Gordon Pinsent was a legendary actor whose career spanned six decades and dozens of film and television projects.
On February 26, 2023, Gordon Pinsent, one of Canada’s most renowned performers, passed away at the age of 92.
“Gordon Pinsent’s daughters, Leah and Beverly, and his son, Barry, would like to report that their father passed away today quietly in his sleep with his family at his side,” said a note by Peter Keleghan, Gordon’s son-in-law, according to Variety. “Gordon loved this country, its people, its purpose, and its culture until his dying breath,”
Sarah Polley, who was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in the 2006 drama Away From Her, was one of the most prolific actor’s more than 150 film and television ventures over six decades. This is some information on the great actor.
Where did “Porky” originate?
Page Contents
Gordon, whose family gave him the nickname “Porky,” was born in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, on July 12, 1930, according to The Globe and Mail. His father, Stephen Pinsent, was a paper mill worker-turned-shoemaker; he passed away when Gordon was ten years old.
After the unexpected demise, Gordon would work his way to Toronto, and at the age of 18, he elected to serve in the Royal Canadian Regiment for three years.
According to the source, he began his acting career in Winnipeg, performing with “small, semi-amateur companies of the day” and working in radio drama for the CBC.
In 1955, Gordon scored a role in a CBC Winnipeg television drama, savored the taste of success, and relocated to Toronto to pursue other opportunities. There, he began to receive increasingly prominent roles for the CBC and was on the verge of becoming a household name.
Gordon’s achievement
The actor’s big break came when he was cast as the hopeful politician Quentin Durgens, M.P. in the CBC television drama of the same name.
Although the show only aired from 1965 to 1969, it established Gordon as a national icon and treasure. According to the source, he was so beloved as this figure that “Canadians would approach him with requests to solve their local problems.”
Six years later, he relocated to Hollywood, where he worked as a guest star on television programs, before returning to Canada, where he became a huge sensation with major roles, his own writings, and numerous accolades.
A fellow Canadian was ultimately responsible for bringing Gordon international prominence. Sarah Polley made her directorial debut with Away from Her in 2006, casting him as a husband who must place his Alzheimer’s-afflicted wife in a nursing facility.
Gordon received a Best Actor Genie (Canadian film awards) nomination for his role in the picture, which received two Oscar nominations.
He provided the voice for Babar the Elephant
His late wife, the actress Charmion King, once said of his work, “He creates humorous, dignified, courageous, and compassionate men.” “He does not act with arrogance.
He does not engage in idiocy. I believe the Canadians he portrays are accurate. Even if they are not, they see it and desire to be!”
From 1989 to 2015, Gordon provided the voice of Babar the Elephant in television and cinema using the same acting approach.
Gordon was twice wed
According to The Globe and Mail, Gordon married Irene Reid, the sister of a friend, at age 21, but soon realized he wasn’t ready to settle down. In the interim, he and Irene welcomed Barry and Beverly into the world.
After their divorce, Gordon married actress Charmion King in 1962, and they remained together until her passing in 2007. During their marriage, their daughter Leah Pinsent, who is also an actress, was born.
Gordon spent years apart from two of his children
Gordon’s Irene, Barry, and Beverly were left behind when he moved to Toronto to pursue his acting ambitions.
According to his version of his divorce in his 2012 autobiography Next, a judge “ordered that he never visit the children, then aged five and three, in order to offer Irene a fresh start,” as reported by The Globe and Mail.
He would not see Barry and Beverly again until they had both reached adulthood.
Also Read: Jonathan Groff, Who Is Out Gay, Discusses A Relationship Gone Wrong
