Erica Durance is an acclaimed Canadian producer and actress, widely known for her appearances in the action fiction series “Smallville”, and the supernatural medical drama show, “Saving Hope.”
Age, Early Life, and Education Background
Erica Durance hails from Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and was born under the Gemini zodiac sign on 21 June 1978, which makes her 44 years old as of 2022. Her parents are a truck driver named Joel Durance ,and a librarian Gail Durance; she was raised on a turkey farm alongside her sister and older brother in Three Hills, Alberta. The “Smallville” starlet developed an interest in singing when she was young, and is trained in classical music. She was also interested in acting, and made regular appearances in many church plays as a child.
Durance attended a local high school before relocating to Vancouver after matriculating, where she received acting training at the Yaletown Actors Studio under her husband-to-be, David Palffy.
Hobbies and Interesting facts
Erica has been described as one of the sexiest Canadian women; FHM Magazine ranked her at position 38 in their list of the World’s 100 Sexiest Women in 2006. She was also ranked as one of the sexiest/hottest women by Hello! Magazine, BuddyTV, and Entertainment Weekly. Moreover, she came in at No. 97 in the list of AskMen.com’s “Top 99 Most Desirable Women.”
She is big on charity, and supports WorldVisionCanada with her generous donations. She previously co-hosted the Batman/Superman Art Auction alongside Jeph Loeb and donated all her profits to the co-host, who had lost his 17-year-old son, Sam, to cancer – the art auction raised almost $70,000.
Durance is also physically active, and hits the gym at least five times a week, and she does other exercises such as weightlifting, cardio, and yoga.
She is an avid book reader, and her favorites are “Harry Potter” novel series.
Career
Film Appearances
Before she made her film debut in the Canadian horror “The Untold” in 2002, Erica appeared in many TV commercials. She landed the role of Johanna in the action horror “House of the Dead” in 2003, and was credited as Erica Parker. 2006 saw her portraying Julie in the John R Leonetti-directed sci-fi “Butterfly Effect 2.” She then featured in several short films, before appearing in the 2012 comedy “Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie,” which starred Eric Wareheim, Tim Heidecker, and Will Ferrel.
TV Appearances and Other Works
Durance made her TV debut in an episode of the American fiction drama “The Lone Gunmen” in 2001. 2004 was a somewhat hectic year, as she appeared in single episodes of five TV series, including “Stargate SG-1” and “The Collector.”
She made her career breakthrough in the same year, when she was cast as Lois Lane in Miles Miller and Alfred Gough’s action fiction, “Smallville,” which aired for 10 seasons from 2001 to 2011. The series starred Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk, and Michael Rosenbaum. Durance then focused on making TV film appearances, until in 2012, she was selected to portray Annie Bilson in an episode of the legal drama “Harry’s Law.”
Between 2012 to 2017, Durance was Dr. Alex Reid in all 85 episodes of the Canadian Screen Award-winning drama “Saving Hope.” The show aired for five seasons on NBC and CTV Television Network and she appeared alongside Daniel Gillies, Julia Chan and Michael Shanks.
Her next big role was in The CW and CBS supernatural series, “Supergirl,” in which she played Alura Zor-El in 10 episodes from 2017 to 2019. Her recent roles have been in the superhero series “Batwoman” in 2019, and the Canadian comedy “Private Eyes” in the following year.
Erica made her directing debut in the episode “Torn and Frayed” of the fourth season of “Saving Hope” in 2016, and she also produced 75 episodes of the series from 2012 to 2017.
Award Nominations
Durance has received eight award nominations, for the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films Award, U.S.A., (2005, 2006, 2011) for her role in “Smallville.” She received two Canadian Screen Awards for her role in “Saving Hope” in 2013 and 2017, moreover, she has received Gemini, Leo, and Teen Choice award nominations for her roles in “Smallville” and “Saving Hope.”
Personal Life
Erica has been married twice – she first walked the aisle with Wesley Parker in mid-1996, but they called it quits after spending three years together. They didn’t have children together, and very little is known about her ex-husband’s personal life.
Erica tied the knot with the nine-years-older Welsh-Hungarian Canadian writer, director and actor David Palffy Sr. on 8 January 2008. David is famous for his roles as Sokar and Anubis in the sci-fi series “Stargate SG-1,” from 1997 to 2007 – the Leo and Gemini award-winning show is an adaptation of the 1994 film “Stargate.” It aired on SHOWTIME and Syfy, and has spawned several spin-off shows including “Stargate Universe” and “Stargate Atlantis.” The couple had known each other for many years before they married. Erica is the stepmother of David Jr. from her husband’s previous marriage – he was born in 1999 and is now 23 years old. The couple welcomed their first child, a boy named Lochlan William Palffy, on 10 February 2015. On 7 December 2016, the duo was blessed with another son, Liam Jeffrey Palffy. She now balances her work life with raising her children, and is thankful to her husband for being supportive of his family. She resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, together with her family.
Height, Weight, and Physical Appearance
Erica is of Caucasian ethnicity and has long light brown hair and a set of brown eyes. She is 5ft 7ins (1.70m) tall, weighs approximately 125lbs (56kgs), and her vital statistics are 34-24-35.
Net Worth
Erica began her career almost two decades ago, and has amassed a modest fortune while making a name for herself in the showbiz industry. She is reportedly worth about $4.5 million, as of 2022. On the other hand, her husband is worth close to $1 million.
