Ron James (born January 31, 1958) 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 ...

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage and delivers humorous and satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical acts. These performances are typically composed of rehear ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

, and

voice actor Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...

Early life and career

James was born in

Glace Bay, Nova Scotia Glace Bay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Glasbaidh'') is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It forms part of the general area referred to as Industrial Cape Breton. Formerly an incorporated ...

; his family later moved to Halifax during his youth. He attended

Acadia University Acadia University is a public, predominantly Undergraduate education, undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, with some Postgraduate education, graduate programs at the master's level and one at the Doctorate, doctor ...

, studying history and political science with the intention of becoming a history teacher. During his time at Acadia he came under the influence of Evelyn Garbary, who headed the theatre program, as a result of a course he was taking. After graduating, he moved to

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 ...

and joined

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise. It is the oldest improvisational theater troupe to be continuously based in Chicago, with training programs and live theaters in Toronto and New York. Since its debut in 1959, it has b ...

troupe there, working with them during the 1980s. In 1989, he received a

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 ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 10th Genie Awards, for his performance in the film '' Something About Love''. He later moved 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, ...

during the early 1990s for three years and got a spot on a late-night syndicated series produced by Ron Howard’s Imagine TV, where he landed the role of Bucky Fergus, a Canadian transplant who worked for the City of Derby, Wisconsin in the Talk parody sitcom '' My Talk Show'', which ran from 1990 to 1991 (in one episode, he bonded with another Canadian,

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1966 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...

, after he used Canadian phrases and sayings Shatner recognized). After that show was cancelled, he made some guest appearances in TV shows (such as '' Get A Life'' and '' Wings'') and an appearance in the movie '' Ernest Rides Again'' but mostly experienced rejection during this time while incurring sizable debts. He returned to Canada in 1993 and turned his experience in L.A. into a stage show in 1994 called ''Up & Down in Shaky Town: One Man's Journey through the California Dream'', which was also shown as a special on The Comedy Network. Afterwards, he came across the work of Scottish comedian Billy Connolly, whose style helped shape his own and inspired him to start doing stand-up.

Other work and awards

He has also done voice work in animation for shows including '' Star Wars: Ewoks'' and '' RoboCop: The Animated Series''. James also played a bank security guard in '' Tommy Boy''. CBC Live at Sherway Ron James Johnny Harris

CBC Live at Sherway Ron James Johnny Harris

James starred in the television series '' Blackfly'' and '' Made in Canada'', and won two Canadian Comedy Awards for Best Stand-up (2000) and Best One Person Show for his stand-up show ''The Road Between My Ears'' in 2004. He has also won a

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 ...

as part of the writing team for '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' and received a

nomination for best supporting actor in the film ''Something About Love''. He had his own

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 ...

series, '' The Ron James Show'', from 2009 to 2014. James has appeared at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, as a headliner with his own show. A book by Ron James, titled ''All Over the Map: Rambles and Ruminations from the Canadian Road'' was published by Doubleday Canada on September 28, 2021. It was an immediate national bestseller, entering the Canadian non-fiction list at number eight on the week of its release.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Ron 1958 births Living people 20th-century Canadian comedians 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian male actors Canadian Comedy Award winners Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian Screen Award winning writers Canadian stand-up comedians Comedians from Nova Scotia Male actors from Nova Scotia People from Glace Bay