Robert Joy (born August 17, 1951) is a Canadian actor. 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 and investigates deaths that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdicti ...

Sid Hammerback on the police procedural series '' CSI: NY'', and his appearances in the films ''

Atlantic City Atlantic City, sometimes referred to by its initials A.C., is a Jersey Shore seaside resort city in Atlantic County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Atlantic City comprises the second half of the Atlantic City- Hammonton metropolitan sta ...

'' (1980), ''

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

'' (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'' (2005), and '' The Hills Have Eyes'' (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), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

nominee for Best Supporting Actor; for ''Atlantic City'' and '' Whole New Thing''. Joy has also worked extensively on the stage, particularly in

Shakespearean William Shakespeare ( 23 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 is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

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 is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

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

. He is the son of Flora Louise (

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

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 by Richard Fo ...

, on a

Rhodes Scholarship The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is ...

and

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

Career

Joy played

Madonna Madonna Louise Ciccone ( ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. Referred to as the "Queen of Pop", she has been recognized for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, ...

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

'', and the Dutch-Israeli Hans in the 1986 Alliance/CTV production '' Sword of Gideon'', an adaptation of George Jonas's book '' Vengeance''. In 1998, he appeared in Gregory Hoblit's thriller '' 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, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

Donald Sutherland Donald McNichol Sutherland (17 July 1935 – 20 June 2024) was a Canadian actor. With a career spanning six decades, he received List of awards and nominations received by Donald Sutherland, numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award ...

James Gandolfini James John Gandolfini (; September 18, 1961June 19, 2013) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Tony Soprano, the Italian-American American Mafia, Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series ''The Sopranos'' (1999–2007 ...

, and

John Goodman John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He rose to prominence in television before becoming an acclaimed and popular film actor. Goodman has received List of awards and nominations received by John Goodman, various acc ...

. 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" ...

Charlie Houx in George A. Romero's

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

film '' Land of the Dead''. In the fall of 2005, Joy joined the

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

police procedural The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agency, law enforcement agencies ...

series '' CSI: NY'' during its second season as a recurring character, Dr. Sid Hammerback, the Chief Medical Examiner, 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 genre. He rose to international stardom for his 2003 horror film '' Haute Tension'' (known as ''Hi ...

's remake of '' The Hills Have Eyes'' where he portrays a mutant named Lizard. He also starred as Ted Bedworth, father of Samaire Armstrong's character Nell Bedworth, in the 2006 romantic comedy '' It's a Boy Girl Thing''. 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 ''Superhero Movie'' is a 2008 American superhero parody film written and directed by Craig Mazin, produced by Robert K. Weiss and David Zucker, and starring Drake Bell, Sara Paxton, Christopher McDonald, Kevin Hart, Brent Spiner, Jeffrey Ta ...

'' 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.The Adventure of Faustus Bidgood'', 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. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

'' 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 2019 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 ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

''. Joy was formerly the partner of actor William Duff-Griffin, who died from

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

on November 13, 1994. Joy has been in a relationship with Broadway composer Henry Krieger 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 LGBTQ people 20th-century Canadian male actors 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century Canadian male actors Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Anglophone Quebec people Canadian gay actors Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male video game actors Canadian male voice actors Canadian Rhodes Scholars Living people Male actors from Montreal Male actors from Newfoundland and Labrador Memorial University of Newfoundland alumni Entertainers from St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador