Robert Joy (born August 17, 1951) is a Canadian

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

. He is best known for his role as

medical examiner The medical examiner is an appointed official in some American jurisdictions who is trained in pathology that investigates deaths that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictio ...

Sid Hammerback on the police procedural series ''

CSI: NY ''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...

'', and his appearances in the films ''

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

'' (1980), ''

Ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

'' (1981), ''

Desperately Seeking Susan ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' is a 1985 American comedy-drama film directed by Susan Seidelman and starring Rosanna Arquette, Aidan Quinn and Madonna. Set in New York City, the plot involves the interaction between two women – a bored housew ...

'' (1985), ''

Land of the Dead ''Land of the Dead'' (also known as ''George A. Romero's Land of the Dead'') is a 2005 post-apocalyptic horror film written and directed by George A. Romero; the fourth of Romero's six '' Living Dead'' movies, it is preceded by ''Night of the Li ...

'' (2005), and ''

The Hills Have Eyes ''The Hills Have Eyes'' is an American horror franchise that consists of four horror films, as well as a graphic novel and merchandise. The first film was released in 1977, '' The Hills Have Eyes''; the series was rebooted in a 2006 remake. T ...

'' (2006). He is a two-time

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 ...

nominee for Best Supporting Actor; for ''Atlantic City'' and ''

Whole New Thing ''Whole New Thing'' is a 2005 Canadian drama film directed by Amnon Buchbinder. The film is a coming-of-age narrative about a 13-year-old boy, Emerson Thorsen (played by Aaron Webber) who lives in an isolated straw-bale house with his counter-cult ...

''. Joy has also worked extensively on the stage, particularly in

Shakespearean 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 ...

productions, in both Canada and the United States. Earlier in his career, he was closely affiliated with

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

comedy troupe

CODCO ''CODCO'' is a Canadian comedy troupe from Newfoundland, best known for a sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 1988 to 1993.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 ...

, Canada and grew up in St. John's,

. He is the son of Flora Louise (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Pike) and Dr. Clifton Joseph Joy, a physician and politician."Robert Joy Biography (1951–)"
Film Reference. Retrieved February 10, 2009. He attended

Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517, it is the 12th ...

, on a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

and

Memorial University of Newfoundland Memorial University of Newfoundland, also known as Memorial University or MUN (), is a public university in the province of Newfoundland and Labrador, based in St. John's, with satellite campuses in Corner Brook, elsewhere in Newfoundland and ...

Career

Joy played

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...

's punk musician boyfriend Jim in 1985's ''

'', and the Dutch-Israeli Hans in the 1986 Alliance/CTV production ''

Sword of Gideon ''Sword of Gideon'' is a 1986 Canadian television film about Mossad agents hunting down terrorists associated with the 1972 Munich massacre. It was first shown on the CTV Television Network in Canada as a four-hour miniseries and later on HBO i ...

'', an adaptation of

George Jonas George Jonas, CM (June 15, 1935 – January 10, 2016) was a Hungarian-born Canadian writer, poet, and journalist. A self-described classical liberal, he authored 16 books, including the bestseller '' Vengeance'' (1984), the story of an Israeli ...

's book '' Vengeance''. In 1998, he appeared in

Gregory Hoblit Gregory King Hoblit (born November 27, 1944) is an American film director, television director and television producer. He is best known for directing the films '' Primal Fear'', ''Fallen'', ''Frequency'', ''Hart's War'', ''Fracture'', and ''Un ...

's thriller ''

Fallen Fallen may refer to: People * Carl Fredrik Fallén (1764–1830), Swedish botanist and entomologist * Gabriel Toledo (born 1991), known as FalleN, Brazilian ''Counter-Strike'' player Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities * Fallen ( ...

'', where he fit into the all-star cast that included

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (born 17 July 1935) is a Canadian actor whose film career spans over six decades. He has been nominated for nine Golden Globe Awards, winning two for his performances in the television films ''Citizen X'' (1995) an ...

James Gandolfini James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. For his role as Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'', he won three Emmy Awards, five Scree ...

, and

John Goodman John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He gained national fame for his role as the family patriarch Dan Conner in the ABC comedy series '' Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018), for which he received a Golden Globe Award, an ...

. In 2005, he had a lead role as the simple-minded

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with "marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" i ...

Charlie Houx in

George A. Romero George Andrew Romero (; February 4, 1940 – July 16, 2017) was an American-Canadian filmmaker, writer, editor and actor. His ''Night of the Living Dead'' series of films about an imagined zombie apocalypse began with the 1968 film of the ...

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: , ht, zonbi) is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. Zombies are most commonly found in horror and fantasy genre works. The term comes from Haitian folklore, in whic ...

film ''

''. In the fall of 2005, Joy joined the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the protagonist(s), as contrasted with other genres that focus on eith ...

series ''

'' during its second season as a recurring character, Dr. Sid Hammerback, the

Chief Medical Examiner The medical examiner is an appointed official in some American jurisdictions who is trained in pathology that investigates deaths that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdictio ...

, and became a main cast member in season five. Joy stated, "I basically read the script and then look up everything on Wikipedia that I don't know, and try to find out how to pronounce all the long words and get my head around actually what it is that I'm conveying, because often my character has a lot of explaining to do." In 2006, Joy appeared onscreen in

Alexandre Aja Alexandre Jouan-Arcady, known professionally as Alexandre Aja, (; born 7 August 1978) is a French filmmaker best known for his work in the horror film, horror genre. He rose to international stardom for his 2003 horror film ''High Tension, Haute ...

's remake of ''

'' where he portrays a mutant named Lizard. He also starred as Ted Bedworth, father of

Samaire Armstrong Samaire Rhys Armstrong ( ) is an American actress and fashion designer. She is known for her roles in ''Stay Alive'', ''The O.C.'', ''It's a Boy Girl Thing'', and as Juliet Darling in the ABC television series, ''Dirty Sexy Money''. She has appea ...

's character Nell Bedworth, in the 2006 romantic comedy ''

It's a Boy Girl Thing ''It's a Boy Girl Thing'' is a 2006 romantic comedy film directed by Nick Hurran and written by Geoff Deane, starring Kevin Zegers and Samaire Armstrong and set in the United States but produced in the United Kingdom. The producers of the film are ...

''. In 2007, Joy played the character of Colonel Stevens in '' Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem''. He appeared as Dr. Stephen Hawking in the comedy '' Superhero Movie'' in 2008. In addition to his acting, Joy was frequently associated with the Newfoundland-based

CODCO ''CODCO'' is a Canadian comedy troupe from Newfoundland, best known for a sketch comedy series which aired on CBC Television from 1988 to 1993.stage Stage or stages may refer to: Acting * Stage (theatre), a space for the performance of theatrical productions * Theatre, a branch of the performing arts, often referred to as "the stage" * ''The Stage'', a weekly British theatre newspaper * Sta ...

shows and appearing as a guest performer in the series. He also co-starred in the 1986 Andy Jones film, ''

The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood ''The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood'' is a 1986 surreal Canadian comedy film directed by Andy Jones and written by Andy and Mike Jones, with the collaboration of a number of workshop participants. It stars Andy Jones and Greg Malone. Plot An ...

'', the only film that features the entire cast of CODCO. He appeared as himself in the 2012 documentary film '' That Guy... Who Was in That Thing''. Joy has had on-going stage engagements on Broadway and throughout US, most recently appearing as Charles in ''

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

'' at Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, DC (February 7 - March 18, 2017). and as Crito and the poet Mellitus in “Socrates” at The Public Theater, New York, NY, which ran from April through June 3, 2019.

Personal life

Joy is divorced from actress Mary Joy. They have one daughter, Ruby Joy, who is an actress. In the summer of 2011, Joy and his daughter performed together in Shakespeare's '' The Tempest''. Joy was formerly the partner of actor William Duff-Griffin, who died from prostate cancer on November 13, 1994, and has been in a relationship with Broadway composer

Henry Krieger Henry Krieger (born February 9, 1945 in New York City) is an American musical theatre composer. He most notably wrote the music for the Broadway shows ''Dreamgirls'' (1981, with lyrics and book by Tom Eyen), ''The Tap Dance Kid'' (1983), and ''Si ...

since 1995.Doolan, Susan (June 11, 2011)
"Joy gets to join his daughter on stage"
''The Barrie Examiner'' (Barrie, Ontario, Canada). Retrieved June 15, 2011.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joy, Robert 1951 births 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian male actors Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Anglophone Quebec people Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian male video game actors Canadian gay actors Living people Male actors from Montreal Male actors from Newfoundland and Labrador Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni Newfoundland Rhodes Scholars People from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador