Polkaroo will be so very, very proud
LOS ANGELES—
Tonya Lee Williams, producer, writer, director and social activist, is the recipient of a special award of excellence from the union she has belonged to since 1978, the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists. The awards presentation was to be made yesterday afternoon in L. A. at the residence of Consul General Alain Dudoit.
Williams began her showbiz career in Canada — appearing in everything from Polka Dot Door to Street Legal — before she moved to Los Angeles in 1987 where she acted in a variety of U. S. prime-time dramas. She is perhaps best known for her long- running role as Dr. Olivia Winters on the daytime soap The Young and the Restless.
Williams’s Y&R role earned her two NAACP Image Awards and two Emmy nominations. Born in London, England, she lived for a while in Jamaica before settling in Oshawa.
In 2003 she founded the Torontobased production company Wilbo Entertainment and produced the Tonya Lee Williams Gospel Jubilee
for the CBC, which netted a Gemini nomination. She also directed Kink in My Hair, apilot for Vision TV. She founded and is president of the ReelWorld Film Festival and Foundation, and was recently appointed to the Toronto Film Board by Mayor David Miller.
Williams is a “relentless activist” committed to building a Canadian film and TV industry that “reflects the country’s rich diversity,” said an ACTRA release.