Laura McKinlay Robinson
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Laura McKinlay Robinson (born 1957/1958) is a Canadian actress, author, game designer, singer, speaker, and television producer. She co-invented multiple board games, beginning with ''
Balderdash ''Balderdash'' is a board game variant of a classic parlour game known as Fictionary or the Dictionary Game. It was created by Laura Robinson and Paul Toyne of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The game was first released in 1984 by the Canada Games ...
'' (1984), which has sold millions of copies internationally, and was the basis for a television game show (2004–2005). As an actress, she had a major recurring role on the television series ''
Night Heat ''Night Heat'' is a Canadian police crime drama series that aired on both CTV in Canada and CBS in the United States. Original episodes were broadcast from 1985 to 1989. ''Night Heat'' was the first Canadian original drama series that was sim ...
'' (1985–1988), and starred in the television series '' Veronica Clare'' (1991), among lesser roles on stage, movies, and television. She co-produced the television game show ''
Celebrity Name Game ''Celebrity Name Game'' is an American syndicated game show that premiered on September 22, 2014. Based on the board game ''Identity Crisis'' (created by Laura Robinson and Richard Gerrits), the series was developed by Courteney Cox and David ...
'' (2014-2017), which was nominated for a
Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...
for Outstanding Game Show. It was based on ''Identity Crisis'', another board game she co-invented. As a writer, she co-wrote or contributed stories to the
Chicken Soup for the Soul Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC is an American self-help and consumer goods company based in Cos Cob, Connecticut. It is known for the ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' book series. The first book, like most subsequent titles in the series, consisted ...
series books ''Count Your Blessings'' (2009), ''O Canada'' (2011), ''Hooked on Hockey'' (2012), and ''Miraculous Messages from Heaven'' (2013).


Early life

Laura McKinlay Robinson was born on 7 May, in in
Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...
, and raised in
London, Ontario London is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River (Ontario), Thames River and N ...
, in a performing family. Her mother was Margaret Muriel Robinson, , one of
triplets A multiple birth is the culmination of a multiple pregnancy, wherein the mother gives birth to two or more babies. A term most applicable to vertebrate species, multiple births occur in most kinds of mammals, with varying frequencies. Such births ...
from
Brantford, Ontario Brantford (Canada 2021 Census, 2021 population: 104,688) is a city in Ontario, Canada, founded on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River in Southwestern Ontario. It is surrounded by County of Brant, Brant County but is politically separate wi ...
, who wrote plays for amateur theatre. Her father, Kenneth Ian Robinson, was a sales manager for Hiram Walker and Sons, and played
tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...
, leading Toronto area jazz bands including The Sax Family Robinson and the Ian Robinson Trio. Her brother Chris Robinson also plays the tenor saxophone professionally. Laura Robinson started singing with her father's jazz band at the age of 15. Robinson graduated
London South Collegiate Institute London South Collegiate Institute (also known as S.C.I., or simply South) is a public high school in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. ''South'' is administered by the Thames Valley District School Board. Approximately 600 students attend ...
high school in 1975, where she studied theatre with
Marion Woodman Marion Jean Woodman (née Boa; August 15, 1928 – July 9, 2018) was a Canadian mythopoeic author, poet, analytical psychologist and women's movement figure. She wrote and spoke extensively about the dream theories of Carl Jung.Active Interest ...
, whom she credits with inspiring her acting career. She went on to the
University of Windsor The University of Windsor (UWindsor, U of W, or UWin) is a public university, public research university in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's southernmost university. It has approximately 17,500 students. The university was incorporated by ...
where she earned a
Bachelor of Fine Arts A Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) is a standard undergraduate degree for students pursuing a professional education in the visual arts, Fine art, or performing arts. In some instances, it is also called a Bachelor of Visual Arts (BVA). Background ...
in
Dramatic arts Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been c ...
. Her early work was as an actress in
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, and weekend
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for London, Ontario
CFPL-DT CFPL-DT (channel 10) is a television station in London, Ontario, Canada, part of the CTV 2 system. It is owned and operated by Bell Media alongside Kitchener-based CTV station CKCO-DT (channel 13), although the two stations maintain separate ...
television.


''Balderdash''

Robinson created the board game ''
Balderdash ''Balderdash'' is a board game variant of a classic parlour game known as Fictionary or the Dictionary Game. It was created by Laura Robinson and Paul Toyne of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The game was first released in 1984 by the Canada Games ...
'' with advertising copywriter Paul Toyne, her boyfriend at the time, in 1984. It is a board game version of the parlor game
Dictionary A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...
, where players compete to guess the correct definition of a word from among false ones. Robinson and Toyne played the parlor game the first time they met, at Toyne's family cottage, and they started work on the board game within a month. The five television commercials that Robinson had running supported the pair while they developed the game over the first eight months. They almost lived in libraries to research the 2,500 words that made it into the first edition. One night they were locked into 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 ...
library after missing closing time. Her mother Margaret came up with the board game name, which means "nonsense". ''Balderdash'' was one in a series of successful Canadian board games, beginning with ''
Trivial Pursuit ''Trivial Pursuit'' is a board game in which winning is determined by a player's ability to answer trivia and popular culture questions. Players move their pieces around a board, the squares they land on determining the subject of a question the ...
'' from Ontario in 1982, ''
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'' in 1984 from Manitoba, and ''
Pictionary ''Pictionary'' (, , ) is a charades-inspired word-guessing game invented by Robert Angel with graphic design by Gary Everson and first published in 1985 by Angel Games Inc. Angel Games licensed Pictionary to Western Publishing. Hasbro purch ...
'' from Vancouver in 1985. A friend's successful investment in ''Trivial Pursuit'' spurred the couple on. They sold the first 5000 copies in Ontario toy stores before expanding throughout Canada with the Canadian Toy Fair in early 1985. The following year, ''Balderdash'' became the top selling game in Canada, dethroning ''Trivial Pursuit''. The couple made between $1 and $2 for each copy sold. By 1987, Robinson and Toyne had split up romantically, but remained business partners. By the following year, over a million copies of the game had been sold in Canada, with another million expected to sell in the United States that year. In 1990, ''Balderdashs Swedish translation, ''Rappakalja'', won the award for Best Family Game from the Swedish game manufacturers' association. By 1997, ''Balderdash'' was sold in Australia, Canada, Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States, with over 5 million copies sold worldwide. By 2006, it had sold over 10 million copies in 17 countries.


Acting

Robinson's first major acting role was Detective Christine Meadows, a rare female
homicide detective A homicide investigator or homicide detective investigates suspicious deaths and collects and evaluates evidence to determine the cause of a homicide.{{Cite web , title=How to Become a Homicide Detective (Education, Duties & Salary) , url=https:/ ...
, from 1985 to 1988, on three seasons of ''
Night Heat ''Night Heat'' is a Canadian police crime drama series that aired on both CTV in Canada and CBS in the United States. Original episodes were broadcast from 1985 to 1989. ''Night Heat'' was the first Canadian original drama series that was sim ...
'', an American television series filmed in Toronto. Playing ''Balderdash'' was among the TV cast and crew's favorite pastimes between takes. In 1986, Robinson, credited as McKinlay Robinson, her middle name, joined the
American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...
(ABC) television network Talent Development Program, auditioning in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, then moving to
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. She used this name for a 1987 role as P'Gell Roxton, the main villain in ''The Spirit'', a television film based on the comics character that was meant to be the beginning of a series that never materialized. She was under contract to ABC for four years. By 1991, Robinson's earnings from acting had reached as much as she was making from ''Balderdash'' royalties. In 1991, Robinson (back to Laura Robinson) starred as the title role on the Lifetime American cable television network (Lifetime was partly owned by ABC) series '' Veronica Clare''. The series tried to capture the flavor of 1940s Hollywood
film noir Film noir (; ) is a style of Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Crime film, crime dramas that emphasizes cynicism (contemporary), cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of Ameri ...
, and the title character was the owner of a jazz club who moonlighted as a private investigator. Robinson credited her experience playing femmes fatale and her smoky voice with getting the role over several hundred other actresses. Reviewers commented on Robinson's sultry voice, wavy hair, and sex appeal, with one comparing her to
Jessica Rabbit Jessica Rabbit ( Krupnick) is a fictional character in the novel '' Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' and its film adaptation, ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit''. She is depicted as the human cartoon wife of Roger Rabbit in various ''Roger Rabbit'' media. ...
as voiced by
Kathleen Turner Mary Kathleen Turner (born June 19, 1954) is an American actress. Known for her distinctive deep husky voice, she is the recipient of two Golden Globes, as well as nominations for an Academy Award, a Grammy, and two Tony Awards. After debuting ...
, but criticized her acting. The show lasted nine episodes.


Roles


Television production and other game design

Robinson and Toyne considered making ''Balderdash'' into a television game show as early as 1986. By 1997, she and her husband Mark Ettlinger were actively working on translating it into a television game show, and 1998 they were in near-successful talks with
Dan Angel Dan Angel is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, story editor and showrunner. Angel has written, co-written films and TV series including ''The X-Files'', ''Goosebumps'', ''Animorphs'', '' Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Sto ...
and
The Jim Henson Company The Jim Henson Company, Inc., formerly known as Muppets, Inc., Henson Associates, Inc., and Jim Henson Productions, Inc. (commonly referred to as Henson), is an American entertainment company located in Los Angeles, California. The company is kn ...
, but these fell through. The American television game show, also called ''
Balderdash ''Balderdash'' is a board game variant of a classic parlour game known as Fictionary or the Dictionary Game. It was created by Laura Robinson and Paul Toyne of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The game was first released in 1984 by the Canada Games ...
'', aired from 2004-2005 on
PAX TV Ion Television (referred to on-air as simply Ion) is an American terrestrial television, broadcast television network and Free ad-supported streaming television, FAST television channel owned by the Scripps Networks subsidiary of the E. W. Scri ...
, hosted by
Elayne Boosler Elayne Boosler (born August 18, 1952) is an American comedian, writer, and actress. She was one of the few women working in stand-up comedy in the 1970s and 80s, and she broke ground by adopting an Observational comedy, observational style that ...
. While in California to pursue her acting career, Robinson met Rachel Nelson and Elizabeth Bryan, who were both newly divorced and working on books about divorce. The three created a board game, initially called ''Embracing Divorce'', which involved collecting charms representing items like love, hope and giving, that went on a "count your blessings"
charm bracelet A charm bracelet is a type of bracelet which carries personal jewelled ornaments or "charms", such as decorative pendants or wikt:trinket, trinkets. The decorative charms usually carry personal or sentimental attachment by the owner. History Th ...
. The three successfully marketed the resulting "Count Your Blessings" jewelry on
QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network and a flagship shopping channel specializing in televised Shopping channel, home shopping, owned by QVC Group (formerly Qurate Retail Group). Founded in 19 ...
cable television, but the board game took longer. In 2009, the makers of the
Chicken Soup for the Soul Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC is an American self-help and consumer goods company based in Cos Cob, Connecticut. It is known for the ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' book series. The first book, like most subsequent titles in the series, consisted ...
books agreed to publish the revised game, now called ''Count Your Blessings'', in conjunction with the book ''Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings'', which Robinson and Bryan contributed to writing. In 2006, after returning to Canada from Hollywood, Robinson created the game ''Identity Crisis'' (stylized as ''!dentity Crisis?'') with graphic designer Patrick Lightheart and Richard Gerrits, her
talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds work for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, dancers, and other professionals in various entertainm ...
. It is also based on a parlor game, where teammates try to guess the name of a celebrity based on a limited number of clues. Robinson and Gerrits served as producers on its American television game show version, ''
Celebrity Name Game ''Celebrity Name Game'' is an American syndicated game show that premiered on September 22, 2014. Based on the board game ''Identity Crisis'' (created by Laura Robinson and Richard Gerrits), the series was developed by Courteney Cox and David ...
'', along with Scott St. John and
Coquette Productions Coquette Productions was a film and television production company founded by Courteney Cox and David Arquette in June 2004. The company was located in Los Angeles, California. The company name is a portmanteau of Cox's and Arquette's surnames. T ...
founded by actors
Courteney Cox Courteney Bass Cox (born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and producer. She rose to international prominence by playing Monica Geller in the NBC sitcom ''Friends'' (1994–2004) and Gale Weathers in the horror film franchise '' Scream'' ...
and
David Arquette David Arquette (; born September 8, 1971) is an American actor, producer, and retired professional wrestler. Arquette's breakout came with his starring role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film '' Scream'' (1996), a role which he later reprised i ...
. The show involved contestants paired with celebrities trying to answer questions about pop culture. It was proposed to
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
in 2011, as ''Identity Crisis'', after the board game which Cox and Arquette played often. The show's host
Craig Ferguson Craig Ferguson (born 17 May 1962) is a Scottish-American actor, comedian, writer and television host. He is best known for having hosted the CBS late-night talk show ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' (2005–2014). He is the winner of ...
, hosted the
late night talk show A late-night talk show is a genre of talk show, originating in the United States. It is generally structured around humorous monologues about the day's news, guest interviews, comedy sketches and music performances. It is characterized by sponta ...
''
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson ''The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish actor and comedian Craig Ferguson. This was the third iteration of the The Late Late Show (American talk show), ''Late Late Show'' franchise, airi ...
'' on the same network. It ended up premiering in
broadcast syndication Broadcast syndication is the practice of content owners leasing the right to broadcast their content to other television stations or radio stations, without having an official broadcast network to air it on. It is common in the United States whe ...
in September 2014, distributed by
Debmar-Mercury Debmar-Mercury, LLC is a television syndication company. A wholly-owned subsidiary of Lionsgate Studios, it was formed from a merger of Debmar Studios and Mercury Entertainment in 2005. History Debmar Studios Debmar-Mercury's history begins on ...
and
FremantleMedia Fremantle Limited (), formerly FremantleMedia, is a British multinational television production and distribution company based in London. The company was founded as Pearson Television in 1993 when publishing and education company Pearson ...
. Ferguson quit his position on ''The Late Late Show'' two months after he started hosting the game show. Making a complete circle from board game to game show and back, ''Celebrity Name Game'' also became a board game released by
PlayMonster PlayMonster (formerly Patch Products) is a manufacturer and marketer of family entertainment products that specializes in games, children's puzzles, toys, activities, and teaching tools founded in 1985. In February 2016, Patch changed its compan ...
in 2016. ''Celebrity Name Game'' ran for three seasons, into 2017, winning Ferguson two consecutive
Daytime Emmy Awards The Daytime Emmy Awards, or Daytime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NA ...
as best game show host in 2015 and 2016. In 2017, both the show and Ferguson were nominated for Daytime Emmy Awards. An Australian version of ''Celebrity Name Game'', hosted by
Grant Denyer Grant Craig Denyer (born 12 September 1977) is an Australian television and radio presenter and motor racing driver, who has worked for several television networks, including Seven Network and Network 10, mostly serving as a presenter. He previ ...
, aired from 2019 to 2020. Katie Kildahl, an assistant on ''Celebrity Name Game'', had invented a ribald dice game about penis size that the show's production crew played. Robinson and Gerrits joined her to submit the game to PlayMonster, which published it as ''Size Matters'' in 2017.


Writing

In 2009, Robinson and Bryan co-wrote the collection of short inspirational stories ''Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings'' with five author/collators, in conjunction with their board game. Robinson also contributed a foreword, and a personal story about returning to Canada from Los Angeles. She continued to write for the
Chicken Soup for the Soul Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC is an American self-help and consumer goods company based in Cos Cob, Connecticut. It is known for the ''Chicken Soup for the Soul'' book series. The first book, like most subsequent titles in the series, consisted ...
series. She contributed a similar story about her return to Canada to ''Chicken Soup for the Soul: O Canada'' in 2011, was listed as the only author, besides the series founders, of ''Chicken Soup for the Soul: Hooked on Hockey'' in 2012, and contributed the lead story to ''Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miraculous Messages from Heaven'' in 2013, about a sign after her mother's death. Her husband Mark and son Jack Ettlinger each contributed a short story to ''Chicken Soup for the Soul: Hooked on Hockey''.


Events

In 2011, Robinson was a speaker at the fifth annual Inspiring Women event in
Kitchener, Ontario Kitchener is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, about west of Toronto. It is one of three cities that make up the Regional Municipality of Waterloo and is the regional Administrative centre, seat. Kitchener was known as Berlin until a ...
. In 2014, Robinson was the host of the Chicago Toy & Game Fair game-inspired
fashion show A fashion show is an event put on by a fashion designer to showcase their upcoming line of clothing and/or accessories during a fashion week. Fashion shows debut every season, particularly the spring/summer and fall/winter seasons. This is wh ...
.


Personal life

After the success of ''Balderdash'', in the late 1980s Robinson moved from Toronto to
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 ...
to pursue her acting career. There she met Mark Ettlinger, also an actor, and son of Don Ettlinger, a New York-based writer for film, television and theater. They married and had two children before moving back to Canada in the summer of 2003, to give them the kind of childhood that Robinson had in Canada, and to be with Robinson's father before his death. Their son Jack Ettlinger is also an actor and singer, who competed in ''
Canada's Got Talent ''Canada's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated as ''CGT'') is a Canadian talent show competition, which debuted on the Citytv network on March 4, 2012. It is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise. As with other series in the franchise, th ...
'' in 2012. Robinson's father died in 2008, and her mother in 2012.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Laura McKinlay 1950s births Actresses from Kingston, Ontario Board game designers Canadian women singers Canadian television producers Canadian women non-fiction writers Living people Musicians from Kingston, Ontario Singers from Ontario University of Windsor alumni Canadian women television producers Writers from Kingston, Ontario