Jackie English 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 ...

television host, actress, dancer, choreographer, director, filmmaker and performer.

Early life

English was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

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 ...

. English later moved to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

where she graduated from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

. After university she worked for a year at

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Capgemini SE is a French multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company, headquartered in Paris, France. History Capgemini was founded by Serge Kampf in 1967 as an enterprise management and data processing company. Th ...

in Montreal as a consultant before becoming a full time

performing artist The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. Per ...

Career

After leaving the corporate world, English became a host of ''

TVOKids TVOKids (stylized as tvokids) is the brand for most of the children's programming aired by TVO (formerly TVOntario) in Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three ter ...

'', TVOntario's after school block of children's programs, alongside Milton Barns, Mark Sykes and

Nicole Stamp Nicole Stamp is a Canadian TV director, actor, filmmaker, writer and television host. Career Stamp works as a writer, director, actress, and TV host. Her work has been nominated for 3 Canadian Screen Awards - twice for writing, and once for d ...

, and later Ryan Fields. English appeared in live interstitial breaks between shows such as ''

Art Attack ''Art Attack'' is a British children's television programme revolving around art, originally hosted by Neil Buchanan on CITV from 1990 to 2007, and subsequently hosted by Lloyd Warbey on Disney Junior from 2012 to 2015. The original program ...

'', ''

Arthur Arthur is a masculine given name of uncertain etymology. Its popularity derives from it being the name of the legendary hero King Arthur. A common spelling variant used in many Slavic, Romance, and Germanic languages is Artur. In Spanish and Ital ...

'', ''

Dino Dan ''Dino Dan'' is a Canadian television series created and directed by J. J. Johnson. The series premiered on TVOKids in Canada on January 4, 2010, and ended on August 23, 2019. In the US, the series premiered on the Nick Jr. Channel on October ...

'' and ''

The Magic School Bus ''The Magic School Bus'' is an American edutainment media franchise which includes a book series, TV adaptations, a streaming series, and various video games. Each of the stories within the franchise focuses on the antics of the fictional ...

''. During these segments she would perform original characters including Jigsaw Jill and interview noteworthy Canadians including

Robert Munsch Robert Norman Munsch (born June 11, 1945) is an American-born, Canadian children's author. Personal life and career Robert Munsch was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on June 11, 1945. He grew up in a family of nine children. Munsch gradua ...

and Perdita Felician. English also appeared in number of original TVO Kids series ''BOD TV'', as Artbot in ''Artbot'', Nifty Girl in ''Super Citizens'', the mayor in ''The Reading Rangers'', and was the in-house

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

for music videos. Later English became the on-location host to in-studio hosts Kara Harun and

Dalmar Abuzeid Dalmar Abuzeid (born October 23, 1990) is a Canadian actor. He initially became known for portraying Danny Van Zandt in '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' from 2004 until 2010. Since ''Degrassi'', he has appeared in a variety of television serie ...

, where she reported on kids news including interviewing

Chris Bosh Christopher Wesson Bosh (born March 24, 1984) is an American former professional basketball player. A Texas Mr. Basketball in high school, he played one season of college basketball for Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball, Georgia Tech ...

, visiting

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; ) is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, Montreal, Saint-Michel, Montreal, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Jun ...

and the

ROM Rom, or ROM may refer to: Biomechanics and medicine * Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient * Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac * ...

. Best known was her 40 episodes of the series ''Jackie's School of Dance'' which was nominated for two A.C.T. Awards. In 2011, English wrote and directed her first film, a one-minute short film called ''NIMBY'' which won first prize at the Toronto Urban Film Festival where judge

Atom Egoyan Atom Egoyan (; ; born July 19, 1960) is an Armenian Canadians, Armenian-Canadian filmmaker. One of the most preeminent directors of the Toronto New Wave, he emerged during the 1980s and made his career breakthrough with ''Exotica (film), Exotica ...

called it "extraordinary." She then started a film collective called ''The Splinter Unit'' which produced 8 films, including ''Out'' directed by Jeremy Lalonde, which premiered at

TIFF Tag Image File Format or Tagged Image File Format, commonly known by the abbreviations TIFF or TIF, is an image file format for storing raster graphics images, popular among graphic artists, the publishing industry, and photographers. TIFF is w ...

. In 2017 English's first feature film ''Becoming Burlesque'', starring

Shiva Negar Shiva Negar Persian شیوا نگار is an Iranian-Canadian Actress and Producer. Her first feature was a supporting role in the film ''Lost Journey''. Other significant acting credits include the 2017 action thriller '' American Assassin'', Beco ...

with the support of

Telefilm 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 ...

, premiered at

Whistler Film Festival The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) is an annual film festival held in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Established in 2001, the festival is held the first weekend of December and includes juried competitive sections, the Borsos Awards, and the Pand ...

. The film was the opening film at the

Canadian Film Festival The Canadian Film Festival, formerly known as the Canadian Filmmakers Festival, is an annual film festival in Toronto, Ontario. Showcasing a program of Canadian independent films, it is held in March of each year and usually runs for five days. ...

and won Best Film at the Tryon Film Festival in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

before its Canadian and American Theatrical release, followed by digital distribution in North America. English was declared a Canadian Director To Watch by

Broadway World BroadwayWorld is a theatre news website based in New York City, New York. Launched in 2003, the site covers Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional, and international theater productions, with sections devoted to particular countries, cities, or regi ...

. As an actress, English has appeared in TV series CBC's ''

Frankie Drake Mysteries ''Frankie Drake Mysteries'' is a Canadian drama that ran on CBC Television from November 6, 2017 to March 8, 2021. The series stars Lauren Lee Smith and Chantel Riley as Frankie Drake and her partner Trudy Clarke who run an all-female privat ...

'', new

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

Series '' Dare Me'', ''

Rookie Blue ''Rookie Blue'' is a Canadian police procedural television series starring Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith. It was created by Morwyn Brebner, Tassie Cameron, and Ellen Vanstone. The series premiered on June 24, 2010, and aired on Global in ...

'', ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'', ''

The Handmaid's Tale ''The Handmaid's Tale'' is a futuristic dystopian novel by Canadian author Margaret Atwood published in 1985. It is set in a near-future New England in a patriarchal, totalitarian theonomic state known as the Republic of Gilead, which has ...

'', The Accused and feature film ''You Gotta Believe''. As a choreographer, English created 60 episodes of

TFO TFO is a Canadian French language educational television channel and media organization serving the province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario French-language Educational Communications Authority (OTELFO), a Crown corporation owned by t ...

series ''Minivers'', dances for Second City MainStage, ''

I, Martin Short, Goes Home ''I, Martin Short, Goes Home'' is a Canadian television comedy special, written by and starring comedian Martin Short, which aired on CBC Television in 2012.Actresses from Toronto Canadian female dancers Canadian choreographers Film directors from Toronto Living people McGill University Faculty of Engineering alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Canadian women choreographers Canadian women film directors