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................................................................. The ACTRA Awards in Toronto: February 18, 2005 For
Immediate Release: Toronto, December
16, 2004 – ACTRA
Toronto Performers is pleased to announce that Paul Gross will receive
the 2005 ACTRA Toronto Award of Excellence. Sonja Smits, who received
this award in 2004, and Gordon Pinsent, who “Without question Paul Gross is a real Canadian star – an accomplished actor, a respected and notable writer and director, known to audiences around the world,” said ACTRA Toronto President Richard Hardacre. “He is firmly committed to the possibility of a vibrant Canadian film and television industry and has demonstrated true leadership in the campaign to foster English-Canadian culture on our screens. Working toward that goal, Paul has won the admiration of his fellow performers and industry colleagues alike. We take great pride in seeing him as the recipient of ACTRA Toronto’s Award of Excellence.” Mr. Gross is committed to protecting the future of Canadian culture. For the past two years he has spearheaded ACTRA’s Campaign for Canadian Programming calling on the federal government, the CRTC and private broadcasters to fix the crisis in Canadian television drama. He championed two performer delegations in lobbying federal MPs, Culture and Finance Ministers, party leaders and the CRTC to raise the alarm about the decline in English television drama. In addition, Mr. Gross has come forward with creative solutions to reverse the drama decline. Paul Gross is one of Canada’s most successful actors. He has just been honoured with his fourth Gemini Award, for his performance in the Movie Network series Slings & Arrows. He is Internationally known for his role as Constable Benton Fraser in the television drama series Due South, for which he earned two Best Actor Gemini Awards as well as a Gemini Award for his writing. Mr. Gross executive produced the series’ final season. At the same time, his acting, directing
and writing careers have flourished. Mr. Gross wrote, directed
and starred in
the highest
grossing English-language Canadian feature film of the past 20 years – Men
with Brooms. Most recently he starred in, co-wrote and produced the
CBC mini-series H2O. This year, he also starred in the ensemble feature
Wilby Wonderful. In 2000, he performed the title role in the Stratford
Festival’s 2000 production of Hamlet to record-setting audiences.The
annual ACTRA Awards in Toronto recognize outstanding performances
by ACTRA Toronto members and celebrate
accomplishment
and excellence
in our industry. The ACTRA Awards were re-instituted in 2003 as part
of ACTRA’s 60th Anniversary. Two juried awards will be presented
in addition to the Award of Excellence: the ACTRA Award for Outstanding
ACTRA Toronto Performers is the largest organization within ACTRA, representing more than 13,000 of Canada’s 21,000 professional performers working in the English-language recorded media in Canada. As an advocate for Canadian culture since 1943, ACTRA is a member-driven organization that continues to secure the rights and respect for the work of professional performers.
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received the inaugural
award in 2003, will co-present the award to Mr. Gross at The ACTRA
Awards in Toronto on February 18, 2005, at The Carlu.
Performance – male and female. 