Lorne Cardinal (born 6 January 1964) is a

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

-winning Canadian stage, television and film actor, and stage and TV director. He is best known for portraying Sergeant Davis Quinton on the comedy series ''

Corner Gas ''Corner Gas'' is a Canadian television sitcom created by Brent Butt. The series ran for six seasons from 2004 to 2009. Reruns still air on CTV, CTV2, CTV Comedy Channel, Much, E! and are streaming on Crave and Amazon Prime. The series ...

''.

Early life

Cardinal is of

Cree The Cree, or nehinaw (, ), are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people, numbering more than 350,000 in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada, First Nations. They live prim ...

descent, and was born near

High Prairie, Alberta High Prairie is a town in northern Alberta, Canada within Big Lakes County. It is located at the junction of Highway 2 and Highway 749, approximately northeast of Valleyview and west of Slave Lake. History The name describes the nature ...

on a

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US v ...

of the

Sucker Creek First Nation Sucker Creek First Nation () is a Cree First Nations band government whose reserve community is located along the southwestern shore of Lesser Slave Lake near Enilda, Alberta. It is a Treaty 8 Treaty 8, which concluded with the June 21, 18 ...

. His parents were survivors of the

residential school system The Canadian Indian residential school system was a network of boarding schools for Indigenous peoples. The network was funded by the Canadian government's Department of Indian Affairs and administered by various Christian churches. The scho ...

. He obtained a B.F.A. degree in acting from the

University of Alberta The University of Alberta (also known as U of A or UAlberta, ) is a public research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford, the first premier of Alberta, and Henry Marshall Tory, t ...

in 1993, the first

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology) In biogeography, a native species is indigenous to a given region or ecosystem if its presence in that region is the result of only local natural evolution (though often populari ...

student to do so. Cardinal is also a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

enthusiast. He played for the Edmonton Druids RFC and then the Strathcona Druids, and was the first

person to play for the latter team. In his role in ''

'', he is shown wearing

Saskatchewan Prairie Fire The Prairie Fire was a Canadian rugby union team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The team played in the Rugby Canada Super League and the Rugby Canada National Junior Championship, which followed once the former was disbanded. The Fire drew most of ...

rugby team merchandise.

Career

Cardinal has had a variety of roles in theatre, film and television. These include ''

Insomnia Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low ene ...

'', '' renegadepress.com'', ''

Crazy Horse Crazy Horse ( , ; – September 5, 1877) was a Lakota people, Lakota war leader of the Oglala band. He took up arms against the United States federal government to fight against encroachment by White Americans, White American settlers on Nativ ...

'' and ''Wolf Canyon''. He is noted for playing

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

roles in many productions, including

Tecumseh Tecumseh ( ; (March 9, 1768October 5, 1813) was a Shawnee chief and warrior who promoted resistance to the Territorial evolution of the United States, expansion of the United States onto Native Americans in the United States, Native American ...

in '' Canada: A People's History'', an aboriginal elder in '' Tkaronto'', and Davis Quinton, a

man, on ''Corner Gas''. He also appeared on many episodes of ''

North of 60 ''North of 60'' is a 1990s Canadian television drama depicting life in the sub-Arctic northern boreal forest (north of 60° north latitude, hence the title). It first aired on CBC Television in 1992 and was syndicated around the world. It is se ...

''. Cardinal can be heard as the voice of Jacob Morin on the APTN stop motion animated series '' Wapos Bay: The Series''. In 2011, Cardinal starred alongside

Craig Lauzon Craig Lauzon is a Canadian actor, writer, and comedian. He is best known for his time as a member of the Royal Canadian Air Farce. His main caricatures on the Farce include George Stroumboulopoulos, John Baird, Justin Trudeau and Stephen Harp ...

in a production of Kenneth T. Williams' play ''Thunderstick''. The two actors traded roles on alternate days."Split personalities: Actors stretch their thespian legs by switching roles nightly in Canadian dramedy"
''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...

'', March 31, 2011. Cardinal completed a documentary film titled ''Chasing Lear'' (2016) with producer Monique Hurteau; it premiered on APTN. '' Chasing Lear'' explores the

National Arts Centre The National Arts Centre (NAC) () is a Arts centre, performing arts organization in Ottawa, Ontario, along the Rideau Canal. It is based in the eponymous National Arts Centre (building), National Arts Centre building. History The NAC was one ...

theatre production of ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'', that had an all-Aboriginal cast. Actors included

August Schellenberg August Werner Schellenberg (July 25, 1936 – August 15, 2013) was a Canadian actor. He played Randolph in the first three installments of the ''Free Willy'' film series (1993–1997) as well as characters in '' Black Robe'' (1991), '' The New Wo ...

as Lear,

Billy Merasty Billy Merasty (born 1960) is an Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Aboriginal Canadian actor and writer of Cree descent. Early life Merasty was born in Brochet, Manitoba, Canada. He is the ninth of fourteen siblings born to Viola and Pierre Merasty, ...

Jani Lauzon Jani Lauzon (born September 29, 1959) is a Canadian director, and multidisciplinary performer from the East Kootenay region of British Columbia. For much of her career she believed her family to be Métis, and centered Métis themes in her wo ...

Tantoo Cardinal Tantoo Cardinal CM (born July 20, 1950) is a Canadian actress. Of Cree and Métis heritage, in 2009 she was made a member of the Order of Canada "for her contributions to the growth and development of Aboriginal performing arts in Canada, as a s ...

, and

Kevin Loring Kevin Loring (born November 24, 1974) is a Canadian playwright and actor. As a playwright, he won the Governor General's Award for English-language drama, the Herman Voaden Playwriting Competition and the Jessie Richardson Award for Outstanding ...

. Lorne Cardinal did double-duty, serving as assistant director and also carrying the role of

Duke of Albany Duke of Albany is a peerage title that has occasionally been bestowed on younger sons in the Scotland, Scottish and later the British royal family, particularly in the Houses of House of Stuart, Stuart and House of Hanover, Hanover. History ...

. He recently starred in the award-winning satirical short film 'No Reservations'. The film looks at pipeline politics and was created as a part of the Crazy8's film competition. As of 2020 Cardinal has a recurring role in the network TV drama '' FBI: Most Wanted''. In 2023, he had a role in the television series Bones of Crows, an expansion of a

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

by the same name.

Personal life

Cardinal lives on the coast of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

in Squamish with his wife Monique Hurteau, a producer, writer, and comedian. His brother Lewis, a business consultant and human rights activist in

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, was a

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

candidate in the 2011 federal election. Cardinal has eight other siblings who live in several areas of Canada.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Official website
*
Lorne Cardinal Facebook Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cardinal, Lorne Living people Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Cree male actors People from Big Lakes County Male actors from Alberta Canadian male stage actors 1964 births Canadian Screen Award winning actors