GORDON PINSENT

'Gordon Edward Pinsent' CC, FRSC LL.D (born July 12, 1930) is a Canadian television, theatre and film actor.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Career

Personal life

Filmography

Television series

Television specials and movies

Movies

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Pinsent, the youngest of six children, was born in Grand Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada to Flossie Cooper and Stephen Arthur Pinsent, a papermill worker and cobbler.^[1] His mother was "quiet spoken" and a religious Anglican; the family was descended from immigrants from Kent and Devon in England.^[2] He was an "awkward child"^[3] who suffered from rickets. Pinsent began acting on stage in the 1940s at the age of 17. He soon took on roles in radio drama on the CBC, and later moved into television and film as well. In the early 1950s, he took a break from acting and joined the Canadian Army, serving for approximately four years as a Private in The Royal Canadian Regiment.

Career

During the early years of his career he appeared in ''Scarlett Hill'' but was best known for co-starring in the CBC children's series ''The Forest Rangers'' in the early 1960s. Later television roles have included the series ''Quentin Durgens, M.P.'', ''A Gift to Last'' (which he created), ''The Red Green Show'', ''Due South'', ''Wind at My Back'' and ''Power Play''. The pilot episode of ''A Gift to Last'' was adapted for the stage by Walter Learning and Alden Nowlan and has become a perennial Canadian Christmas favourite in regional theatres across the country.
Pinsent's movie roles have included ''Lydia'', ''The Rowdyman'', ''Who Has Seen the Wind'', ''John and the Missus'' and ''The Shipping News''. He wrote the screenplays for ''The Rowdyman'' and ''John and the Missus''.
In 1979 he was made an officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1998. In 2006, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.^[4] On March 6, 2007, it was announced that Pinsent would receive a star on Canada's Walk of Fame. On March 8, 2007, it was publicly announced in Toronto, Canada, that Pinsent had accepted the appointment of Honorary Chairman of the "Building for the Future"^[5] fundraising campaign for The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum.^[6]

Personal life

Pinsent married actress Charmion King in 1962, and they were married until her death in 2007; their daughter, Leah Pinsent, is a television actress. Gordon Pinsent also has two children from an earlier marriage. He published an autobiography, ''By the Way'', in 1992. He has also written a number of stage plays and television screenplays. In 1997 he won the Earl Grey Award.
On the evening of September 11, 2006, at the Toronto International Film Festival, Pinsent collapsed while attending an after party, celebrating the opening of ''Away from Her'', at Harry Rosen's on Bloor Street. He was conscious as he was transferred into an ambulance.^[7] He was diagnosed as dehydrated and stayed in the hospital overnight before returning home to rest.^[8]

Filmography

Television series

★ 1962-1964: ''Scarlett Hill''

★ 1963-1965: ''The Forest Rangers''

★ 1966-1969: ''Quentin Durgens, M.P.''

★ 1969: ''Adventures in Rainbow Country''

★ 1974: ''The Play's The Thing''

★ 1978-1979: ''A Gift to Last''

★ 1987: ''Babar''

★ 1991-2006: ''The Red Green Show''

★ 1994-1997: ''Due South''

★ 1996: ''Wind at My Back''

★ 1998: ''Made In Canada''

★ 1998-2000: ''Power Play''

Television specials and movies

★ 1969: ''Quarantined'' (TV movie)

★ 1972: ''Incident on a Dark Street''

★ 1979: ''The Suicide's Wife''

★ 1981: ''

★ 1982: ''The Life and Times of Edwin Alonzo Boyd''

★ 1984: ''A Case of Libel''

★ 1988: ''Two Men''

★ 1993: ''Bonds of Love''

★ 1993: ''In the Eyes of the Stranger''

★ 1995: ''A Vow to Kill''

★ 1996: ''A Holiday for Love''

★ 1999: ''Win, Again!''

★ 2000: ''Jewel On The Hill'' (narrator)

★ 2001: ''Blind Terror''

★ 2002: ''The New Beachcombers''

★ 2003: ''Fallen Angel (TV movie)''

★ 2003: ''Hemingway vs Callaghan''

★ 2004: ''H20: The Last Prime Minister''

★ 2006: ''Yours, Al''

Movies

★ 1964: ''Lydia''

★ 1968: ''The Thomas Crown Affair''

★ 1969: ''

★ 1972: ''Blacula''

★ 1972: ''Chandler''

★ 1972: ''The Rowdyman''

★ 1974: ''The Heatwave Lasted Four Days''

★ 1974: ''Newman's Law''

★ 1974: ''Only God Knows''

★ 1977: ''Who Has Seen The Wind''

★ 1980: ''Klondike Fever''

★ 1981: ''Silence of the North''

★ 1987: ''John and the Missus''

★ 1989: '' (voice)

★ 1990: ''Blood Clan''

★ 1997: ''Pale Saints''

★ 1997: ''Pippi Longstocking'' (voice)

★ 1999: ''The Old Man and the Sea'' (voice)

★ 2001: ''The Shipping News''

★ 2002: ''A Promise''

★ 2003: ''Nothing''

★ 2003: ''Snow on the Skeleton Key''

★ 2004: ''The Good Shepherd''

★ 2004: ''Saint Ralph''

★ 2006: ''Away from Her''

References

1. http://www.redgreen.com/index.cfm?app=cart&a=view_cast&castID=11
2. http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5255
3. http://72.14.205.104/search?q=cache:Xbi9b2qWqOAJ:www.filmreferencelibrary.ca/index.asp%3Flayid%3D46%26csid1%3D836%26navid%3D46+%22Gordon+Pinsent%22+awkward+child&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=ca
4. http://www.rsc.ca/files/media/newfellows/new_fellows_2006_citations.pdf
5. http://thercr.ca/campaign/capital_campaign.htm
6. http://thercr.ca/thercrmuseum/thercrmuseum.htm
7. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060911/gordon_pinsent_060911/20060912?s_name=tiff2006&no_ads=
8. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060912/gordon_pinsent_060912/20060912?s_name=tiff2006&no_ads=

External links

★ Canadian Film Encyclopedia [A publication of The Film Reference Library/a division of the Toronto International Film Festival Group]

★

★ Northern Stars: Gordon Pinsent