Linda Pauline Griffiths (7 October 1953 – 21 September 2014) was 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

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

best known for writing and starring in the one woman play ''Maggie and Pierre'', in which she portrayed both

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau ( , ; October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000), also referred to by his initials PET, was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada The prime mini ...

and his then-estranged wife,

Margaret Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

.Linda Griffiths
at

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available fo ...

. Among her cinematic work, she is best known for her acclaimed, starring role in ''

Lianna ''Lianna'' is a 1983 drama film written and directed by John Sayles and starring Linda Griffiths, Jane Hallaren, and Jon DeVries. Plot Lianna is married to a college professor in film and media at a university in a midsized New Jersey town and ...

''.

Early life

Griffiths was born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. Following her studies at St. Thomas High School in

Pointe Claire Pointe-Claire (, ) is a Quebec local municipality within the Urban agglomeration of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in Canada. It is entirely developed, and land use includes residential, light manufacturing, and retail. As of the 2021 cen ...

, she attended

Dawson College Dawson College (French: ''Collège Dawson)'' is an English-language public general and vocational college in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The college is situated near the heart of Downtown Montreal in a former nunnery on approximately 12 acre ...

, then The National Theatre School (for one year), and finally

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. She is best known for her 1980 one-woman play ''Maggie and Pierre'',"Linda Griffiths, actor and playwright, dead after battle with cancer"

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

, 21 September 2014. cowritten with Paul Thompson, in which she played both

and

Margaret Trudeau Margaret Joan Trudeau ( Sinclair, formerly Kemper; born September 10, 1948) is a Canadian activist. She married Pierre Trudeau, the 15th prime minister of Canada, in 1971; three years after he became prime minister. They divorced in 1984, du ...

as well as a fictional journalist named Henry. The play toured across Canada, including at the

Royal Alexandra Theatre The Royal Alexandra Theatre, commonly known as the Royal Alex, is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located near King and Simcoe Street. Built in 1907, the 1,244-seat Royal Alex is the oldest continuously operating legitimate theatre in Nort ...

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 ...

, and had an

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

run in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

Career

Best known as a stage actor, she also did television and film work, including episodes of the TV series '' Empire, Inc.'', '' Friday the 13th: The Series'', '' Street Legal'', ''

Katts and Dog ''Katts and Dog'' is a French and Canadian-produced television series that ran from 1988 to 1993. It was known as ''Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop'' in the United States where it originally aired on CBN Cable/The Family Channel and ''Rintintin Junior'' in ...

'', '' Beyond Reality'', ''

Due South ''Due South'' is a Canadian crime comedy-drama television series created by Paul Haggis, and produced by Alliance Communications from its premiere on April 26, 1994, to its conclusion after four seasons on March 14, 1999. The series starred Pau ...

'', '' Traders'' and '' Twice in a Lifetime''. She had the starring role in

John Sayles John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He has twice been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, for ''Passion Fish'' (1992) and ''L ...

' 1983 film ''

'', and also appeared in the films ''

Samuel Lount Samuel Lount (September 24, 1791 – April 12, 1838) was a blacksmith, farmer, magistrate and member of the Legislative Assembly in the province of Upper Canada for Simcoe County from 1834 to 1836. He was an organizer of the failed Upper Can ...

'', ''

Reno and the Doc ''Reno and the Doc'' is a Canadian comedy film, released in 1984. Written and directed by Charles Dennis, the film was produced Rose & Ruby Productions for First Choice. The film stars Kenneth Welsh as Reno, a reclusive ski bum who teams up with ...

'' and '' Overdrawn at the Memory Bank''. She was nominated for 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 awar ...

at the

6th Genie Awards The 6th Genie Awards were held on March 21, 1985, to honour achievements in Canadian cinema in 1984. It was the first time the Genies were broadcast live across Canada by CBC Television, and they drew 1.9 million viewers. The event, held at the Met ...

in 1985 for her performance in ''Reno and the Doc'', and the

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 Actress in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series at the 2nd Gemini Awards in 1987 for ''

The Marriage Bed ''The Marriage Bed'' is a Canadian television film, directed by Martin Lavut and broadcast by CBC Television in 1986. Adapted from the novel by Constance Beresford-Howe, the film stars Linda Griffiths as Annie Graham, a woman who is pregnant wit ...

''. In 1994 she starred alongside Alan Williams in '' The Darling Family'',

Alan Zweig Alan Zweig is a Canadian documentary filmmaker known for often using film to explore his own life. Early life Alan Zweig was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario and has worked in the film industry as a writer, producer, director, driver, and a ...

's film adaptation of her own theatrical play. In 1997, she formed her own company Duchess Productions, which produced a tour of ''Alien Creature'', as well as developing and associate-producing ''The Duchess'', ''Alien Creature'', ''Chronic'', and her last play, ''Age of Arousal''. As co-author of ''The Book of Jessica'' (written with native author and activist

Maria Campbell Maria Campbell (born April 26, 1940 near Park Valley, Saskatchewan) is a Métis author, playwright, broadcaster, filmmaker, and Elder. Campbell is a fluent speaker of four languages: Cree, Michif, Western Ojibwa, and English. Four of her publish ...

), Griffiths and Campbell created a new hybrid of theatre book, one which included the play ''Jessica'', as well as the personal and political process of its creation. Griffiths has also created collective work (''

Paper Wheat ''Paper Wheat'' is a play by the 25th Street Theatre Centre about the hard lives of early Saskatchewan settlers and the foundation of the wheat pools and the Co-op movement on the Canadian Prairies. The most successful stage show in Saskatchewan h ...

'', ''Les Maudits Anglais'') and published short stories (''The Speed Christmas'', ''Spiral Woman''). ''Sheer Nerve'', a collection of seven of her plays, was published in 1999.

Death

Griffiths died on the morning of 21 September 2014 at Toronto's

Bridgepoint Health Hennick Bridgepoint Hospital, formerly Bridgepoint Active Healthcare, is a complex care and rehabilitation hospital in Toronto. It is a member of the Sinai Health and affiliated with the University of Toronto In October 2021 Sinai Health announ ...

centre. She had

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

. While public records gave her birth year as 1956, CBC quoted her friend and caretaker,

Layne Coleman Layne Coleman is a Canadian actor, playwright and theatre director, most noted as a former artistic director of Theatre Passe Muraille. Originally from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, he first became prominent as a cofounder and artistic director ...

, as saying her actual birthdate was 7 October 1953.

Awards

Griffiths garnered five

Dora Mavor Moore Awards The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, Dance in Canada, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, ...

through her career, winning Outstanding New Play four times for ''Maggie and Pierre'' (1980), ''O.D. on Paradise'' (1983), ''Jessica'' (1986) and ''Alien Creature'' (2000), and Outstanding Performance in a Leading Role for ''Maggie and Pierre'' (1980). She was also a two-time winner of the

Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award The Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award was a Canadian literary award given to Canadian plays produced by any professional Canadian theatre company, and having performances in the Toronto area. The prize had a monetary value of $25,000, and wa ...

for ''Jessica'' and ''Alien Creature'', and a two-time nominee for the

Governor General's Award for English-language drama The Governor General's Award for English-language drama honours excellence in Canadian English-language playwriting. The award was created in 1981 when the Governor General's Award for English-language poetry or drama was divided. Because the awar ...

for ''The Darling Family'' (1991) and ''Alien Creature''. She was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Actress in 1984 for Charles Dennis's ''

''.

Plays

* ''Maggie & Pierre'' (1980; with Paul Thompson) * ''O.D. on Paradise'' (1982) * ''Jessica'' (1986; with Maria Campbell) * ''The Darling Family'' (1991) * ''A Game of Inches'' (1991) * ''Brother André's Heart'' (1992) * ''Spiral Women and the Dirty Theatre'' (1993) * ''The Duchess a.k.a. Wallis Simpson'' (1997) * ''Alien Creature: A Visitation from Gwendolyn MacEwen'' (1999) * ''Chronic'' (2003) * ''Baby Finger'' (2005) * ''Age of Arousal'' (2007) * ''The Last Dog of War'' (2010) * ''Heaven Above, Heaven Below'' (2013)

References

External links

*
Linda Griffiths
at the

Playwrights Guild of Canada Playwrights Guild of Canada (PGC) is a Canadian charity that works to advance the creative rights and interests of professional Canadian playwrights; promote Canadian plays, and foster community of writers. It was founded in 1972. History PGC has ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffiths, Linda 1953 births 2014 deaths Actresses from Montreal Anglophone Quebec people Canadian stage actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian film actresses Canadian women dramatists and playwrights Dawson College alumni Deaths from breast cancer Deaths from cancer in Ontario McGill University alumni Writers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian actresses 21st-century Canadian actresses 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian women writers