ended he was featured in follow novels that continued the Dark Angel story when the show ended after two seasons. 

Luke didn't take up much room. When finished with him he could be
hung up by his nose in the cloakroom
It was around the same time. 2002, when Fred appeared in his first movie, The Santa Clause 2. He plays a seismic interpreter who almost discovers Santa's grotto in the North Pole at the beginning of the film. The film was a hug success and spawned a third in the series imaginatively titled The Santa Clause 3. 

The album cover for his new band "Fred's Cumbersome Earmuffs" 
A year later A Guy Thing was released starring Jason Lee, Julia Styles and Selma Blair. Mr Ewanuick plays Jeff, a drug store clerk who manages to swing himself a job as chef at the wedding of Paul (Jason Lee) and Karen (Selma Blair). He features in a number of humorous scenes throughout the movie. A Guy Thing debuted at #7 in the box office charts and continued to gross $17,000,000 worldwide and became very successful upon it's home cinema release. 

So many captions  - all involve the words up, Fred's and suprise in various orders
It was a very busy few years for Fred. He continued to feature in popular television series such as The Twilight Zone, Monk and Tru Calling. 2003 also saw him star in mockumentary The Delicate Art of Parking with soon to be Corner Gas co-star Nancy Robertson. The film tells the story of a director who embarks on making a film about corruption within the institution of parking enforcement. Whilst following an earnest traffic warden, Grant Parker played by Fred, who is very proud of the job he does, the director finds a new side to the story and soon finds himself on the verge of discovering a true conspiracy. Directed by Trent Carlson, who also co-wrote the script with Blake Corbet, The Delicate Art of Parking drew favourable reviews some comparing it to the classic mockumentaries of Christopher Guest. It was a favourite of the festival circuit and grew to develop a cult following. Nancy received a nomination for a Leo award for best female performance in a supporting role. 

Fred required extremely good eyesight to see through his glasses
2004 was the year when Fred truly won the hearts of Canada when he was cast as Hank Yarbo the dim witted, well meaning and lovable best friend of Brent Leroy. Fred was put forward for the role when his agent sent a tape to the production team. They were not overly keen to put him in the role initially. Fred's agent persisted and won Fred an audition in front of show creator Brent Butt and director David Storey. They then realised he was perfect for the role. 

What were the chances that not a single tenant at
Robsons Arms remembered their keys that day
In 2005, as well as continuing to star in Corner Gas, Fred was cast in popular Dramedy Robson Arms along with Corner Gas co-star Gabrielle Miller. The show ran for three seasons and was based in an apartment building situated in Vancouver. Each episode would focus on a different tenant in the building with core characters interacting with them throughout each story. Fred's character Nick Papathanasiou is an unlucky in love, uptight, twenty something with an encyclopedic knowledge of rock music. The first episode to feature Nick, entitled Sweet City Woman, told of his brief romantic affair with an older married woman played by the legendary Margot Kidder.

There was much embarrassment when Margot realised
she had dropped her surf board on the way over

Dan had to carry a sign at all times to hide that
his left arm was two feet longer than his right one
When Corner Gas finished it's run in 2009 Fred was soon back on the small screen in a new comedic vehicle for his talents. Dan for Mayor premiered on March 1st, 2010, the same night as Hiccups the new series created by Brent Butt and starring Nancy Robertson. The show ran for two season and followed Dan Phillips, Bartender in the fictional town of Wessex Ontario, who has to run for Mayor after a chance comment to an ex-girlfriend. The show was created by regular Corner Gas contributors Mark Farrell, Paul Mather and Kevin White. The show, whose run was unfortunately cut short after poor scheduling for season two, is still a firm favourite with comedy fans all around the world. 

Fred still continues to charm in many roles in film and television. He now features as voice talent in many animated projects such as Dinotrux and Beat Bugs. He reprised his role as Hank Yarbo in Corner Gas: The Movie and can currently be seen on Comedy Network in the new, hit Corner Gas: Animated series. 

Hopefully this little bio has picked up the few measly details on Fred's career somehow left behind by vipfaq.com . Just in case a representative for that site happens to read this article I have answered a few more questions that may help their quest for accurate factual facts regarding our subject: -

Has Fred ever met Elvis Presley?
We can confirm that he either has or has not met the king, we have no information at this time. We can also confirm that Fred is probably aware of music which is a thing that Elvis did. 

If Mr. Ewanuick was a superhero which one would he like to be?
Fred is probably already a superhero but we can neither confirm or deny which one because their masks get in the way of facial recognition which is both convenient and inconvenient. We suspect he may be Catwoman and Howard the Duck. 

Did Fred invent cream cheese?
Yes


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