Dinah Barbara Christie (born 1942) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

actress and singer. Christie was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, England. One of the five children of actors Robert and Margot Christie, she came to Canada at the age of two with her parents and grew up in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. At age 13, she worked as a call boy at the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...

and became an apprentice at the Festival in 1960. In 1961, she sang in a comedy revue in Toronto, directed by her father. Before she was out of her teens, she had been cast in small roles at Stratford. In 1962, aged 19, she starting singing while attending

North Toronto Collegiate Institute North Toronto Collegiate Institute (North Toronto CI, NTCI, NT, or North Toronto) is a non-semestered, public high school institution with over 1,200 students located in North Toronto area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school is operated an ...

(NTCI) and performed as a

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

singer in her teens, taking voice lessons from

Portia White Portia May White (June 24, 1911February 13, 1968) was a Canadian contralto, known for becoming the first Black Canadian concert singer to achieve international fame. Growing up as part of her father's church choir in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Whit ...

. Christie reached Grade 13 at NTCI but did not graduate. In 1965, she was selected by

Tom Kneebone Tom Kneebone, (12 May 1932 – 15 November 2003) was a New Zealand-Canadian cabaret performer and actor. Early life Born in Auckland, New Zealand, Kneebone went to England to study at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Career He moved ...

to co-star in a stage

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

, and the two would frequently work together for decades. The same year, she joined

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

's ''

This Hour Has Seven Days ''This Hour Has Seven Days'' was a CBC Television news magazine that ran from 1964 to 1966, offering viewers in-depth analysis of the major social and political stories of the previous week. The show, inspired by the BBC and NBC-TV satire seri ...

'', for which she regularly sang

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

songs. She also appeared in an off-Broadway musical, ''

Your Own Thing ''Your Own Thing'' is a rock-styled musical comedy loosely based on ''Twelfth Night'' by William Shakespeare. It premiered off-Broadway in early 1968. The music and lyrics are by Hal Hester and Danny Apolinar Lambert, Bruc"Hal Hester, 63; Helped t ...

'', a rock musical of ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vio ...

''.Dinah Christie biodata
inthehills.ca; accessed March 22, 2014. Christie was a regular performer on the TV series ''

Party Game Party games are games that are played at social gatherings to facilitate interaction and provide entertainment and recreation. Categories include (explicit) icebreaker, parlour (indoor), picnic (outdoor), and large group games.Frankel, Lillian; ...

'' (1970–1980) and '' Check it Out!'' (1985–1988). In 1981, she won an

ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards were first presented in 1972 to celebrate excellence in Canada's television and radio industries.

for best variety performance for her performance on the ''D.C. and Friends'' TV special. She and Kneebone won the 1984 ACTRA for best radio variety performers, and Christie won the 1987

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

for best actress in a continuing series for ''Check it Out!''

Personal life

In 1971, she bought a farm in Ontario, Canada, and lived there with photographer and husband Bob Warren."Dinah Christie leads a double life" by Paul King, ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'', July 8, 1979, pg. B1 In the late 1980s, she founded a design and manufacturing company called "The Badd Sisters", initially with her now deceased sister, Cedar Christie (1946-2021). The company sells products made from hemp and recycled cotton.

References

External links

*
Profile
BaddSisters.com, accessed May 10, 2014. 1942 births Living people Actresses from Toronto Canadian musical theatre actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian television personalities English emigrants to Canada Date of birth missing (living people) Best Actress in a Comedy Series Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian women television personalities 20th-century Canadian women singers Canadian expatriates in England {{Canada-stage-actor-stub