The ACTRA Awards are Canadian accolades presented since 1972 to celebrate excellence in cinema, television and radio industries."ACTRA"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

'', February 6, 2006. Initially it was organized and presented by the Alliance of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, which represented performers, writers and broadcast journalists, and were responsible for awarding the Nellie statuettes until 1986."Canada's new TV award makes debut". ''

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. ...

'', April 22, 1986. In 1987, they were taken over by the

Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize the achievements of the over 4,000 Canadian cinema of Canada, film industry and television in Canada, television industry professionals ...

to create the new

Gemini Awards 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 th ...

,"Last Nellie: Charlie Grant's War; Chaykin and Willoughby top actors in final ACTRAs". ''

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 ...

'', April 3, 1986. although ACTRA continued to present ''Nellies'' in radio categories. The ''Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists'' retook control of the awards in 2003, this time as a more local-focused film industry award, separately presented by each of ACTRA's regional chapters to honour performances in local film and television production, since expanded to incorporate web series and video games.

History

ACTRA began presenting the

John Drainie Award The John Drainie Award was an award given to an individual who has made a significant contribution to broadcasting in Canada. Although meant to be presented annually, there have been years where it was not presented. Originally created by ACTRA in ...

for distinguished lifetime contribution in broadcasting in 1968, before launching a comprehensive program for television and radio awards in 1972. The 1st ACTRA Awards that year only presented the Drainie Award alongside the new

Earle Grey Award The Earle Grey Award is the lifetime achievement award for television acting of the Canadian Screen Awards, and its predecessor the Gemini Awards. It can be presented to an individual or collaborative team (such as SCTV or Royal Canadian Air Fa ...

for actors and

Gordon Sinclair Award The Gordon Sinclair Award is a Canadian journalism award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television for excellence in broadcast journalism. Originally presented as part of the ACTRA Awards, it was transferred to the new Gemini Award ...

for broadcast journalism, with its roster of categories beginning to expand the following year. By 1978, there began to be talk in the industry of a "Nellie curse", as several broadcast personalities in the past couple of years had been fired or had their shows cancelled very soon after winning an ACTRA award.Don Hammersmith, "Lights, Camera, ACTRA". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', March 18, 1978. The same year also saw the first widespread complaints about ACTRA's nomination criteria, which limited honours in most categories to ACTRA members; even if ACTRA members had collaborated with non-ACTRA members, then only the ACTRA member could be considered for nomination. That year further saw the public revelation of an unconfirmed but longstanding industry rumour that if

Lloyd Robertson Lloyd Robertson (born January 19, 1934) is a Canadian journalist and former news anchor who is special correspondent on CTV's weekly magazine series, '' W5''. Robertson served as the chief anchor and senior editor of CTV's national evening ne ...

had won the award for Best News Broadcaster at the

4th ACTRA Awards The 4th ACTRA Awards were presented on April 23, 1975. The ceremony was hosted by Pierre Berton.Joan Irwin"ACTRA set to give its national awards" ''Montreal Star'', April 22, 1975. Due to the cancellation of the Canadian Film Awards in 1974, ACTRA ...

in 1975, elements in the audience were planning to

pie A pie is a baked dish which is usually made of a pastry dough casing that contains a filling of various sweet or savoury ingredients. Sweet pies may be filled with fruit (as in an apple pie), nuts ( pecan pie), fruit preserves ( jam tart ...

him in the face just to see if they could cause the normally unflappable Robertson to lose his composure. By 1980, the CTV network decided to boycott the awards, on the grounds that the members-only rule biased the awards in favour of

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 ...

productions; the issue arose because the CBC produced most of its programming directly, and thus nearly all CBC programming involved ACTRA members, while CTV broadcast far more programming from independent non-ACTRA producers. The boycott, which continued for several years thereafter, sparked discussions through the early 1980s about how to improve the management and delivery of Canadian television awards. In this era, there was also significant concern about the fact that ACTRA only presented awards in categories such as acting, writing and journalism, but had no categories for television crafts such as cinematography or editing, as well as a controversy when ACTRA rejected the CBC's proposal of

Dan Aykroyd Daniel Edward Aykroyd ( ; born July 1, 1952) is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and producer. Aykroyd was a writer and an original member of the "Not Ready for Prime Time Players" cast on the NBC sketch comedy series ''Saturday Nigh ...

as host, on the grounds that he was working in the United States and not an active ACTRA member. By 1983, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's experimental

Bijou Awards The Bijou Awards were a Canadian award for non-feature films, launched in 1981 but presented only once before being discontinued. Created as a joint project of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and the Canadian Film and Television Association (CFTA), ...

, which had been presented for the first time in 1981, were being proposed to replace the ACTRA Awards, but this did not proceed at this time; ultimately, responsibility for presenting the Canadian television awards was transferred to the Academy's new Gemini Awards in 1986. Awards transferred to the Academy included the

, a lifetime achievement award for distinguished contributions to Canadian broadcasting, and the

, which transitioned from ACTRA's award for best performance in a television film into the Academy's lifetime achievement award for acting. Following the launch of the Geminis, the ACTRA Awards continued to honour radio programming.

Revival

Beginning in 2002, ACTRA took management of the John Drainie Award back from the Academy, presenting it thereafter at the

Banff Television Festival Founded in 1979, the Banff World Media Festival (formerly known as the Banff World Television Festival) is an international media event held in the Canadian Rockies at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel in Banff, Alberta, Canada. The festival is c ...

. On the 60th anniversary of the national union in 2003, now renamed the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists and representing only performers, the ACTRA Awards were resurrected in several of its branches across Canada as a local film and television award, presented by the organization's local chapters in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Maritimes to honour achievements in film and television within their own regions. Depending on the level of production activity in their respective regions, some chapters of ACTRA present their awards annually, while others present their awards every two years. However, the revived ACTRA Awards program also includes a national Award of Excellence, presented to an actor to honour their lifetime achievements;"ACTRA awards make cameo this week". ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'', February 25, 2003. the national award of excellence is most commonly presented to an actor who is working in

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

, and would thus not be eligible for a regional chapter's local award of excellence. However, the national award of excellence is not necessarily always presented annually. Some awards are handed out for performances, while others are given for union activism and contributions to the industry.

National ACTRA ceremonies

National Award of Excellence recipients

*2003 —

Leslie Nielsen Leslie William Nielsen (February 11, 1926November 28, 2010) was a Canadian actor and comedian. With a career spanning 60 years, he appeared in more than 100 films and 150 television programs, portraying more than 220 characters. He made his a ...

*2004 —

Lloyd Bochner Lloyd Wolfe Bochner (July 29, 1924 – October 29, 2005) was a Canadian film, TV and voice actor. He appeared in many Canadian and Hollywood productions between the 1950s and 1990s, including the films '' Point Blank'' (1967), '' The Detecti ...

*2005 —

Tonya Williams Tonya Williams (born July 12, 1958) is a Canadian actress, producer, and activist. Sometimes credited as Tonya Lee Williams, she is best known for her role as Dr. Olivia Barber Winters on the American daytime drama ''The Young and the Restless' ...

*2007 —

Kiefer Sutherland Kiefer William Frederick Dempsey George Rufus Sutherland (born 21 December 1966) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his starring role as Jack Bauer in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox drama series ''24 (TV series), 24'' (2001–2010, 20 ...

*2009 —

Sandra Oh Sandra Miju Oh (born July 20, 1971) is a Canadian and American actress. She is known for her starring roles as Rita Wu in ''Arliss (TV series), Arliss'' (1996–2002), Cristina Yang in ''Grey's Anatomy'' (2005–14), and Eve Polastri in ''Kill ...

*2010 —

Eugene Levy Eugene Levy (born December 17, 1946) is a Canadian actor and comedian. Known for portraying flustered and unconventional figures, Levy has won multiple accolades throughout his career including four Primetime Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and ...

*2011 —

Bruce Greenwood Stuart Bruce Greenwood (born August 12, 1956) is a Canadian actor and producer. He has starred in five films by Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan and has been nominated for three Canadian Screen Awards, once for Best Actor for '' Elephant Song'' ...

*2015 —

Jason Priestley Jason Bradford Priestley (born August 28, 1969) is a Canadian-American actor and television director. Priestly starred as virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–1998, 2000). His other television roles in ...

*2016 —

Neve Campbell Neve Adrianne Campbell (; born October 3, 1973) is a Canadian actress. After working in Canadian and American television, Campbell emerged as a scream queen for her starring roles in horror and thriller films. She has also appeared in blockbu ...

*2017 —

Kim Coates Kim Frederick Coates (born February 21, 1958) is a Canadian-American actor who has worked in both Canadian and American films and television series. He has worked on Broadway portraying Stanley Kowalski in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' and in th ...

*2018 —

Molly Parker Molly Parker (born June 30, 1972) is a Canadian actress, writer, and director. She garnered critical attention for her portrayal of a necrophiliac medical student in the controversial drama '' Kissed'' (1996). She subsequently starred in the tel ...

*2019 —

Jay Baruchel Jonathan Adam Saunders Baruchel (; born April 9, 1982) is a Canadian actor and director. He is best known for his voice role as Hiccup Haddock in the ''How to Train Your Dragon'' franchise (2010–2019), and for his lead roles in the comedies ' ...

*2020 —

Catherine O'Hara Catherine Anne O'Hara (born March 4, 1954) is a Canadian and American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She started her career in sketch comedy, sketch and improvisational comedy in film and television before expanding her career taking dra ...

Regional awards ceremonies

UBCP/ACTRA Awards (Vancouver)

ACTRA Montreal Awards

ACTRA Awards in Toronto

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ACTRA Awards * Awards established in 1972 Canadian film awards Acting awards Predecessors of the Canadian Screen Awards