Bio: PATRICK MCKENNA

For Patrick McKenna the making of A.D.D. & Loving It was a labour of love, and

a personal journey through a sometimes troubled childhood. When he first

signed on, he believed that his Attention Deficit Disorder was a gift. But as he

spoke with the top experts across North America he began to see that for most

people this syndrome sabotages lives and causes untold suffering. Working

with Dr. Umesh Jain at CAMH, Patrick also recognized for the first time the toll

that A.D.D. had taken on his family and himself.

With the support of his wife Janis, Patrick found the courage to talk openly

about something he had always tried to hide. In the process he gained a

deeper understanding and power around the challenges of A.D.D., and a new

appreciation of his own accomplishments. A fun project became a healing

process and a mission to get the truth out.

Born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario, McKenna honed his comic skills with

Second City troupes in Toronto and Vancouver, as well as by performing his

stand-up comedy routines throughout Canada and the United States.

Unlike many of Canada’s best and brightest, who head to Hollywood seeking

for fame and fortune, McKenna chose to focus his talents with the Canadian

entertainment industry. By the early 90’s, he had become one of the most

popular performers on Canadian television. He showcased his incredible

range, playing lead character two hit series, The Red Green Show (Harold

Green) and Traders (Marty Stephens). He became the first actor in Englishlanguage

TV to win for both the Best Performance in a Comedy Series and

Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Dramatic Series in the same year.

As well as numerous live appearances and stand up comedy gigs, McKenna

appeared in Elvis Meets Nixon, Everything to Gain, The Store, and the miniseries

Trudeau. He has also guest starred in Outer Limits, Blue Murder, The

Associates, Psi Factor, Due South, Made in Canada, The Royal Canadian Air

Farce, History Bites and Black Fly.

McKenna currently lives near Georgian Bay with his wife, Janis.