Roark Critchlow

Roark Critchlow
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Portrays:	Dreilide Thrace (a.k.a. "Slick")
Date of Birth:	May 11, 1963
Date of Death:	Missing required parameter 1=month!
Age:	63
Nationality:	CAN
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		@ BW Media
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IMDb profile

Roark Critchlow (born May 11, 1963, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada) is a Canadian actor who portrays Dreilide Thrace (a.k.a. Slick) in the Season 4 episodes "Deadlock" and "Someone to Watch Over Me" of the Re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. He grew up in Summerland, British Columbia, where he attended high school. He is best known for his long-running portrayal of Dr. Mike Horton on the American daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives and for his recurring role as Tom Marin on Pretty Little Liars.

Career

Critchlow studied theatre acting at the University of Victoria from 1983 to 1985, performing at the university's Phoenix Theatre in productions including The Glass Menagerie and Zastrozzi. Following graduation, he spent two years working in professional theatre before moving to Vancouver as the city's television production industry began to expand, working there for a further three years before relocating to Los Angeles in 1990.

Days of Our Lives

In 1994, Critchlow was cast as Dr. Michael "Mike" Horton on Days of Our Lives, the son of Bill Horton and Laura Spencer, and remained on the show as a contract player until 1999. During his tenure, he played a central figure in several high-profile storylines, including one in which Mike was tasked with keeping Marlena Evans's body alive while John Black attempted to save her soul during her possession by the Devil — an experience Critchlow later described as unlike anything an actor encounters in the ordinary course of a television career. He appeared on the cover of Soap Opera Digest in its August 16, 1994 issue.

After departing the show in 1999, Critchlow returned briefly in June 2010 for episodes honoring the memory of Frances Reid, who had played Alice Horton for over four decades. He returned to the role a third time on October 4, 2022, after a twelve-year absence, sharing scenes with Bill and Susan Seaforth Hayes as well as Cady McClain and Matthew Ashford. Speaking to Soap Opera Digest about the experience of returning to a long-established character, Critchlow described it as an unexpected pleasure each time it occurred.

Other television work

Outside of his soap opera work, Critchlow built a substantial body of credits in prime-time television and genre productions. He appeared as Jason Talbott, a character killed by Xavier St. Cloud, in the Highlander: The Series Season 2 episode "Unholy Alliance, Part 1" (1994). He made a guest appearance in Charmed as Robert Pike, a man embodying the deadly sin of greed, in the Season 3 episode "Sin Francisco" (2001). He subsequently appeared in episodes of Entourage (2005), Malcolm in the Middle (2006), and CSI: Miami (2007).

From 2009 to 2011, Critchlow had a recurring role on the ABC science fiction series V as Assistant Director Paul Kendrick, Erica Evans's FBI superior. From 2010 to 2013, he portrayed Tom Marin — the father of Hanna Marin — in a recurring capacity on Pretty Little Liars on ABC Family. He appeared in a guest role in Supernatural in 2014 and had a recurring role in the ABC drama Alaska Daily (2022–2023), starring opposite Hilary Swank, playing a district attorney in a story centered on missing and murdered Indigenous women.

In film, Critchlow appeared in the Adam Sandler comedy Mr. Deeds (2002) and in the Batman: Year One animated feature (2011). He portrayed General McGrath in the Disney science fiction sequel Tron: Ares, directed by Joachim Rønning, released in 2025.

Battlestar Galactica

Critchlow portrays Dreilide Thrace, known by the nickname "Slick," in the Season 4 episodes "Deadlock" and "Someone to Watch Over Me" of the Re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. The character — the long-absent father of Kara "Starbuck" Thrace and a pianist of extraordinary ability — appears to Starbuck in Joe's Bar aboard Galactica, helping her reconstruct a melody from her childhood that ultimately proves to be one of the keys to the fleet's survival. Critchlow later described the role as one of the highlights of his career, noting that it required him to play the piano on camera, drawing on his own musicianship.

The casting of a genuine pianist was a deliberate production requirement for the episode. Series composer Bear McCreary, who was involved in the episode from its earliest drafts and was himself considered for the role, noted that writer Bradley Thompson described the central challenge of the episode as making the piano performances happen genuinely in front of the camera rather than relying on a musical double, meaning the actor had to be both performer and musician simultaneously, learning McCreary's compositions shortly before cameras rolled. McCreary reported that Critchlow proved to be an excellent sight-reader, requiring no assistance in learning the parts. As filming progressed across the week, McCreary observed that the performances between Critchlow and Katee Sackhoff developed considerably with each passing day under director Michael Nankin's guidance.

Critical reception of the episode highlighted both performers. IGN reviewer Eric Goldman praised the strong performances given by Sackhoff and Critchlow in the episode's principal storyline, while Jammer's Reviews noted the evident authenticity of the piano performances, observing that it was clear to viewers that the actors were genuinely playing the instrument during each take.

Personal life

Critchlow was named after Howard Roark, the protagonist of Ayn Rand's novel The Fountainhead. He was married to actress and producer Maria Brewer in 1990; they co-starred in the independently produced film Making It Home (1998) and collaborated on two internet series together. They have three children and divorced in 2006.

In 2013, Critchlow relocated back to Canada, working in Toronto and Vancouver over the following five years before settling in Summerland, British Columbia, where he grew up. He describes himself as a serial artist with interests extending to music, poetry, dance, sketching, and writing, and has completed eight feature film screenplays. In 2024, he became Department Head of the Acting for Film & Television program at the College for Arts and Technology in Kelowna, British Columbia, where he oversees curriculum and teaches aspiring professional actors.

References