Gordon Pinsent

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Gordon Pinsent

Born July 12, 1930 (1930-07-12) (age 77)
Grand Falls, Newfoundland and Labrador
Years active 1962 - 2006
Spouse(s) Charmion King (1962-2007)

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

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Early life

Gordon Edward Pinsent, the youngest of six children, was born in Grand Falls-Windsor, Newfoundland and Labrador 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][3] He was an "awkward child"[3] who suffered from rickets.[2]

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.

[edit] 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 The Shipping News and Away from Her. He wrote the screenplays for The Rowdyman and John and the Missus. Perhaps his best known early film role was that of the President of the United States in the 1966 science fiction cult classic Colossus: The Forbin Project. He starred in a role called Horse Latitudes based upon Donald Crowhurst, now featured in Deep Water

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]

[edit] Personal life

Pinsent married actress Charmion King in 1962, and they were married until her death on January 6, 2007 from emphysema; their daughter, Leah Pinsent, is an actress. Pinsent also has two children from an earlier marriage.

His autobiography, By the Way, was published in 1992. He has also written a number of stage plays and television screenplays. In 1997 he won the Earl Grey Award.

[edit] Health

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]

[edit] Awards

Gordon Pinsent received an LL.D from the University of Prince Edward Island in 1975, and Honorary doctorates from Queen's University and the Memorial University of Newfoundland.

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Television series

[edit] Television specials and movies

  • 1969: Quarantined (TV movie)
  • 1972: Incident on a Dark Street
  • 1979: The Suicide's Wife
  • 1981: Escape from Iran: The Canadian Caper
  • 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

[edit] Movies

[edit] References

  1. ^ Gordon Pinsent is Hap Shaughnessy
  2. ^ a b Literary Encyclopedia: Gordon Pinsent
  3. ^ a b 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. ^ Rsc Src
  5. ^ The RCR Museum Capital Campaign
  6. ^ The RCR Museum
  7. ^ "Actor Gordon Pinsent collapses at TIFF party", CTV Television Network, 11 September 2006. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 
  8. ^ "Pinsent 'fine' after collapse at TIFF party", CTV Television Network, 12 September 2006. Retrieved on 2008-03-06. 

[edit] External links

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