Ron James (born 1958) 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 ...

stand-up comedian Stand-up comedy is a comedic performance to a live audience in which the performer addresses the audience directly from the stage. The performer is known as a comedian, a comic or a stand-up. Stand-up comedy consists of one-liners, stories, ...

Early life and career

James was born in

Glace Bay, Nova Scotia Glace Bay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Glasbaidh'') is a community in the eastern part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality in Nova Scotia, Canada. It forms part of the general area referred to as Industrial Cape Breton. Formerly an incorporated t ...

; his family later moved to Halifax during his youth. He attended

Acadia University Acadia University is a public, predominantly undergraduate university located in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada, with some graduate programs at the master's level and one at the doctoral level. The enabling legislation consists of the Acadi ...

, studying history and political science with the intention of becoming a history teacher. During his time at Acadia he came under the influence of Evelyn Garbary, who headed the theatre program, as a result of a course he was taking. After graduating, he moved to

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 anch ...

and joined

The Second City The Second City is an improvisational comedy enterprise and is the oldest ongoing improvisational theater troupe to be continually based in Chicago, with training programs and live theatres in Toronto and Los Angeles. The Second City Theatre o ...

troupe there, working with them during the 1980s. In 1989, he received a

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 sc ...

nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the

10th Genie Awards The 10th Genie Awards were held on March 22, 1989."Dead Ringers tops at Genies". ''Montreal Gazette'', March 23, 1989. This was in the middle of a strike at the CBC, causing the ceremony to be scaled down and several nominees to boycott the awards ...

, for his performance in the film '' Something About Love''. He later moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

during the early 1990s for three years and got a spot on a late-night syndicated series produced by Ron Howard’s Imagine TV, where he landed the role of Bucky Fergus, a Canadian transplant who worked for the City of Derby, Wisconsin in the Talk parody sitcom ''

My Talk Show ''My Talk Show'' is a daily comedic parody talk/variety television program that ran in first-run syndication from September 1990 to March 1991 in the United States and Canada. The series was produced by Second City Entertainment, Imagine Entertai ...

'', which ran from 1990 to 1991 (in one episode, he bonded with another Canadian,

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...

, after he used Canadian phrases and sayings Shatner recognized). After that show was cancelled, he made some guest appearances in TV shows (such as '' Get A Life'' and ''

Wings A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is expre ...

'') and an appearance in the movie ''

Ernest Rides Again ''Ernest Rides Again'' is a 1993 American comedy film written and directed by John Cherry and starring Jim Varney. The sixth film to feature the character Ernest P. Worrell, the fifth in the ''Ernest'' series. The plot follows Ernest and a histo ...

'' but mostly experienced rejection during this time while incurring sizable debts. He returned to Canada in 1993 and turned his experience in L.A. into a stage show in 1994 called ''Up & Down in Shaky Town: One Man's Journey through the California Dream'', which was also shown as a special on

The Comedy Network CTV Comedy Channel (often shortened to CTV Comedy and formerly known as The Comedy Network) is a Canadian English-language specialty channel owned by Bell Media which focuses primarily on comedy programming. The channel first launched on Octob ...

. Afterwards, he came across the work of Scottish comedian

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

, whose style helped shape his own and inspired him to start doing stand-up.

Other work and awards

He has also done voice work in animation for shows including '' Star Wars: Ewoks'' and '' RoboCop: The Animated Series''. James also played a bank security guard in ''

Tommy Boy ''Tommy Boy'' is a 1995 American buddy adventure comedy film directed by Peter Segal, written by Bonnie and Terry Turner, produced by Lorne Michaels, and starring former ''Saturday Night Live'' castmates and close friends Chris Farley and David ...

''.

CBC Live at Sherway Ron James Johnny Harris

James starred in the television series '' Blackfly'' and '' Made in Canada'', and won two

Canadian Comedy Awards The Canadian Comedy Awards (CCA) is an annual ceremony that awards the Beaver for achievements in Canadian comedy in live performance, radio, film, television, and Internet media. The awards were founded and produced by Tim Progosh in 2000. T ...

for Best Stand-up (2000) and Best One Person Show for his stand-up show ''The Road Between My Ears'' in 2004. He has also won a

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 ...

as part of the writing team for '' This Hour Has 22 Minutes'' and received a

nomination for best supporting actor in the film ''Something About Love''. He had his own

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- ...

series, ''

The Ron James Show ''The Ron James Show'' is a Canadian television comedy show, which debuted on CBC Television on September 25, 2009. Starring comedian Ron James, the show intersperses filmed and stage sketches with clips of James performing his stand-up routi ...

'', from 2009 to 2014. James has appeared at the Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, as a headliner with his own show. A book by Ron James, titled ''All Over the Map: Rambles and Ruminations from the Canadian Road'' was published by Doubleday Canada on September 28, 2021. It was an immediate national bestseller, entering the Canadian non-fiction list at number eight on the week of its release.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Ron 1958 births Living people 20th-century Canadian comedians 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian comedians 21st-century Canadian male actors Canadian Comedy Award winners Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States Canadian male comedians Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian stand-up comedians Comedians from Nova Scotia Male actors from Nova Scotia People from Glace Bay