Robert Holmes Thomson (born 1947), known as R. H. Thomson, is a Canadian television, film, and stage actor. With a career spanning five decades he remains a regular presence on Canadian movie screens and television. He has received numerous awards for his contributions to the arts, and to war veterans.

Life and career

Thomson was born on September 24, 1947, in Richmond Hill,

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 ...

. He studied at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

and the

National Theatre School The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS, ) is a private institution of professional theatre studies in Montreal, Quebec. Established in 1960, the NTS receives its principal funding from grants awarded by the Government of Canada and cultural ...

. His own play ''The Lost Boys'' was staged at the

Great Canadian Theatre Company The Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC) is a professional theatre company based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1975 by a group of professors and graduate students at Carleton University. Riding a wave of cultural nationalism ...

in March 2000 and at

Canadian Stage Canadian Stage is a Canadian non-profit contemporary theatre company, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. History The company was founded in 1988 with the merger of Centre Stage and Toronto Free Theatre. Canadian Stage has produced more than 3 ...

in February 2002. He has also hosted programming for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

and

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 ...

. Thomson has portrayed a number of historical figures including

Samuel Lount Samuel Lount (September 24, 1791 – April 12, 1838) was a blacksmith, farmer, magistrate and member of the Legislative Assembly in the province of Upper Canada for Simcoe County from 1834 to 1836. He was an organizer of the failed Upper Ca ...

Edsel Ford Edsel Bryant Ford (November 6, 1893 – May 26, 1943) was an American business executive and philanthropist, who was the only child of pioneering industrialist Henry Ford and his wife, Clara Jane Bryant Ford. He was the president of Ford Motor C ...

Frederick Banting Sir Frederick Grant Banting (November 14, 1891 – February 21, 1941) was a Canadian pharmacologist, orthopedist, and field surgeon. For his co-discovery of insulin and its therapeutic potential, Banting was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physi ...

Duncan Campbell Scott Duncan Campbell Scott (August 2, 1862 – December 19, 1947) was a Canadian civil servant and poet and prose writer. With Charles G.D. Roberts, Bliss Carman, and Archibald Lampman, he is classed as one of Canada's Confederation Poets. A caree ...

Mitchell Sharp Mitchell William Sharp (11 May 1911 – 19 March 2004) was a Canadian civil servant and politician, most noted for his service as a Liberal Cabinet minister. He served in both the private and public sectors during his long career. Background ...

, and

James Cross James Richard Cross (29 September 1921 – 6 January 2021) was an Irish-born British diplomat who served in India, Malaysia and Canada. While posted in Canada, Cross was kidnapped by members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) duri ...

. In 2010, he was appointed a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

. In May 2015 Thomson received a

Governor General's Performing Arts Award The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards are an annual Canadian award, presented to honour distinguished achievements in Canadian performing arts and culture. Administered by the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation in associ ...

for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.

Eric Peterson Eric Neal Peterson (born October 2, 1946) is a Canadian stage, television, and film actor, known for his roles in three major Canadian television series – '' Street Legal'' (1987–1994), '' Corner Gas'' (live-action 2004–2009 and fi ...

performed in his honour at the gala celebrating the laureates at 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 ...

. In 2017 to 2019, Thomson co-starred in the netflix series Anne with a e as Matthew Cuthbert.

Personal life

Thomson is married with two sons. Thomson has had a long-standing interest in Canada's military and war veterans. In 1995 he narrated a three-part documentary series about Canada's involvement in international conflicts. On the 90th anniversary of the

Battle of Vimy Ridge The Battle of Vimy Ridge was part of the Battle of Arras, in the Pas-de-Calais department of France, during the First World War. The main combatants were the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in the First Army, against three divisions of ...

, in which nearly 3,600 Canadians died, he co-created, with lighting designer Martin Conboy, a commemoration in which the name of each fallen soldier was projected onto the National War Memorial. The following year in 2009, he and Conboy undertook an ambitious project to project the names of the more than 68,000 Canadians who died in World War I onto famous monuments across the country. Projections occurred during the night. In 2010, the Government of Canada honoured Thomson for this effort with a Minister of Veterans Affairs Commendation.

Filmography

Film

Television

, ''

Murder in A Small Town ''Murder in a Small Town'' is 1999 American television mystery crime thriller film produced and broadcast by A&E. The period film stars Gene Wilder as Larry "Cash" Carter, a stage director, theater manager, former actor, and unofficial consulti ...

Awards

Wins

*1989 :

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 ...

, for ''

Glory Enough for All ''Glory Enough for All'' is a 1988 Canadian television movie directed by Eric Till and written by Grahame Woods, depicting the discovery and isolation of insulin by Frederick Banting and Charles Best. It was the winner of nine 1989 Gemini Award ...

'' *1983 : Gemini Award, for ''

If You Could See What I Hear ''If You Could See What I Hear'' is a 1982 Canadian biographical drama film about blind musician Tom Sullivan, starring Marc Singer and Shari Belafonte, directed by Eric Till. Plot summary Tom Sullivan is a blind college student who wants to be n ...

'' *2015: Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (Theatre) *2018 : Canadian Screen Award, for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama ''

Anne with an E ''Anne with an E'' (initially titled ''Anne'' for its first season within Canada) is a Canadian period drama television series loosely adapted from Lucy Maud Montgomery's 1908 classic work of children's literature, '' Anne of Green Gables''. It ...

Nominations

*1982 : Genie Award, for ''

Ticket to Heaven ''Ticket to Heaven'' is a 1981 Canadian drama (film and television), drama film directed by Ralph L. Thomas and starring Nick Mancuso, Saul Rubinek, Meg Foster, Kim Cattrall, and R.H. Thomson. The plot concerns the recruiting of a man into a group ...

'' *1986 : Genie Award, for ''

'' *1986 : Gemini Award, for '' Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks'' *1987 : Gemini Award, for ''Screen Two'' *1987 : Gemini Award, for ''Ford: The Man and the Machine'' *1988 : Gemini Award, for '' And Then You Die'' *1993 :

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

, for ''The Lotus Eaters'' *1994 : Gemini Award, for ''

Road to Avonlea ''Road to Avonlea'' is a Canadian television series first broadcast in Canada between January 7, 1990, and March 31, 1996, as part of the '' CBC Family Hour'' anthology series, and in the United States starting on March 5, 1990. It was created ...

'' *2008 : Gemini Award, for ''

The Englishman's Boy ''The Englishman's Boy'' is a novel by Guy Vanderhaeghe, published in 1996 by McClelland and Stewart, which won the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction in 1996 and was nominated for the Giller Prize. It deals with the events of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomson, R. H. 1947 births Living people Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Best Supporting Actor Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Members of the Order of Canada People from Richmond Hill, Ontario University of Toronto alumni Dora Mavor Moore Award winners Male actors from Ontario Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Canadian Screen Award winners Governor General's Award winners Canadian Screen Award winning writers