Jonathan Wilson (born October 19, 1963) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

actor, comedian and playwright, who is best known for his 1996 play '' My Own Private Oshawa''. The play, a semi-autobiographical comedy about growing up

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

Oshawa Oshawa is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the Greater Toronto Area and of the Golden Horseshoe. It ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

,"SFA Productions has its Own Private feature"
'' Playback'', October 5, 1998. was also optioned by Sandra Faire's SFA Productions for production as a film, which won an award at the

Columbus International Film & Video Festival The Columbus International Film + Animation Festival is a Columbus, Ohio, United States annual film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually ann ...

in 2002 until being broadcast as a

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

on CTV in 2005.

Career

Wilson was a member of

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

's Toronto cast in the early 1990s. He later collaborated with fellow Second City alumni

Kathy Greenwood Kathryn Greenwood (born March 21, 1962) is a Canadian actress and comedian. She appeared on the American version of ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' numerous times, and played Grace Bailey on the Canadian television drama series '' Wind at My Back ...

and Ed Sahely on the stage show ''Not to Be Repeated'', in which the three performed a two-act

improvisational Improvisation, often shortened to improv, is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. The origin of the word itself is in the Latin "improvisus", which literally means un-foreseen. Improvis ...

narrative comedy play in each performance. The show was also later developed into a short-run television series, '' This Sitcom Is...Not to Be Repeated'', for

The Comedy Network CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy) is a Canadian English-language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. subsidiary Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming and operates two time-shifted feeds, runni ...

in 2001."Not your average funny Canuck". ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'', June 3, 2001. In 1998, he appeared on the LGBT-themed sketch comedy special '' In Thru the Out Door'' for

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

and the United States Showtime.Alan Conter, "Show tackles sex, gender full-tilt: Born at Just for Laughs, CBC's In Thru the Out Door brings gay comedy to the small screen". ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', June 20, 1998. In animation, Wilson's other acting credits include voice roles in ''

Ned's Newt ''Ned's Newt'' is an animated television series created by Andy Knight and Mike Burgess and co-produced by Nelvana and German company TV-Loonland AG, TMO Film GmbH (later renamed as "TMO-Loonland Film GmbH" in seasons 2–3) in conjunction with ...

'', ''

Blaster's Universe ''Blaster's Universe'' is an animated children's television series, made by Nelvana and Hong Guang Animation, that ran for one season from September 1999 on CBS and in 2000 on Teletoon. It is based on Knowledge Adventure's '' Blaster Learning ...

'', ''

Mia and Me ''Mia and Me'' is a German-Italian-Canadian live action/animated hybrid children's television series created by Gerhard Hahn. In the United States, it aired on Nickelodeon's Nick Jr. Channel from May 3, 2014, to December 25, 2016. The show mixes ...

'', '' Little Bear'', '' Redwall'', '' Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs'', ''

Totally Spies! ''Totally Spies!'' is a French anime-influenced animated spy-fi series created by Vincent Chalvon-Demersay and David Michel mainly produced by French company Zodiak Kids & Family France, with seasons three to five being co-produced with Cana ...

'', ''

Skatoony ''Skatoony'' (stylized as ''SkatoonY'') is a children's live-action animated game show, pitting live-action children against cartoon characters. The series was co-produced by Talent TV and FremantleMedia Animation (for the British version), Bli ...

'', '' Freaky Stories'', ''

Camp Lakebottom ''Camp Lakebottom'' is a Canadian animated television series produced by 9 Story Media Group that premiered on Teletoon in Canada on July 4, 2013 and on Disney XD in the U.S. on July 13, 2013. The show airs on Disney Channels worldwide (except ...

'', ''

Yin Yang Yo! ''Yin Yang Yo!'' is an animated television series created by Bob Boyle for Jetix. Produced by Walt Disney Television Animation as the third Jetix original series, it first aired on August 26, 2006, as a sneak peek and premiered on September 4, ...

'', '' Get Ed'', ''

BeyWheelz ''BeyWheelz'' is an anime series, a spin-off of the series ''Beyblade''. While produced in Japan, the series has yet to be aired in Japanese. Originally commissioned by Nelvana to make up for '' Beyblade: Metal Fury's'' sh ...

'', '' Iggy Arbuckle'', and '' Miss Spider's Sunny Patch Friends''. In live-action, recurring roles in '' Traders'', '' The Endless Grind'', '' Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye'' and ''

This Is Wonderland ''This Is Wonderland'' is a Canadian legal comedy-drama television series that premiered on CBC on January 12, 2004. The series was created by George F. Walker, Dani Romain, and Bernard Zukerman. The second season premiered on January 25, 2005 ...

'', film roles in ''

House A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

'', ''

Saint Ralph ''Saint Ralph'' is a 2004 Canadian comedy-drama film written and directed by Michael McGowan. Its central character is a teenage boy who trains for the in the hope a victory will be the miracle his mother needs to awaken from a coma. The film ...

'', '' New York Minute'', '' PCU'', ''Rubber Carpet'' and '' Brain Candy'', commercials such as ''

Rice Krispies Rice Krispies (known as Rice Bubbles in Australia and New Zealand) is a breakfast cereal produced by WK Kellogg Co for the United States, Canadian, and Caribbean markets and by Kellanova for the rest of the world. Rice Krispies are made of ...

'', and stage productions of ''

The Laramie Project ''The Laramie Project'' is a 2000 American play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project (specifically, Leigh Fondakowski, writer-director; Stephen Belber, Greg Pierotti, Barbara Pitts, Stephen Wangh, Amanda Gronich, Sar ...

'', ''

The Normal Heart ''The Normal Heart'' is a largely autobiographical play by Larry Kramer. It focuses on the rise of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York City between 1981 and 1984, as seen through the eyes of writer/activist Ned Weeks, the gay founder of a promi ...

'' and Disney's ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...

''. He won a

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Awards (also known as the Dora Awards or the Doras) are awards presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), honouring theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moor ...

for Outstanding Performance in a Featured Role - Play or Musical for his performance as Timon in

. In 2022, Wilson and Daniel Krolik starred in the

Toronto Fringe Festival The Toronto Fringe Festival is an annual theatre festival, featuring un-juried plays by unknown or well-known artists, taking place in the theatres of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Several productions originally mounted at the Fringe have later been ...

play ''Gay for Pay with Blake and Clay'', which was written by Krolik and Curtis Campbell. They returned to the 2023 Fringe Festival with the sequel show ''Blake and Clay's Gay Agenda''. In 2025 he premiered the autobiographical show ''A Public Display of Affection''.Joshua Chong
"A forgotten slice of Toronto LGBTQ history is brought to life in solo show ‘A Public Display of Affection’"
''

'', March 31, 2025.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Jonathan 1963 births 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 20th-century Canadian male actors 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian gay actors Canadian gay writers Canadian LGBTQ comedians Canadian LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian male film actors Canadian male musical theatre actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian sketch comedians Canadian television personalities Comedians from Ontario Dora Mavor Moore Award winners Gay comedians Gay dramatists and playwrights Living people Male actors from Oshawa