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Janet Wright (March 8, 1945 – November 14, 2016) was an English-born Canadian actress and theatre director. She was best known for her role as Emma Leroy on the Canadian sitcom, Corner Gas. She performed in many film and television shows, and she also acted in, and directed, dozens of theatre productions in Saskatoon, Vancouver, and at the Stratford Festival.

Early life and education

Wright was born in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Wright grew up as the eldest of four siblings (the others being Susan, John, and Anne) who have all participated in Canadian theatre.

Career

Wright, along with her sister Susan, co-founded the Persephone Theatre company in Saskatoon in 1974. Wright's first husband, Brian Richmond, became the theatre's director. Wright later worked at the Vancouver Arts Club Theatre where she appeared in and directed more than 40 productions. She also appeared in several other productions in live theatre across Canada, and at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. Her theatre work eventually led to television and film roles in Canada and the United States.

In 1991, she performed at the Stratford Festival with her sisters Anne and Susan in Les Belles-soeurs, to positive reviews. In 1995, she was the first woman to play the title role in King Lear, for Canadian Stage in Toronto. Wright acted in the film Bordertown Café, for which she received a best actress Genie Award in 1992. In 2003 she was named best supporting actress in a dramatic program or miniseries at the Gemini Awards for her role in Betrayed.

From 2004 to 2009, she played Emma Leroy in the television series Corner Gas. In this role she won a 2006 Canadian Comedy Award for Pretty Funny TV Female. The show also won a Gemini Award in 2007.

Wright continued her involvement with the Vancouver Arts Club Theatre, directing several contemporary American plays, including Katori Hall's The Mountaintop and Ayad Akhtar's Disgraced in 2015. She continued acting from time to time at the Stratford Festival, lastly in 2011, when she played Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath.

Family

Wright's sister Susan was killed in a fire in 1991 in Stratford, Ontario, along with their parents, Jack and Ruth (née Preston) Wright.

In January 2004, Wright's daughter Rachel Davis (aged 23) was fatally shot while intervening for a stranger who was being beaten in front of the Purple Onion bar in Vancouver, B.C. In July 2006, the shooter was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder and five counts of aggravated assault. His first degree murder conviction triggered an automatic sentence of life imprisonment with no chance of parole until 2029.

Wright and her second husband, Bruce Davis, along with the rest of their family, started the Rachel Davis Foundation. The foundation presents an award to a young person (aged 17–23) who has demonstrated an outstanding act of kindness or compassion.

Death

Wright died on the morning of November 14, 2016, in Vancouver, aged 71, from undisclosed causes.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

1. "Theatre Review: Brighton Beach Memoirs" Archived 2016-11-20 at the Wayback Machine. Monday Magazine, Jul 29, 2013
2. ^ J. Kelly Nestruck, "Janet Wright played wise-cracking matriarch on Corner Gas", The Globe and Mail. November 14, 2016.
3. ^ "The Canadian Encyclopedia". Historica Canada. 2006-07-27. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
4. "Janet Wright: A look back at the theatre years". Vancouver Sun, Cylla von Tiedemann
5. "No gender rules for Rose's King Lear". Toronto Star, March 19, 1995.
6. ^ "Saskatoon arts icon, award-winning 'Corner Gas' star Janet Wright dead at 71", Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, November 14, 2016.
7. "DISGRACED". VancouverPlays, volume 135, September 2015.
8. "The Death of Susan Wright". Shakespeare Electronic Conference, Vol. 2, No. 336. 1991-12-31. Retrieved 2015-01-03.
9. "Gastown gunman convicted of 1st-degree murder". CBC News. 2006-07-27. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
10. "Rachel Davis Foundation". racheldavis.ca. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
11. "Award-winning 'Corner Gas' star Janet Wright dead at 71". CTV News. November 14, 2016.
12. Lauren La Rose, "Actor Janet Wright, Emma from Corner Gas is dead at 71", thestar.com, November 14, 2016.
13. ^ "awards database". academy.ca. Archived from the original on December 24, 2016. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
14. "Nominations & Awards Archives". Canadian Comedy Awards. The Canadian Comedy Foundation for Excellence. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
15. "Canadian comic performers to celebrate at annual awards". CBC News. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
16. "Nominations & Awards Archives". Canadian Comedy Awards. The Canadian Comedy Foundation for Excellence. Archived from the original on August 2, 2018. Retrieved October 21, 2017.

External links

• Janet Wright at IMDb
• Corner Gas official website - Janet Wright bio
• Rachel Davis Foundation

• 1945 births
• 2016 deaths
• Canadian film actresses
• Canadian Shakespearean actresses
• Canadian stage actresses
• Canadian television actresses
• Canadian theatre directors
• Canadian women theatre directors
• Canadian voice actresses
• Canadian expatriates in England
• Best Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners
• Actresses from Hampshire
• Actresses from Saskatoon
• English Shakespearean actresses
• English television actresses
• English theatre directors
• British women theatre directors
• English voice actresses
• English film actresses
• English emigrants to Canada
• People from Farnborough, Hampshire
• Canadian Comedy Award winners
• Best Supporting Actress in a Television Film or Miniseries Canadian Screen Award winners
• Actors from Rushmoor