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 Farce), and may be presented posthumously. The award was named in honour of Earle Grey, an actor and theatre director who founded the Earle Grey Players theatre troupe and had served as the first president of ACTRA's local chapter in Toronto. The award was first presented by the ACTRA Awards in 1972, as the award for best performance in 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 ...

within the annual eligibility period. In the earliest years it was the only acting award presented by the ACTRA Awards, although it was later supplemented with an award for best performance in a television series. Beginning in 1983, separate categories were introduced for performances by actors and actresses in television films; when the ACTRA Awards were taken over by the Gemini Awards beginning in 1986, the Earle Grey Award name was then transitioned into the Geminis' lifetime achievement award instead of being retained as the name for the primary annual acting awards. Nominations for the award are presented by professionals within the Canadian television community and the decision of who will win the award is made by a special committee. However, it is not necessarily always presented annually.

Recipients

ACTRA Awards

*1972 - Geneviève Bujold *1973 -

Gordon Pinsent Gordon Edward Pinsent (July 12, 1930 – February 25, 2023) was a Canadian actor, writer, director, and singer. He was known for his roles in numerous productions, including ''Away from Her'', ''The Rowdyman'', ''John and the Missus'', ''A Gift ...

, '' The Rowdyman'' *1974 -

Jackie Burroughs Jacqueline Burroughs (2 February 1939 – 22 September 2010) was a British-born Canadian actress. Burroughs starred in over 100 films and television shows over her career, including ''Heavy Metal (film), Heavy Metal'', ''The Care Bears Movie'', ...

, '' Vicky'' *1975 - William Hutt, '' The National Dream'' *1976 - Jayne Eastwood, '' The Last of the Four Letter Words'' *1977 - Sean Sullivan, '' Of the Fields, Lately'' *1978 - Donald Sutherland, '' Bethune'' *1979 - Helen Burns, '' Catsplay'' *1980 - Don Francks, '' Drying Up the Streets'' *1981 - Al Waxman, '' The Winnings of Frankie Walls'' *1982 - Lally Cadeau, '' You've Come a Long Way, Katie'' *1983 - Rosemary Dunsmore, ''

Blind Faith Blind Faith were an English rock supergroup that consisted of Steve Winwood, Eric Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Ric Grech. They followed the success of each of the member's former bands, including Clapton and Baker's former group Cream and ...

'' *1984 - Kenneth Welsh, '' Empire, Inc.'' (actor);

Linda Griffiths Linda Pauline Griffiths (7 October 1953 – 21 September 2014) was a Canadian actress and playwright best known for writing and starring in the one woman play ''Maggie and Pierre'', in which she portrayed both Pierre Trudeau and his then-estrang ...

, '' Empire, Inc.'' (actress) *1985 - Douglas Rain, '' A Flush of Tories'' (actor); Susan Wright, '' Slim Obsession'' (actress) *1986 -

Maury Chaykin Maury Alan Chaykin (July 27, 1949 – July 27, 2010) was an American-Canadian actor. Described as "one of the most recognizable faces in Canadian cinema," he was best known for his portrayal of Rex Stout's detective Nero Wolfe on the televi ...

, '' Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks'' (actor); Leueen Willoughby, ''The Other Kingdom'' (actress)

Gemini Awards

*1986 - Ed McNamara (posthumous) *1987 -

Lorne Greene Lorne Hyman Greene (born Lyon Himan Green; February 12, 1915 – September 11, 1987) was a Canadian actor, singer, and radio personality. His notable television roles include Ben Cartwright on the Western ''Bonanza'' and Commander Adama in ...

*1988 - Kate Reid *1989 - Sean McCann *1990 - Jan Rubeš *1992 - Colleen Dewhurst (posthumous award) *1993 - Barbara Hamilton *1994 - Ernie Coombs ( Mr. Dressup) *1995 - Cast of '' SCTV'': Rick Moranis,

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 ...

, Andrea Martin,

Martin Short Martin Hayter Short (born March 26, 1950) is a Canadian and American comedian, actor, and writer. Short is known as an energetic comedian who gained prominence for his roles in sketch comedy. He has also acted in numerous films and television ...

, Joe Flaherty, Catherine O'Hara, John Candy (posthumous), Harold Ramis, Dave Thomas. *1996 -

Bruno Gerussi Bruno Santos Gerussi (7 May 1928 – 21 November 1995) was a Canadian stage and television actor, best known for the lead role in the CBC Television series '' The Beachcombers'' from 1972 to 1990. He also performed onstage at the Stratford Fest ...

(posthumous) *1997 -

*1998 - Kenneth Welsh and Al Waxman *1999 - Jayne Eastwood *2000 - Cast and writers of '' Royal Canadian Air Farce'': Ron Mann, Roger Abbott, Luba Goy, Don Ferguson, John Morgan. *2001 -

*2002 - Members of '' CODCO'': Tommy Sexton (posthumous), Andy Jones, Greg Malone *2003 - Jennifer Dale *2004 -

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

*2005 - Steve Smith *2006 - Donnelly Rhodes *2007 -

Don Harron Donald Hugh Harron, (September 19, 1924 – January 17, 2015) was a Canadian comedian, actor, director, journalist, author, playwright, and composer. Harron is best remembered by American audiences as a member of the cast of the long-running co ...

*2008 - David Gardner *2009 - Eric Peterson *2010 - Not awarded *2011 - Cedric Smith

Canadian Screen Awards

*2012 - Not awarded *2013 - Not awarded *2014 - Colm Feore *2015 - Paul Gross *2016 - Wendy Crewson *2017 - Tantoo Cardinal *2018 - Clark Johnson *2019 - Tina Keeper *2022 - Peter MacNeill *2023 -

Patrick Huard Patrick Huard (born January 2, 1969) is a Canadian actor, writer and comedian from Quebec. Career Huard broke into the Quebec show business scene in 1989 as a comedian, actor and television personality, with success as a stand-up comedian in the ...

Connie Thiessen
"Canadian Academy to recognize Blue Ant Media CEO, among others"
''Broadcast Dialogue'', May 1, 2024.

References

External links

Academy database
{{Gemini Awards Canadian Screen Award television categories Lifetime achievement awards ACTRA Awards Gemini Awards