Jonathan Ormond Torrens (born October 2, 1972) 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 ...

actor and

television personality Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...

best known for his co-hosting of '' Street Cents'', his talk show ''

Jonovision ''Jonovision'' was a Canadian television talk show aimed toward teenagers. The show aired for five seasons, from 1996 to 2001, on CBC Television. ''Jonovision'' was nominated for 4 Gemini Awards. It reached the top of its popularity at the begi ...

'', and his role as "J-Roc" in the popular

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary sitcom television series created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer pa ...

''. In October 2009, Torrens began hosting ''

TV with TV's Jonathan Torrens ''TV with TV's Jonathan Torrens'' was a Canadian comedic newsmagazine-styled television program that debuted on the TVtropolis network on October 9, 2009. The show features Jonathan Torrens of ''Trailer Park Boys'' and '' Street Cents'' fame "break ...

'', a comedic newsmagazine program broadcast on the

TVtropolis DTour (styled as DTOUR) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel was originally established by Canwest in 1997 as Prime, a cable companion to Global Television Network, Glob ...

network. In January 2014, he teamed up with fellow Canadian

Jeremy Taggart Jeremy Ronald John Taggart (born April 7, 1975) is a Canadian drummer, radio host, and author, best known for playing with Our Lady Peace from 1993 until 2014. Early life Taggart was born in Toronto, Ontario, later growing up in Mansfield, On ...

to create the Taggart and Torrens Podcast. They discuss everything from sports to politics and offer a unique perspective on current issues.

Biography

Personal life

Torrens was born in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

Prince Edward Island Prince Edward Island (PEI; ) is one of the thirteen Provinces and territories of Canada, provinces and territories of Canada. It is the smallest province in terms of land area and population, but the most densely populated. The island has seve ...

. As a child, he lived in nearby

Sherwood Sherwood may refer to: Places Australia *Sherwood, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane *Sherwood, South Australia, a locality *Shire of Sherwood, a former local government area of Queensland *Electoral district of Sherwood, an electoral district from ...

, a rural community, where he attended Sherwood Elementary School. He made his first stage appearance there in Grade 1. In 1983, after first attending Charlottetown Rural High School in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, he moved to Halifax with his family, where he attended St. Patrick's High School. His sister is actress and playwright

Jackie Torrens Jackie Torrens is a Canadians, Canadian actress, writer and filmmaker based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, Nova Scotia. She was born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Acting She began her career as an actress, most notably being cast as t ...

. Torrens is married and has two daughters, Sugar-Daisy and Indigo.

Career

Torrens's past work includes co-hosting

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 teen-oriented

consumer affairs Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

series '' Street Cents'' from 1989 until 1996. He then went on to host, co-produce and write for his own teen-oriented

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

, ''

'', from 1996 until 2001. In 1998, he played David in ''

Beefcake Beefcake is a performance or a form of glamour photography depicting a large and muscular male body. Beefcake is also a publication genre. A role a person plays in a performance may be called ''beefcake''. The term was believed to be first used ...

'', a movie about 1950s muscle magazines and their connection with the gay community. The same year, he won a

Gemini Gemini may refer to: Space * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac ** Gemini in Chinese astronomy * Project Gemini, the second U.S. crewed spaceflight program * Gemini Observatory, consisting of telescopes in the Northern ...

in the category of Best Short Dramatic Program for his work on '' Nan's Taxi''. In 1999, he hosted and narrated a 33-minute docudrama on the consequences of impaired driving for the Alberta Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission (AADAC) called ''When Choices Collide''. In 2001 he played Tony Moressa on the show ''

Pit Pony A pit pony, otherwise known as a mining horse, was a horse, pony or mule commonly used underground in mines from the mid-18th until the mid-20th century. The term "pony" was sometimes broadly applied to any equine working underground.English ...

'' and had two appearances on ''

Royal Canadian Air Farce The Royal Canadian Air Farce was a comedy troupe that was active from 1973 to 2019. It is best known for their various Canadian Broadcasting Corporation series, first on CBC Radio and later on CBC Television. Although their weekly radio series ...

'' as 'The Clean Cut Keen SportsNet Guy'. From there he went on to ''

Rideau Hall Rideau Hall (officially Government House) is the official residence in Ottawa of both the Canadian monarch and their representative, the governor general of Canada. It stands in Canada's capital on a estate at 1 Sussex Drive, with the main b ...

'' in 2002 and had a guest appearance on ''

This Hour Has 22 Minutes ''This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' (commonly shortened to ''22 Minutes'' since 2009) is a weekly Canadian television comedy that airs on CBC Television. Launched in 1993 during Canada's 35th general election, the show focuses on Canadian politics wi ...

''. In 2003, he starred in the CBC six episode

mini-series A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

'' Jonathan Crosses Canada'', in which he traveled across Canada in a Winnebago. During the summer of 2004 he starred as "The Gotta-be-Gay-Guy" on the

Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Media Networks. The network's headquarters are located at the Paramount Pictures studio lot in Los Angeles. The channel was o ...

mock reality show, ''

Joe Schmo 2 ''The Joe Schmo Show'' is a reality television hoax show created by Paul Wernick and Rhett Reese. The series was broadcast in the U.S. on the cable network Spike. The show's premise is that a target person or people are led to believe that t ...

'', and has made appearances on the shows ''

The Greatest Canadian ''The Greatest Canadian'' is a 2004 television series consisting of 13 episodes produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to determine who is considered to be the greatest Canadian of all time, according to those who watched and p ...

'' and '' 50 Most Outrageous TV Moments''. He also played Shane McKay,

Emma Nelson '' Degrassi: The Next Generation'' is a Canadian teen drama television series created by Linda Schuyler and Yan Moore. The series is now considered the first incarnation and premiered on CTV on October 14, 2001, and then ended on MTV Canada and ...

's biological father on '' Degrassi: The Next Generation''. Torrens has a recurring role as J-Roc on the television series ''

''. He also appeared in all of the ''Trailer Park Boys'' movies. In November and December 2008, Jonathan was the guest host of several episodes of the CBC radio show ''

Definitely Not the Opera ''Definitely Not the Opera'' (or simply ''DNTO'') was a magazine-style radio program focusing on aspects of pop culture and storytelling, that aired on CBC Radio One on Saturday afternoons from 1994 until 2016. The show's running time varied ove ...

''. In 2008, he appeared in the award-winning short film ''

Treevenge ''Treevenge'' is a 2008 List of Christmas films, Christmas Horror film, horror short film written and directed by Jason Eisener, and produced by Yer Dead Productions. Shooting started in November 2007, and ended in February 2008. Post-production w ...

'', directed by

Jason Eisener Jason Eisener is a Canadians, Canadian screenwriter, producer, editor and Film director, director. Life and career ''Grindhouse'' faux trailer contest and ''Hobo with a Shotgun'' (2007 - 2011) In 2007, Eisener entered and won the ''Grindhouse (f ...

. In 2009, Torrens debuted in his own television show called ''TV With TV's Jonathan Torrens'' on Canadian specialty network

and ended in 2011. As of 2010, Torrens is one of the co-hosts of the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

series ''

Wipeout Canada ''Wipeout Canada'' is a Canadian English reality television series in which multiple contestants compete in numerous obstacle-based challenges. The series is produced by DTour and premiered on that channel on April 3, 2011. The studio hosts are J ...

'', which also airs on TVtropolis that ended after 13 episodes. On March 21, 2013, it was confirmed on Facebook that Torrens had gained forty pounds to reprise his role as

J-Roc Jerome Harmon (born September 25, 1968), better known as J-Roc, is an American songwriter and music producer from Fort Worth, Texas. He frequently collaborates with Timbaland. Jerome Harmon has produced for Beyoncé, Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, C ...

in the third Trailer Park Boys film, '' Don't Legalize It''. Torrens appeared in Season 8 of ''Trailer Park Boys'', which debuted on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on September 5, 2014. He also was a co-writer for Seasons 9 and 10 of ''Trailer Park Boys.'' Torrens left the cast of ''Trailer Park Boys'' in April, 2016. He has also had regular roles in the television series ''

Mr. D ''Mr. D'' is a Canadian television series starring comedian Gerry Dee. The series follows the misadventures of an underqualified schoolteacher named Gerry Duncan, nicknamed Mr. D. It debuted on CBC on January 9, 2012 and concluded after eight s ...

'', ''

Call Me Fitz ''Call Me Fitz'' is a Canadian television series produced by E1 Entertainment, Amaze Film & Television, and Big Motion Pictures. The half-hour comedy stars Jason Priestley as Richard "Fitz" Fitzpatrick, a morally bankrupt used-car salesman whos ...

'', '' Game On'', and ''

Letterkenny Letterkenny ( ga, Leitir Ceanainn , meaning 'hillside of the O'Cannons'), nicknamed 'the Cathedral Town', is the largest and most populous town in County Donegal, a county in Ulster, the northern province in Ireland. Letterkenny lies on the R ...

''. In October 2017,

and Torrens released the paperback book Canadianity: Tales From The True North Strong And Freezing, "a collection of showbiz tales from the road and relatable everyday anecdotes, all wrapped up in a nostalgic fondness for this great country. Canadianity takes readers on a cross-country journey, shining the spotlight on notable local heroes (or bands), the best places to crush food and the greasiest watering holes, coast to coast to coast." In 2019, Torrens launched the financial education web series '' Your Two Cents''. In 2021, Torrens wrote, directed and starred in '' Vollies'', a sitcom about volunteer firefighters for Bell Aliant's

Bell Fibe Bell Fibe TV is an IP-based television service offered by Bell Canada in the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is bundled with a FTTN or FTTH Bell Internet service, and uses the Mediaroom platform. Bell Fibe TV officially launched on Septe ...

on-demand service. The series debuted on October 20, 2021. He received a

Canadian Screen Award The Canadian Screen Awards (french: link=no, Les prix Écrans canadiens) are awards given for artistic and technical merit in the film industry recognizing excellence in Canadian film, English-language television, and digital media (web series) p ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the

10th Canadian Screen Awards The 10th Canadian Screen Awards were held on April 10, 2022, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television and digital media production in 2021.Etan Vlessing"Maitreyi Ramakrishnan to Receive Canadian Screen Awards Special Honor" ''The Hollyw ...

in 2022.Brent Furdyk
"2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack"
''

ET Canada ''ET Canada'' (previously referred to as ''Entertainment Tonight Canada'') is a Canadian entertainment news television series, using the same format as the American entertainment newsmagazine ''Entertainment Tonight''. ''ET Canada'' is a broadcas ...

'', February 15, 2022. in 2022, he began a recurring role on the show ''

Shoresy ''Shoresy'' is a Canadian television comedy series created by and starring Jared Keeso that premiered on Crave on May 13, 2022. A spinoff of ''Letterkenny'', the series focuses on the titular character of Shoresy (Keeso) as he moves to Sudbur ...

'', as Remy Nadeau.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Torrens, Jonathan 1972 births 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian male actors Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian television hosts Comedians from Prince Edward Island Living people Male actors from Prince Edward Island People from Charlottetown