Ed McNamara | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Ed McNamara

Ed McNamara, actor (born 1921; died 11 October 1986 in Toronto, ON). Ed McNamara performed on stage in Toronto and worked in radio before his career in television and feature films.

Ed McNamara, actor (born 1921; died 11 October 1986 in Toronto, ON). Ed McNamara performed on stage in Toronto and worked in radio before his career in television and feature films.

In his first feature film he played Mr. Regan in Ziegfeld Girl (1941). His other film and TV roles include Rip-Off (1971), a coming-of-age story about a group of high school friends who try filmmaking, forming a rock band, and living on a commune to prove their difference from peers and prior generations; and Saint Sammy in Who Has Seen the Wind? (1977), based on W.O. Mitchell's novel about a young boy growing up in Saskatchewan during the Depression.

Ed McNamara's television debut was on the series Tales of Adventure: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1952). His long list of television performances includes Percy Q. Kidpester in the children's series Razzle Dazzle (1961), Henry Jeeter in Philip Marlowe, Private Eye (1986) and Long John in Seeing Things (1987).

For his performance as Philip Longlan in Bayo, McNamara was nominated for the 1986 Genie Award for best actor. In 1986, McNamara won the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's first Earle Grey Award for Lifetime Achievement.