Famous Canadians

That posting I did yesterday got me thinking of how Canadians are perceived in the world. Over here almost no one knows which famous stars (sounds redundant, but try to think of those 2 words independently) are Canadian. When I tell Koreans that Mike Myers or Jim Carrey is Canadian most Koreans are surprised and a little incredulous. What? A Canadian? Yup. Some turn in their passports and become American, but many actors continue their Canadian citizenship as a form of patriotism (believe me it's not for the taxes...although it might be for the healthcare system we have Up There).

Here's a list that I just rattled off in my head thinking about this: Nickleback, Shania Twain, Pamela Anderson, Jason Priestly, Leslie Nielson, Mike Myers, Jim Carrey, Bryan Adams, John Candy, Avril Lavigne, Caroline Rhea, Celine Dion (story on her hubby), Alex Trebek, Monty Hall (who lived down the street from my mom's mom), Dan Ackroyd, Lorne Greene, Eric McCormack (Will & Grace), Superman, Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, William Shatner, Anne Murray, Alanis Morissette, kd lang, Raymond Burr (who was born in the same city as my sons), Michael J. Fox (I used to live near his Burnaby home and the theatre named in his honour), Terry Fox (the amputee who attempted to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research and my university, which he attended, has a field named after him)...the list goes on.

There's a few lists here, here, here and here.