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Gordon Pinsent
Gordon Pinsent
Gordon Pinsent
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Pinsent grew up in Grand Falls, Newfoundland,
the youngest of six children. Soon after his discharge from
the Canadian army in 1951, he married and had two children.
With no real way to make their lives secure, he was forced
to endure a series of menial jobs until finally bluffing his
way into a teaching job at the Arthur Murray Dance Studio.
But it was the Winnipeg community theatre in 1953 that would
eventually steal him away to a new life. This time, moving
on meant moving out.without his family. Twenty years would
pass before he would see his children again. Feverish ambition
and internal drive led him to Winnipeg's Theater 77, under
celebrated director John Hirsch. There, he had the opportunity
to play everything from the serious to the silly, from Death
of a Salesman to Cinderella.
In 1962, he married again, this time to well-known actress
Charmion King. The roles got bigger, but he had his eye on
the top prize - a lead role in a Canadian TV series. And in
1966, it finally arrived - in CBC-TV drama series Quentin
Durgens, MP. By the decade's end, his face was as familiar
to Canadians as Pierre Trudeau's and Hollywood was the next
logical step, but his U.S. film debut barely made a ripple.
American television only brought more frustration - only guest
star appearances for a leading man looking for a series. He
was close to despair when he wrote and starred in The Rowdyman,
a turning point in Canadian film, and in his career. His trademark
restlessness and lack of satisfaction drove him to write and
star in other self-made hits like A Gift to Last, John and
The Missus, and Win Again!
Today, Pinsent continues his work because he is driven to
do it, still driven by what is still left undone - the next
project, another opening.another show.
Original Air Date - November 14, 2000
Links
The
Gordon Pinsent Web Page
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