Kate Lynch (born June 29, 1959) is a Canadian film, television and stage actress, drama teacher, theatre director and playwright.
Biography
In 1980 she won the
Genie Award
The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...
for
Best Actress
Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...
for ''
Meatballs''. She was notably adept at improvisation against the formidable
Bill Murray
William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...
; director
Ivan Reitman
Ivan Reitman (; October 27, 1946February 12, 2022) was a Czechoslovak-born Canadian filmmaker. He was best known for his comedy work, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. He was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998.
Film ...
commented,
In her acceptance speech, however, she communicated the belief that she had won the award more for the fact of being a Canadian actress in a popular hit film, at a time when Canadian films still predominantly cast bigger-name stars from the United States, than for her actual performance. She was nominated for the same award in 1988 for her role in ''
Taking Care
''Taking Care'', also known as ''Prescriptions for Murder'', is a Canadian drama film, directed by Clarke Mackey and released in 1987."Hospital film dies in a bed of tedium". ''Ottawa Citizen'', April 29, 1988. Loosely based on the real-life case o ...
''; although she did not win on that occasion, she told the press that being nominated for that film meant more to her than winning for ''Meatballs'', as by this time the quality of Canadian film had significantly improved and the controversial division of the Genie acting categories into separate awards for Canadian and foreign actors had been discontinued.
Her other film credits include ''
Lie with Me'', ''
Soup for One'', ''
Def-Con 4
''Def-Con 4'' is a 1985 Canadian post-apocalyptic film, portraying three astronauts who survive World War III aboard a space station and return to Earth to find greatly changed circumstances. The film's title refers to the Defense Readiness Conditi ...
'', ''
God Bless the Child'' and ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', while her television credits include ''Custard Pie'', ''Anne of Avonlea'' and guest roles in ''Adderly'', ''Danger Bay'', ''Seeing Things'', ''Queer as Folk'', ''This Is Wonderland'', ''Lost Girl'' and ''Degrassi''.
As a playwright, her plays include ''Newcomer'', ''Ten Minute Play: The Musical'', ''The Road to Hell'' (cowritten with
Michael Healey
Michael Healey is a Canadian playwright and actor. He graduated from the acting programme at Toronto's Ryerson Theatre School in 1985. His acting credits include the plays of Jason Sherman (''The League of Nathans'', ''Reading Hebron'' and ''Thr ...
), ''Tales of the Blonde Assassin'' and ''Early August''.
As a director, she has directed plays for the Shaw Festival, the
Blyth Festival Blyth Festival, is a theatrical festival, located in the village of Blyth, Ontario, Canada, which specializes in the production and promotion of Canadian plays.
In addition, the Festival acts as a resource for local groups and makes its facilities ...
and
Theatre Passe Muraille
Theatre Passe Muraille is a theatre company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Brief history
One of Canada's most influential alternative theatres, Theatre Passe Muraille ("theatre beyond walls") was founded in 1968 by director and playwright Jim Gar ...
, including productions of
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Henry V Henry V may refer to:
People
* Henry V, Duke of Bavaria (died 1026)
* Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor (1081/86–1125)
* Henry V, Duke of Carinthia (died 1161)
* Henry V, Count Palatine of the Rhine (c. 1173–1227)
* Henry V, Count of Luxembourg (1 ...
'', ''
A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
'', ''
Pericles
Pericles (; grc-gre, Περικλῆς; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a Greek politician and general during the Golden Age of Athens. He was prominent and influential in Athenian politics, particularly between the Greco-Persian Wars and the Pelopo ...
'' and ''
Cymbeline
''Cymbeline'' , also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in British Iron Age, Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerni ...
'',
Samuel Beckett
Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...
's ''
Waiting for Godot'',
Terence Rattigan
Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan (10 June 191130 November 1977) was a British dramatist and screenwriter. He was one of England's most popular mid-20th-century dramatists. His plays are typically set in an upper-middle-class background.Geoffrey Wan ...
's ''
French Without Tears
''French Without Tears'' is a comic play written by a 25-year-old Terence Rattigan in 1936.
Setting
It takes place in a cram school for adults needing to acquire French for business reasons. Scattered throughout are Franglais phrases and sch ...
'',
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
's ''
Star Chamber'',
Eve Ensler
V, formerly Eve Ensler (; born May 25, 1953), is an American playwright, performer, feminist, and activist. V is best known for her play ''The Vagina Monologues''. 's ''
The Vagina Monologues
''The Vagina Monologues'' is an episodic play written in 1996 by Eve Ensler which developed and premiered at HERE Arts Center, Off-Off-Broadway in New York and was followed by an Off-Broadway run in at Westside Theatre. The play explores c ...
'' and
Michael Healey
Michael Healey is a Canadian playwright and actor. He graduated from the acting programme at Toronto's Ryerson Theatre School in 1985. His acting credits include the plays of Jason Sherman (''The League of Nathans'', ''Reading Hebron'' and ''Thr ...
's ''The Nuttalls''. She has taught for
University College Drama Program, 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 ...
, the
Shaw Festival
The Shaw Festival is a not-for-profit theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest repertory theatre company in North America. The Shaw Festival was founded in 1962. Originally, it only featured productio ...
,
George Brown College
George Brown College is a public, fully accredited college of applied arts and technology with three campuses in downtown Toronto (Ontario, Canada). Like many other colleges in Ontario, GBC was chartered in 1966 by the government of Ontario and ...
and
Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University).
Filmography
Film
Television
Theatre
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Kate
Canadian film actresses
Canadian television actresses
Canadian stage actresses
Canadian women dramatists and playwrights
Canadian theatre directors
Best Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
Living people
1959 births
20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights
20th-century Canadian women writers
21st-century Canadian women writers