You know his face, even if you can't always remember his name.

He's Jim Walcott, the sublimely witless anchorman on The Newsroom . He was Alan Roy, the ferociously vain production executive on Made in Canada . And he was Ranger Gord, the desperately lonesome fire warden on The Red Green Show who manned his watchtower for 16 years straight without a vacation or more than five minutes sleep.

Versatile actor Peter Keleghan has been called “the funniest man in Canadian television.” But as this Gemini Award winner reveals to VisionTV's signature series Credo , he is as far from his outrageous comic characters as it's possible to imagine. Thoughtful and introspective, he professes a passionate belief in “the ultimate power of human creativity” – definitely not a line you'd expect to hear from Ranger Gord.

Keleghan is the featured guest on the Monday, Oct. 11 edition of Credo , airing at 10:30 p.m. ET . Now in its third season, this intimate interview series invites famous Canadians to talk about life-changing experiences and the beliefs that sustained them through these times.

Raised in St-Bruno, Que., Keleghan grew up Catholic and served mass every day. His mother's family took this as a sign of piety and began planning a future for him in the priesthood. They were scandalized when young Peter decided this was not his calling after all. “There were much more interesting things out there – like girls,” he says.

In high school, Keleghan took acting classes in the hope of conquering his intense shyness. From there, he studied classical theatre in London and Toronto, and went on to become a member of The Second City and the Stratford Music and Shaw festivals.

By the late 1980s he had teamed up with Steve Smith to co-write and star in the award-winning syndicated series The Comedy Mill . He also served time in Hollywood during the 1990s, appearing on shows such as Seinfeld , Cheers , Murphy Brown and General Hospital .

As a fledgling actor, Keleghan went “through hell and back” learning to cope with the rejection that forms a large part of the job. With experience – and the help of a therapist – he has come to accept that “there are always winners and losers in any game. No matter what, you have to move on from mistakes and learn from them.”

For a guy who specializes in reducing others to fits of laughter, Keleghan goes about his daily life with remarkable seriousness. He believes, he says, in the importance of truthfulness and positive energy.