This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dhagon Ghent (talk | contribs) at 20:14, 6 October 2023 (See Stunt Canada, his official website.). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 20:14, 6 October 2023 by Dhagon Ghent (talk | contribs) (See Stunt Canada, his official website.)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Canadian actor and stuntman (born 1959) | This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. Find sources: "Ken Kirzinger" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (August 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
| Ken Kirzinger | |
|---|---|
 Kirzinger in 2015 | |
| Born | (1959-11-04) November 4, 1959 (age 65) Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, stuntman |
| Years active | 1983–present |
Kenneth Kirzinger (born November 4, 1959) is a Canadian actor and stuntman best known for his portrayals of Jason Voorhees in Freddy vs. Jason (2003), Pa in Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007) and Rusty Nail in Joy Ride 3: Roadkill (2014).
Career
Kirzinger was born on November 4, 1959, in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada to Agnes and Wilfred Kirzinger. He is of German descent.
Kirzinger's height is listed as 6'5" (196 cm). He started his career as a stunt performer in the early 1980s, appearing in Superman III. He also worked as an actor in TV movies like Brotherly Love and Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge. Although he continued acting, Kirzinger became a prolific stunt performer and coordinator through the 80s and 90s working on films like Shoot to Kill, Look Who's Talking, Bird on a Wire, and It, as well as TV shows like 21 Jump Street and The Commish.
In 1989, Kirzinger had a small role as a New York cook on Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan who gets in Jason's way while pursuing Rennie Wickham (Jensen Daggett) and Sean Robertson (Scott Reeves). Jason, played by Kane Hodder, threw Kirzinger over the counter. In addition to his role as the cook, Kirzinger served as a stunt coordinator for the film and also doubled for Jason during a few short scenes. This would make him only the second person besides Hodder to play Jason more than once during the course of the franchise.
Role as Jason Voorhees
In 2003, Kirzinger was chosen over Kane Hodder to play Jason Voorhees in the film Freddy vs. Jason. The decision was mostly based on him being slightly taller than Hodder. Although he was disappointed, Hodder and Kirzinger still remain friends. During filming of Freddy vs. Jason, director Ronny Yu tried to limit Kirzinger's stunts on the film as much as possible. Because of this stuntman Glenn Ennis was called in to perform a series of stunts, including a stunt showing Jason walking through a field killing teenagers while on fire.
Appearances
Kirzinger has performed stunts, or worked on the following:
TV shows
- Till Dad Do Us Part
- Boy Meets Girl
- Room Mates
- Sirens
- Sea Hunt
- MacGyver
- Bordertown (co-coordinator)
- Danger Bay (co-coordinator)
- Cadillac
- Neon Rider (co-coordinator)
- Memories of Murder
- Fly by Night (co-coordinator)
- Day Glow Warrior
- Rescue 911
- Max Glick
- Shame
- The X-Files
- Supernatural
- Psych (2 acting roles)
Movies
- Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989)
- Stay Tuned (re-shoots) (1992)
- White Fang 2: Myth of the White Wolf (co-coordinator) (1994)
- Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)
- Bad Moon (1996)
- Futuresport (1998)
- Firestorm (1998)
- The 13th Warrior (1999)
- Cats & Dogs (2001)
- Thirteen Ghosts (2001)
- Camouflage (2001)
- The Santa Clause 2 (2002)
- Insomnia (2002)
- Freddy vs. Jason (2003)
- Hot Rod (2007)
- Wrong Turn 2: Dead End (2007)
- Stan Helsing (2009)
- Joy Ride 3: Roadkill (2014)
- The Assignment (2016)
Movies for television with stunt performance credits
- Still Not Quite Human
- Omen IV: The Awakening
- My Son Johnny
- Blind Man's Bluff
- Brotherly Love
- Going for the Gold
- Betrayal of Trust
- General Alarm
- Sirens
- The Indestructible Man
- Perry Mason
- Force III
- It
- Deadly Intentions... Again?
- Barrington
- Christmas Comes to Willow Creek
- Gunsmoke: Return to Dodge
- Return of the Shaggy Dog
- Davy Crockett TV pilot
- Wiseguy TV pilot
- Stranger in My Bed
- Glory Days TV pilot
- Deadly Intentions
- Season of Fear
- A Mother's Justice
- Jumpin' Joe
- I Still Dream of Jeannie
- Diagnosis of Murder
- Love Binds
Personal life
His brother, Dave Kirzinger, played for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League from 1978 to 1986. His known friends are Brad Loree, another member of Stunts Canada who notably played horror icon Michael Myers in Halloween: Resurrection, Robert Englund, who co-starred with him in Freddy vs Jason as Freddy Krueger, and Kane Hodder, the actor who played Jason Voorhees before him. Even though Hodder will sometimes state his disappointment at not being chosen to play Jason for the fifth time in Freddy vs. Jason, he and Kirzinger are very good friends and Kirzinger stated they enjoy seeing each other at conventions.
References
- Crystal Lake Memories book: Page 283
- His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th
- "DÜSSELDORF-NEUSS, GERMANY - November 2nd 2019: Ken Kirzinger and Brad Loree at Weekend of Hell 2019 Image #14573854".
- "Horror Month: Interview with Ken Kirzinger (Freddy vs. Jason)". 15 June 2015.
- His Name Was Jason: 30 Years of Friday the 13th