Philip Akin (born April 18, 1950) is a Canadian actor who has been active for over thirty years in stage, film, and television. He has had featured roles in major American films such as The Sum of All Fears, S.W.A.T., and Get Rich or Die Tryin’. He has also done much voice work, including voicing the character of Bishop for the X-Men animated series and Tripp Hansen in Monster Force.
Akin was born in Kingston, Jamaica as a middle brother of five sons. His parents moved to Oshawa, Ontario in 1953, and he and his brothers followed suit the next year. He has lived there ever since. Shortly after attending high school, Akin attended Toronto’s Ryerson Theatre School. In 1975, he became the school’s first acting graduate, landing a role just a few days later in a Shaw Festival production of Caesar and Cleopatra.
In 1983, Akin began studying Yoshinkan Aikido and is presently a 5th degree black belt in that art. He has also trained in Jing Mo Kung Fu and T'ai chi ch'uan.
Akin first came to prominence in the early 1980s when he performed on the zany comedy series Bizarre. Other recognizable roles include computer expert Norton Drake from War of the Worlds, an American television series that went off the air in 1990. His recurring role as Charlie DeSalvo in Highlander: The Series has also brought him much recognition. In Shake Hands with the Devil, he portrays Kofi Annan, then United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations. In 2007, Akin will be performing at the Stratford Festival of Canada, a prestigious summer-long celebration of theatre held each year in Stratford, Ontario, Canada. He is cast in the title role of William Shakespeare’s Othello, and also in the role of Crooks in the Festival’s rendition of John Steinbeck’s novella Of Mice and Men. Phil Akin can also be seen in a long list of guest appearances on television series for example: F/X: The Series, Mutant X, and most recently, Flashpoint (2008).
I recall a friend of mine
With a tear in my eye
I stand here at the altar
He's out
I'm left with a problem now
I'm here on earth left with the pain
Look what you've done
You should have called
Flip a coin, flip a coin, flip a coin
Yeah heads I win, tails you loose
Flip a coin, flip a coin, flip a coin
Yeah heads I win, tails you loose
Sorry I couldn't help
Take it back
Sorry I didn't help
Well f... you, you could have called
What about us what about me
What about the years I spend pampering your ass
Running here running there
"Oh I'm so great, I'm so great,
I'm fine, I'm fine"
You lied
You promised to give your family a break
From your blows
Look at the sad faces you've left behind now
I let you down?
No you let me down
I got a family to feed
You got a little kid yourself
You know what I mean?
You were supposed to stay
No one gave you the right to take your life that way
Flip a coin, flip a coin, flip a coin
Yeah heads I win, tails you loose
Flip a coin, flip a coin, flip a coin
Yeah heads I win, tails you loose
Halle halle halle
Halle halle hallelujah
I feel hate, I feel pain
I feel cold I feel ashamed
Where's the father you should have been to your daughter?
Sad news, sad days
Where are you now?
Talk to me come on talk to me
I know you can hear me
Why brother why?
Flip a coin, flip a coin, flip a coin
Yeah heads I win, tails you loose
Flip a coin, flip a coin, flip a coin
Yeah heads I win, tails you loose
Halle halle halle
Halle halle hallelujah