Gordon Pinsent was a Canadian actor known for movies and TV shows including “Away from Her” and “The Red Green Show.”
- Died: February 25, 2023 (Who else died on February 25?)
- Details of death: Died in his sleep at the age of 92.
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Acting career
Among Pinsent’s most acclaimed performances was as the husband of a woman with Alzheimer’s disease, played by Julie Christie, in the 2006 film “Away from Her.” He was honored as Best Actor by the Genie Awards, which recognize the best of Canadian cinema. Pinsent’s many other movies included “The Thomas Crown Affair” (1968), “Blacula,” “The Shipping News,” and “The Grand Seduction.” On Canadian television, Pinsent had prominent recurring roles on “The Red Green Show,” as water taxi captain Hap Shaughnessy, and on “Due South,” as Sgt. Bob Fraser of the RCMP, whose murder was a central point of the show. Pinsent’s other TV appearances included a role as the Archbishop of Canterbury in the miniseries “The Pillars of the Earth” as well as guest spots on “Hogan’s Heroes” and “Marcus Welby, M.D.” He was the longtime voice of Babar the Elephant in animated TV series, movies, and video games including “Babar” and “Babar and the Adventures of Badou.”
Pinsent on voicing Babar
“What happens, of course, as an actor is you enter the character – you come as close as you can, certainly in something animated like this, you try to humanize the character and bring to it all you feel you need for that characterization. You play with it and you go with it and you join up with the character and you make somebody that is full and complete.” —from a 2010 interview for the Hamilton Spectator
Tributes to Gordon Pinsent
Full obituary: The Globe and Mail
