Life and career
Born July 30, 1975, in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Reardon studied Theatre Arts at the Lir Academy of Dramatic Arts in Dublin, Ireland as well as improv at The Second City in Los Angeles, California, and Toronto, Ontario. While at Mount Allison University, Reardon considered pursuing a career in medicine, but growing up, his dream was to become a professional athlete. He attended Mount Allison from 1993 to 1997, graduating with a B.S. degree in biology.
He started acting in 2001 and has appeared in several TV shows and movies, such as Tru Calling as Randall Thompson, White Chicks as Heath, Scary Movie 4 as Jeremiah and Merlin's Apprentice as Jack. From 2012 to 2014, he had roles on both CBC's Arctic Air and Showcase's Continuum.
On Arctic Air, John Reardon portrayed Blake Laviolette, a young, good-looking "Top Gun-type" pilot who was secretly involved with his coworker and fellow pilot Krista Ivarson. According to Reardon, his character is "a fascinating duality because Blake is a bit of a cocky hotshot pilot who, I think, just found himself in the north and Yellowknife as a bit of a stepping stone to moving to what he probably considered his dream job. However, once he gets there, he starts to realize that there’s something about that part of the country that gets to people. In fact, it starts to get to him and he begins to fall in love with the north, followed by Krista (Pascale Hutton). The priorities he had before all this end up changing and Blake becomes almost a prouder Yellowknifer than anyone else." [2]
On Continuum Reardon played Greg Cameron, the husband of the main character, Kiera Cameron. According to Reardon, "Greg on the surface appears to be a clean-cut family man who is a respectable law-abiding member of society. The memory of Greg, along with their son Sam, is an anchor for Kiera when she is transported back in time and taken away from her family. However, as season one progresses, it appears that Greg may not be what he seems." [3]
For the seven seasons that aired from 2019-2025, Reardon co-starred in Hudson & Rex with Diesel vom Burgimwald and several of the German Shepherd dog's relatives in the title roles of the Canadian hit series. They continued to film during the Covid-19 pandemic under the safety guidelines of the province. The show is a remake of the European hit series Inspector Rex that aired for two decades. Charlie Hudson is a recently divorced detective in the fictional St. John's Police Department. The real St. John's is in Newfoundland and Labrador. Rex is a police dog (law enforcement animal, K-9) whose human K-9 officer partner was killed as they chased a suspect. Hudson was the only one at the scene who was able to convince Rex to step away from his partner's body and get into a van. The two formed an unbreakable bond as they began to work cases together as partners. About their close partnership, Reardon said, "Charlie’s looking for some companionship since he’s on his own. Rex fills that void for him and they work really well together." [4] Reardon continued in the role and acted as an executive producer on the show from season 4 until midway through season 7. Unfortunately, he had tonsil cancer and had to take a leave of absence for treatment. During his recovery, the Hudson & Rex production cast Luke Roberts in the role of the character named "Detective Mark" with no last name given. Detective Mark is not Charlie's brother, and is not in the Major Crimes Division of the St. John's Police Department. Reardon, Diesel and Diesel's stunt doubles were in all of six seasons. Diesel was in two episodes of season 7 before he died. For the rest of season 7, Reardon appeared in episodes by phone where Hudson calls from South America where he is searching for his lost brother. After Reardon’s recovery, they decided to keep Roberts as Det. Mark, effectively ending Reardon’s employment on the show. The role of forensic scientist Dr. Sarah Truong has expanded to give her more police duties outside. Rex has always been played by several dogs who are related to each other. They will continue to play Rex. Diesel's cousin and nephews took the leading role in season 7 episode 3 after the death of the leading star, Diesel vom Burgimwald in August 2024. Reardon and Diesel had a special bond, and Diesel's relatives had done the action stunts as Rex in entire series. Dylan, Dante and Dreamer will play Rex in seasons 7 and 8. The screen time for Charlie was reduced to phone calls during Reardon's cancer treatment in season 7. His return in season 8 has been anti-climatic because his role was reduced and the actor appears to have been fired. It is unknown if he was fired because of his health. His wife, Meghan Ory appeared on several episodes of Hudson & Rex, playing the supervisor of Hudson's boss. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27]
