John Dunsworth, an actor and a force
He was a man of a thousand roles, scores of film, theatre and TV credits, a lot of scrabble boards, some strong opinions and countless friends and fans all over. They appreciated him not only for his acting abilities, which were considerable.
They loved him for his kindness as a mentor to young actors, for his ability to energize a cast, for his talent-spotting smarts and for his readiness to help out good causes in the community as a fundraising auctioneer, emcee or take-all-comers scrabble wizard. Friends report he was a pretty fair stonemason, too.
John Dunsworth, a rock of the Canadian acting community, packed much into a 71-year life that sadly ended, after a brief illness, on Monday.
He was internationally known for playing the hard-drinking, enigmatic Mr. Lahey, property manager, nemesis and comedic foil to Bubbles, Ricky and Julian in the Trailer Park Boys television series and movies.
But his talent ran far deeper than one bighit franchise. An award-winning veteran of Neptune Theatre and CBC radio dramas, he was a founder of Pier One Theatre in Halifax and went on to act in more than 50 film and television productions, including Haven, Pit Pony, Life with Billy, Reversible Errors, Forgive Me, The Shipping News, Lexx, Trudeau, Lizzie Borden Took an Axe and Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion.
His characters ranged from a miner’s father in Pit Pony (where he scouted Ellen Page to play her first role as his granddaughter) to a newspaperman in an editor’s dream town (Haven) full of weird supernatural happenings. He could equally play a detective, banker, doctor, professor and priest — or himself prepping for a Santa Claus contest or running as an NDP candidate in a provincial election. And, of course, he famously aced a soused trailer park manager, a nice piece of work for a man who didn’t drink.
Indeed, in his socially conscious real life, John Dunsworth was strong voice for protecting those who suffered from addiction. He spoke candidly about struggling with a gambling habit and thousands of dollars in VLT losses — and campaigned fiercely for banning government VLTs that he felt destroyed lives and wrecked families.
It was “immoral,” he said, for governments to prey on “this crippling addiction.” But opponents were up against “the recalcitrant, obdurate nature of politicians who lie their asses off,” he fumed in a passionate interview last year. In other words, he was a great actor who did not confine his power of language and insight to fictional dramas.
“There are hard-working actors and then there are a few such as Dunsworth,” The Globe and Mail television critic John Doyle once wrote.
“Same face, just countless roles.” And countless grateful memories from those he touched.