Tonya Williams (born July 12, 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 ...
actress, producer, director and activist. Sometimes credited as Tonya Lee Williams, she is best known for her role as Dr.
Olivia Barber Olivia Barber may refer to:
* Olivia Barber, an alternative name for Olivia Winters, a fictional character from the soap opera ''The Young and the Restless''
* Olivia Barber (footballer) Olivia Barber may refer to:
* Olivia Barber, an alternative na ...
Winters on the American daytime drama ''
The Young and the Restless
''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, Wi ...
'' from 1990 to 2005 and 2007 to 2012. She is the founder and executive director of
Reelworld Film Festival.
Early life
Williams was born in London, England to
Jamaican parents. She lived in London and
Kingston, Jamaica
Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...
as a young child. At age five, she contracted
rheumatic fever
Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a streptococcal throat infection. Signs and symptoms include fever, multiple painful jo ...
; she and her mother then moved to
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
. In 1969 she and her family settled in
Oshawa
Oshawa ( , also ; 2021 population 175,383; CMA 415,311) is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the Lake Ontario shoreline. It lies in Southern Ontario, approximately east of Downtown Toronto. It is commonly viewed as the eastern anchor of the G ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. As a teenager she modeled in
Eaton's
The T. Eaton Company Limited, later known as Eaton's, was a Canadian department store chain that was once the largest in the country. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an immigrant from what is now Northern Ireland. Eaton's grew ...
catalogues and danced on a television series called ''Boogie!'' which ran on
Citytv
Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television Ass ...
. In 1977 Williams was crowned Miss Black Ontario.
Williams was married to Robert Simpson from 1983 to 1991, but she has never remarried.
Career
Williams' television debut was as a host of the Canadian children's show ''
Polka Dot Door
Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas.
History
Etymology
The term ...
'', from 1980 to 1983, after graduating from
Ryerson Polytechnical Institute
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...
in 1979. Appearances on the television series ''
Check it Out!'' and ''
Generations
A generation is "all of the people born and living at about the same time, regarded collectively."
Generation or generations may also refer to:
Science and technology
* Generation (particle physics), a division of the elementary particles
* Gen ...
'' followed. Her involvement on ''Generations'' snagged her a role on ''The Young and the Restless'', and has become her most lucrative role. Williams won the
in 2000 and 2002.
Williams appeared on ''
A Very Brady Christmas
''A Very Brady Christmas'' is a 1988 American made-for-television Christmas comedy-drama film directed by Peter Baldwin and starring Robert Reed, Florence Henderson, Ann B. Davis, Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, Christopher Knight, Eve Plumb, ...
'' as Cindy's roommate.
In March 2004, Williams hosted the special event program ''Tonya Lee Williams: Gospel Jubilee'' on
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 ...
. She is a member of
Sigma Gamma Rho
Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc. () is a historically African American sorority, international collegiate, and non-profit community service organization that was founded on November 12, 1922, by seven educators on the Irvington campus (1875–1 ...
sorority.
Williams is the founder, executive and artistic director of the
Reelworld Film Festival, an annual film festival in
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 ...
that features talent from ethnically diverse communities.
Filmography
Film and television appearances
Executive producer
Director
Writer
Awards and nominations
* 1996:
– Nomination
* 1996:
– Nomination
* 1997: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Nomination
* 1998: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Nomination
* 1999: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Nomination
* 2000: Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – Nomination
* 2000: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Win
* 2001: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Nomination
* 2002: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Win
* 2003: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Nomination
* 2004: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Nomination
* 2005: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Nomination
* 2005: ACTRA National Award of Excellence
* 2006: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Nomination
* 2009: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Nomination
* 2010: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Nomination
* 2011: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Nomination
* 2012: NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series – Nomination
* 2012:
Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award for her film and television artistic contributions.
*2012:
Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award Winner
References
External links
Tonya Lee Williams: Gospel Jubilee, from cbc.ca*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Tonya Lee
1958 births
Black Canadian actresses
Canadian film actresses
Canadian soap opera actresses
Canadian television actresses
English emigrants to Canada
Canadian people of Jamaican descent
Canadian expatriates in England
Living people
Actresses from London
Actresses from Oshawa
Toronto Metropolitan University alumni
Film festival founders