Les Stroud

Les Stroud is a Canadian survivalist, who appears in the kids' reality show Survive This, as well as his own show, Survivorman. He is a modern day renaissance man, with a variety of talents in addition to his vast survival training and experience.

Les Stroud

Les Stroud was born on October 20, 1961, in the small town of Mimico, Ontario, Canada, where he grew up and attended school. During his childhood he spent hours outdoors, fishing and building shelters in the backyard. He spent his TV time watching nature documentaries.

After graduating high school, he enrolled at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, where he completed the Music Industry Arts program.

Upon graduation, Stroud found employment in Toronto with Much Music, the Canadian equivalent of MTV, and moonlighted as a garbage collector. At this time, he was also part of a band called New Regime, playing lead guitar, and he became a talented song writer. Through his job as an associate producer with Much Music, Stroud had the opportunity to assist with the filming and production of music videos for well-known Canadian artists such as Corey Hart and Rush.

Stroud was also a member of a David Bowie tribute band called Diamond Dogs.

While Stroud had always had an affinity for the great outdoors, a wilderness canoe trip through Ontario's Temagami region sparked a desire for something new. In 1990, Stroud began leading canoeists through the Northern Ontario wilderness as a guide for Black Feather Wilderness Adventures.

After studying survival training with a number of experts, Stroud and his wife, photographer Sue Jamison, spent a year in Northern Ontario living as if they were settlers there from hundreds of years ago. They had no modern conveniences at all and simply lived off the land. With frigid temperatures and scarce food, this year-long experiment taught them both a great deal about surviving in the outdoors. The footage they gathered from their trip was turned into an hour-long documentary called Snowshoes and Solitude.

After spending time in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories as an outdoor instructor, Les Stroud and his wife returned to Ontario where they set up home and business in Huntsville. They opened two businesses: Wilderness Voice, focusing on survival training, and Wilderness Spirit Productions, dealing with media.

In 2001, Stroud approached the Discovery Canada network with an idea for a real-life reality program based on the concept of Survivor. Two documentaries followed, entitled One Week in the Wilderness, and Winter in the Wilderness.

The specials were well received by viewers, and Discovery Canada soon commissioned Survivorman. In this weekly documentary-style reality show, Les Stroud is left completely alone in various locations and has to survive on his own. He is the sole cameraman, filming himself as he struggles and succeeds through a number of different survival situations.

Survivorman is unique in that Stroud himself wrote the original theme song, films the episodes, and edits them for airing. He is credited as everything from the director to producer to the star of the show.

Survivorman lasted for three seasons before Les Stroud decided to call it quits, citing the toll it was taking on his health and his family.

Survive This is a reality show for teens, which originally aired on YTV in Canada, and was quickly picked up by the Cartoon Network in the U.S. The show puts teens in the same sort of survival situation that Les Stroud encountered on Survivorman.

Stroud serves as host and narrator of Survive This, and he appears in each episode to check on the participants, evaluate their health, and offer assistance when needed.

Even with all of his television projects going on, Les Stroud still finds time to devote to his original career, music. He is an accomplished blues harmonica player, and has released a self-titled album that has won several awards in Canada.

In 2005, Stroud teamed up with the band The Northern Pikes. Calling themselves Les Stroud and the Pikes, the group toured locally and eventually released a CD called Long Walk Home.

To learn more about Les Stroud and hear samples of his music, visit his official website at LesStroud.ca.

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