CANADA (CelebrityAccess) – Gordon Pinsent, one of Canada’s most iconic actors passed away Saturday (February 25) at his home. His death was confirmed via a statement released by his son-in-law, actor Peter Keleghan. “Gordon Pinsent’s daughters Leah and Beverly, and his son Barry would like to announce the passing of their father peacefully in sleep today with his family at his side. “Gordon passionately loved his country and its people, purpose, and culture to his last breath.” He was 92.
CelebrityAccess Senior Writer Larry LeBlanc said, “I am saddened by the death of one of the greatest actors Canada has produced. As the voice of Babar, I knew him slightly. We met up in a bookstore in St. John’s Newfoundland and he did a wonderful video as Babar for my daughter. It was off-the-cuff brilliant. His film, The Rowdyman from 1972, which he wrote and starred in is the best Canadian film ever.”
The Canadian household name had a long, successful acting career appearing in dozens of films and TV projects over 60 years, including Due South, The Shipping News, Quentin Durgens, M.P., Republic of Doyle, The Grand Seduction, and Babar and the Adventures of Badou, among many others. Pinsent, also an actor and writer amassed over 150 TV and movie credits during his lifetime.
Pinsent was born in July 1930 as the youngest of six children born to Stephen Pinsent, a cobbler and paper mill worker and Flossie Cooper, a servant girl turned homemaker. Pinsent lost his father at the age of 10. The youngest of six suffered from rickets, didn’t walk until he was five, and started school a year late, reports Theglobeandmail.com. After leaving home at 15 to live with his sister in Grand Falls, then leaving again at 18 only to land in Toronto, ending with a stint in the Royal Canadian Regiment (Army) for 3 years, he began acting upon his discharge in 1951.
After numerous theatre roles with the Manitoba Theatre Centre, marrying and divorcing his first wife Irene Reid, fathering two children, working for the CBC, and marrying wife No. 2 actress Charmion King, he and King left for the light of Los Angeles. Pinsent stayed in the City of Angels for six years where Pinsent starred as a US President in Colussus: The Forbin Project and had guest appearances on TV shows and films. However, the CBC was calling with offers and they both returned to Canada.
Pinsent and King had a daughter, also an actress, but in 2007 King succumbed to emphysema. Pinsent credits his daughter Leah and her husband, actor Peter Keleghan with keeping him going during that time of grieving her loss.
Pinsent was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1979, promoted to Companion in 1998, and was honored with a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2007. He’s won every major acting prize in the country, including the Genie for Best Actor for 2001’s The Shipping News and again in 2006 for his work in Sarah Polley’s Away From Her. He also won two ACTRA Awards, five GEMINI Awards, and a DORA Award.
Pinsent was also a painter, playwright, director, and author.
Tributes have poured in since the industry heard the news of his death.
Canadian filmmaker Sarah Polley said Pinsent had “an enormous capacity for joy in absolutely everything he did. It was infectious and educational,” she said via Twitter. “There wasn’t a moment without a twinkle of mischief and a determination to enjoy the moment.”
Comedian Rick Mercer said Pinsent was a “true renaissance man,” saying he was the “epitome of class and one hell of a funny guy.”
Ctvnews.ca reports that Jonathan Torrens of Trailer Park Boys and Street Cents fame recounted a story from the filming of The Shipping News, a major Hollywood production starring Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore, and Cate Blanchett.
When the film was being shot in Newfoundland, “so the story goes, Kevin Spacey arrived in town with several security guards in tow,” he said on Twitter.
“If you’ve ever been to Newfoundland, you would know that the people there wouldn’t care who he was,” Torrens said. “They would care more about what he was.” Most of the guards were sent home, and eventually, a barricade set up to keep “curious people away” was taken down, he said.
He is survived by his children, Beverly, Barry, and Leah and her husband, Peter Keleghan.
RIP.
