Actor portrayed Anne’s beloved Gilbert
JONATHAN CROMBIE ( 1966 – 2015 )
NEW YORK — Canadians who watched actor Jonathan Crombie play Gilbert Blythe in the Anne of Green Gables movies are mourning his death at the age of 48.
Anne of Green Gables producer Kevin Sullivan says Crombie died from complications from a brain hemorrhage in New York City on April 15.
Crombie became famous for portraying Anne’s nemesis-turned-friend Gilbert in the 1985 Anne Of Green Gables television movie that aired on the CBC and spawned two sequels in 1987 and 2000.
He was the son of David Crombie, who was a federal cabinet minister in the government of Brian Mulroney and mayor of Toronto from 1972 to 1978.
Jonathan Crombie was also a member of a sketch comedy troupe on the Canadian TV series Comedy Now! in 1998 and performed in The Drowsy Chaperone Broadway musical in 2008.
He starred in the TV series The Secret World of Benjamin Bear, Slings and Arrows, Power Play and Mont Royal. Most recently, he is credited as the writer on the documentary Waiting for Ishtar and an appearance in an episode of The Good Wife in January, according to the Internet Movie Database.
Crombie’s co-star and onscreen love interest Megan Follows, who played Anne Shirley in the movies, said his unexpected loss was “a big shock.”
“He was incredibly funny, Jonathan just had an amazing sense of humour,” she said.
“Truly I just remember at times just laughing so hard that you’d just be crying. He was so playful and silly and as I said really bright, so his humour was always informed with that, which made him even funnier.” With files from National Post