A Canadian legend dies
Gordon Pinsent, the adored Canadian actor whose career hit its peak well into his 70s with an award-winning performance as the heartbroken husband in "Away From Her," has died.
Pinsent died on Saturday evening at age 92, his friend actor Mark Critch confirmed.
The Newfoundland native, a household name in Canada for decades after his many appearances on stage and screen, became known internationally after his Genie Award-winning turn as Grant in Sarah Polley's acclaimed directorial debut.
His dignified portrayal so impressed Daniel Day-Lewis, who went on to win the best actor Oscar in 2008 for "There Will Be Blood," that he sent an email to Polley praising Pinsent's performance as one of the most "astonishing" he'd ever seen.
Those types of kudos tickled the modest Pinsent. Well into the final years of his life, the actor remained mischievous, giggly and often as giddy as a schoolboy whenever any praise was sent his way.
"Now you see, I don't talk that way about myself, so I was pleased -- it was just terrific," Pinsent said with a laugh in an interview with The Canadian Press of Day-Lewis's email and the continuing raves he was getting for "Away From Her," especially since he didn't garner the kind of international awards recognition some critics said he deserved for the role.
Pinsent was "suave, classy elegant, well-spoken," said Critch, a fellow Newfoundlander and family friend who says he became close with Pinsent after working they worked together on a YouTube project.
Actors in Canada are following "on a path that (Pinsent) cut through a forest," said Critch in a phone interview.
"He never forgot anything. Like he would call you on Christmas, he'd call you on your birthday, he'd call you on Father's Day, and we'd have a Facetime or a call," said Critch.
"I will miss my great mentor and this hero, this giant colossus of Canadian entertainment, but I'll miss my friend Gordon Pinsent from Newfoundland because he was an even better friend than he was an actor," said Critch.
Born in Grand Falls, N.L., in 1930, Pinsent was the youngest of six children born to Stephen Pinsent, a papermill worker and cobbler, and his wife, Flossie.
The actor described himself as an awkward child who once suffered from rickets. His schoolmates called him "Porky."
But by the age of 17, the previously shy Pinsent had discovered acting, and was soon performing in stage productions in Newfoundland and then further afield, in Winnipeg. Possessing a deep baritone, Pinsent also took on roles in radio drama on the CBC, and before long moved on to film and television too.
In the early 1950s, Pinsent took a break from acting and joined the Canadian Army, serving for about four years.
But acting remained his true love, and he became a stalwart on some children's shows in the early 1960s, including CBC's "The Forest Rangers." He went on to appear in dozens of Canada's best-known television shows, including "The Red Green Show," "Due South," "Wind at My Back" and Paul Gross's "H20: The Last Prime Minister."
Pinsent's film resume was equally impressive. He wrote and starred in "The Rowdyman," a Canadian classic about a troubled Newfoundlander whose best intentions go unnoticed by those closest to him.
Pinsent also had memorable roles in "Who Has Seen The Wind" and "The Shipping News," a major Hollywood production starring Kevin Spacey, Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett. Pinsent played newspaperman Billy Pretty in the 2001 film, and also cheerfully provided lessons in perfecting the Newfoundland accent to the rest of the cast.
In 2013 he starred in Don McKellar's acclaimed Newfoundland-set comedy "The Grand Seduction," which earned him a Canadian Screen Award for best supporting actor.
But it was "Away From Her," a role that came to him when he was 76, that truly sealed his reputation as a "national institution," as Polley once described him.
The actress and director said from the moment she finished reading the Alice Munro short story, "The Bear Came Over The Mountain," she envisioned a film starring Pinsent as Grant, the bewildered husband who loses his wife of 45 years not just to Alzheimer's, but to another man. Pinsent was happy to oblige.
"She didn't have much convincing to do," Pinsent said in an interview in February 2007. "You know, you can be a working actor in this country all your life, and it's just terrific, but you don't always get the stuff that's a bit more challenging."
"Away From Her" was particularly poignant for him — his own wife of 45 years, actress Charmion King, died just a couple of months before the film's mainstream release, forcing Pinsent to reexamine the many themes of quiet despair explored in "Away From Her."