Lex Gigeroff

Alexander Kier Gigeroff, known professionally as Lex Gigeroff (January 29, 1962 – December 25, 2011), was a Canadian television writer and actor best remembered as a co-creator of the science fiction series Lexx. He also appeared in the comedy series Liocracy and the short film Treevenge.

Lex Gigeroff
Born
Alexander Kier Gigeroff

(1962-01-29)January 29, 1962
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
DiedDecember 25, 2011(2011-12-25) (aged 49)
Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada
OccupationScreenwriter, actor
Children2

Biography

Gigeroff was born in Ottawa. His father Alex K. Gigeroff (1931–2016) was a prominent artist, playwright and writer on criminology and the law who belonged to Macedonian Canadians: both of his parents were poor immigrants from Macedonian villages and "Gigeroff" was his father's immigrant's assigned name.[1][2] Lex's brother Andre Haines is an artist and musician who also contributed to the Lexx series as an actor and songwriter.[3][4]

Gigeroff grew up in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia. When he was 10 he wrote a play for Cub Scouts which was picked up as a project for a youth group in Toronto and eventually staged.[5] In 1985 he graduated from Dalhousie University with a major in English; during the last year he served as the president of the Dalhousie Student Union.[6]

He also worked as an announcer at the CJLC-FM radio in the late 1970's and became actively involved with the campus-community radio CKDU-FM, serving as a programming manager from 1987 to 1989.[6][7] While performing a sketch in a radio comedy show he was noticed by Paul Donovan who invited Gigeroff to act in several of his movies.[5]

In 1993 he wrote and starred in a one-man stage show, and after Donovan saw it he shared his idea of a science fiction TV show with Gigeroff and Jeffrey Hirschfield which would eventually develop into the Lexx series.[5] Filming began in the fall of 1995 and the series was released by the Showcase channel in 1997; with strong ratings it lasted for four seasons and sold to over 100 countries around the world.[8][9] Apart from writing, Gigeroff also starred in various roles while his name became an inspiration for the show's title.[9]

He continued his writing and acting career, working in theatre, film and TV. Those included The Real Howard Spitz comedy and the Liocracy series, a number of short films and children's shows he created with Jason Shipley, a stage play Conrad and Barbara and a short comedy movie Benoit he wrote and directed in 2010. He was also working on his first feature film Gillian and Giles as a director which was to be shot in the Dominican Republic.[10][11]

Gigeroff died at his home in Fredericton, New Brunswick on December 25, 2011 from heart attack.[7][12][13] He moved to Fredericton several years earlier along with his wife, his daughter Andrea and son Kier.[7]

References
  1. Alex Gigeroff at the Canadian Macedonian Historical Society
  2. Nova Scotia Honours Alex Gigeroff with Resolution 1674 article at the Canadian Macedonian Books and Reviews, 14 July 2014
  3. Chris Muise. Artist Andre Haines draws inspiration from his pioneering father interview at the Halifax magazine, 16 March 2017
  4. Andre Haines on IMDb
  5. LEXX Interview: Lex Gigeroff is interviewed by theFrey at The SadGeezers Guide, March 2001
  6. Philip Doucette. In Memorian. Alex Gigeroff 1962-2011 article from the Dalhousie Magazine of the Dalhousie University Alumni, Winter 2012, p. 38
  7. Alexander Kier “Lex” Gigeroff at Find a Grave
  8. Frank Garcia, Mark Phillips (2009). Science Fiction Television Series, 1990-2004: Histories, Casts and Credits for 58 Shows. Jefferson: McFarland & Company. pp. 136—141 ISBN 978-0-7864-2483-2
  9. Ian Johnston. Dark Zone Adventures. Paul Donovan's Living, Oozing, Exploding Universe article from Cinefantastique Volume 28, Number 7, January 1996
  10. Carsten Knox. Memorial for LEXX co-creator this Sunday at The Coast, 4 January 2002
  11. Benoit at IMDb
  12. "Arts community mourns loss of writer, actor Gigeroff | The Chronicle Herald". Thechronicleherald.ca. Archived from the original on 2012-01-18. Retrieved 2011-12-30.
  13. http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/rss/article/1467575 Archived May 12, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
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