Search for ""

Donald McKellar, CM, actor, screenwriter, director (born 17 August 1963 in Toronto, ON). One of Canada’s most acclaimed and prolific stars, the multi-talented Don McKellar has enjoyed success as an actor, writer and director in film, television and theatre, often assuming multiple roles in a production. Equal parts laconic and loopy, he is best known for playing quirky, unconventional leading men and collaborating on unique, visionary independent films. He was a key player in the Toronto New Wave, collaborating with Bruce McDonald and Atom Egoyan on such films as Roadkill (1989), Highway 61 (1991), The Adjuster (1991) and Exotica (1994). He received the Prix de la Jeunesse at the Cannes Film Festival for his directorial debut, Last Night (1998), and won a Tony Award for co-writing the hit musical The Drowsy Chaperone. He is a Member of the Order of Canada and has won multiple Genie and Canadian Screen Awards.

Sandra Miju Oh, actor, producer (born 20 July 1971 in Nepean, ON). Sandra Oh is a versatile actor whose performances in film and television have won popular and critical acclaim. She won Genie Awards for her performances in Double Happiness (1994) and Last Night (1998) before gaining international recognition for her role in the successful ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy (2005–14). Her work has been groundbreaking for the visibility it has brought to roles for Asian actors in North America. With her lead role in the BBC America drama Killing Eve (2018–), Oh became the first actor of Asian heritage to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for best actress  and the first to win a Golden Globe in that category since 1981. She was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2011 and won a Governor General's Performing Arts Award in 2019.

​Merrill Beth Nisker (a.k.a. Peaches), singer, songwriter, musician, performance artist, filmmaker (born 11 November 1968 in Toronto, ON).

Tatiana Gabrielle Maslany, actor (born 22 September 1985 in Regina, Saskatchewan). Versatile film and television actor Tatiana Maslany is perhaps best known for her multiple performances as various clones in the hit sci-fi series Orphan Black (2013–17). In 2016, she became the first Canadian actor to win a Primetime Emmy Award for a Canadian television series. She has also won five Canadian Screen Awards, two Gemini Awards, two ACTRA Awards and numerous other honours.

Wendy Jane Crewson, actor (born 9 May 1956 in Hamilton, ON). One of Canadian television’s best-known and most honoured actors, Wendy Crewson has won multiple Gemini Awards for her work in Canadian TV series and TV movies. She has also enjoyed a prolific film career and has acted opposite such Hollywood stars as Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, Robert Redford, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rachel McAdams, Elliot Page and Arnold Schwarzenegger. An outspoken advocate for Canadian film and television, she has been inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame and received the Gemini Humanitarian Award, ACTRA’s Award of Excellence, and the Earle Grey Award for lifetime achievement in Canadian television.

Joseph-Edmond-André Laurendeau was a French Canadian journalist, politician, playwright, and co-chairman of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism (born 21 March 1912 in Montreal; died 1 June 1968 in Ottawa). A lifetime French-Canadian nationalist, he helped prepare the way for Quebec's Quiet Revolution by redefining nationalist aspirations for an urban and industrial society.

Charles Reed Biddle (familiarly, "Biddles"), jazz bassist (born 28 July 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; died 4 February 2003 in Montréal, QC). Somewhat limited as a bassist but a tireless supporter and promoter of jazz in Montréal, Biddle organized festivals of local musicians in 1979 and 1983, which sowed the seeds for the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

Donald Owen, director, producer, editor, writer (born 19 September 1931 in Toronto, ON; died 21 February 2016 in Toronto).

Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer, actor (born 13 December 1929 in Toronto, ON; died 5 February 2021 in Weston, Connecticut). Christopher Plummer, a great-grandson of Prime Minister  Sir John Abbott, was an international star who worked widely on stage and in film and television in the US, Britain and Canada. He was Canada’s most distinguished movie star in the classical mould — the New York Times hailed him as “the finest classical actor in America.” He took on innumerable larger-than-life roles, including Cyrano de Bergerac, King Lear, Hamlet, Rudyard Kipling, John Barrymore, and Baron von Trapp in The Sound of Music (1965), one of the most popular films of all time. He won an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, two Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Film Independent Spirit Award, a Canadian Screen Award and a Genie Award. He received lifetime achievement awards from the Governors General’s Awards, the Canadian Screen Awards and the National Arts Club of America. A Companion of the Order of Canada, he was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame and Canada's Walk of Fame.

Arthur Lipsett, filmmaker (born at Montréal 13 May 1936; died April 1986), worked at the National Film Board of Canada (1958- 70) where he was one of very few to make experimental films.

Ishu Patel, animator, instructor (b at Jalsan, India 20 April 1942). 

In 1977, Dutoit was appointed principal conductor of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (having guest-conducted it 15 Feb 1977) and began what was unarguably the most successful conductor-orchestra partnership in Canadian history.

Kevin Tierney, film producer, writer (born 27 August 1950 in Montreal, QC; died 12 May 2018 in Montreal).

Denis Héroux, film director, producer (born 15 July 1940 in Montréal, Qc; died 10 December 2015 in Montréal).

Charles Dutoit, conductor (b at Lausanne, Switzerland, 7 Oct 1936). He received his musical education (in violin, viola, piano, percussion, composition and orchestral conducting) at the conservatories of Lausanne and Geneva, where he obtained a premier prix in conducting in 1958.

Ralph Gustafson, poet, professor (b at Lime Ridge, Qué 16 Aug 1909; d at North Hatley, Qué 29 May 1995). Gustafson wrote more than 20 books of poetry and edited several important anthologies of Canadian verse; he has also published 2 books of short stories.

Bonnie Sherr Klein, director, producer, author, motivational speaker, disability rights activist (b at Philadelphia, Penn 1 April 1941).

Elliot Page (born Ellen Philpotts-Page), actor, activist, producer (born 21 February 1987 in Halifax, NS). Elliot Page is a serious, soulful and intelligent actor, and one of Canada’s biggest movie stars. A seasoned child performer, Page started out in Canadian feature films and TV series, winning two Gemini Awards by the age of 18. Page’s intense performance in the American indie Hard Candy (2005) led to high-profile roles in X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and the indie smash Juno (2007). Juno earned Page an Independent Spirit Award and an Oscar nomination. Adept at quirky comedy (Whip It, Super), intimate drama (Marion Bridge, Mouth to Mouth) and big-budget blockbusters (Inception, the X-Men franchise), Page is equally well-known for environmental activism, advocacy for LGBTQ rights and a grounded, socially-conscious persona.

The Sun Dance (also Sundance) is an annual Plains Indigenous cultural ceremony performed in honour of the sun, during which participants prove bravery by overcoming pain. Historically, the ceremony took place at midsummer when bands congregated at a predetermined location. The Sun Dance was forbidden under the Indian Act of 1895, but this ban was generally ignored and dropped from the Act in 1951. Some communities continue to celebrate the ceremony today.