Karen Robinson
Born (1968-02-29) February 29, 1968
London, England, UK
OccupationActress
Years active1994–present

Karen Robinson (born February 29, 1968) is a British-Canadian film, television, and stage actress.[1] She won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance in a Guest Role in a Drama Series at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019 for her appearance on the television series Mary Kills People.[2] She also won a 2021 Screen Actors Guild Award as part of the Schitt's Creek cast.

Early life

Born in London, England and raised in Jamaica, Robinson moved to Drumheller, Alberta with her family as a teenager.[1] She was active in the arts in childhood, including singing in choirs, acting in school plays and reciting at poetry readings, and studied communication and theatre at Mount Royal College in Calgary before beginning to work as a professional actress in the early 1990s.[3]

Theatrical work

On stage, she originated the role of Marie-Joseph Angélique in Lorena Gale's play Angélique in 1998,[4] for which she received a Betty Mitchell Award nomination for Best Actress in 1998.[5] In 2003, she originated the role of Lily in the Stratford Festival production of Timothy Findley's play Shadows;[6] the following year, she played Clytemnestra in three concurrent plays, Aeschylus's Agamemnon, Jean Giraudoux's Electra and Jean-Paul Sartre's The Flies.[1] In 2006, she received a Dora Mavor Moore Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Principal Role in a Play (Large Theatre) for her performance in Trevor Rhone's Two Can Play.[7]

In 2009, she played Prospera in a gender-flipped Dream in High Park production of William Shakespeare's The Tempest,[8] and won the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Play for her performance as Mrs. Muller in the Citadel Theatre production of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt.[9]

She has also appeared in productions of M. NourbeSe Philip's Coups and Calypsos,[10] George F. Walker's Problem Child,[11] Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream,[12] Djanet Sears's Harlem Duet,[13] Beth Graham's The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble[14] and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.[15]

Film and television

Her film appearances have included Against the Ropes, Love, Sex and Eating the Bones, Who Killed Atlanta's Children?, Owning Mahowny, Short Hymn, Silent War, Lars and the Real Girl, Final Jeopardy and Defund. My Louisiana Sky(2001)

On television, she has had regular roles as Carlos's mother in The Line, Ingrid Evans in King, Hani Suleman in Shoot the Messenger, Mildred Clarke in Frankie Drake Mysteries and Ronnie Lee in Schitt's Creek. She also has a recurring role as Cassandra Shaw in the Hallmark Movie & Mystery Channel's series Morning Show Mysteries based on the books by Al Roker. She received a Gemini Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Television Film or Miniseries at the 26th Gemini Awards in 2011 for her performance as Cherlene in The Gospel According to the Blues.[16] In 2020, she appeared on Star Trek: Discovery as well as Tiny Pretty Things, and in the drama series Pretty Hard Cases. She also has a recurring role in season 3 of A Million Little Things. In 2021 she had a recurring role as Margarita Vee in the Titans TV series on HBOmax.

In 2024 she is slated to appear as police inspector Vivienne Holness in Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent.[17]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref
1996 Dora Mavor Moore Award Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Play (Mid Size Theater) Riot Won [18]
1998 Betty Mitchell Award Best Actress Angélique Nominated [5]
2006 Dora Mavor Moore Award Outstanding Performance by a Female in a Principal Role in a Play (Large Theater) Two Can Play [19]
2007 NAACP Theater Awards Best Ensemble Award Da KINK in My Hair Won [20][21]
2009 Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award Best Supporting Actress in a Play Doubt [9]
2009 Dora Mavor Moore Award Outstanding Performance by a Female Eternal Hydra Nominated [19]
2011 Gemini Awards Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series The Gospel According to the Blues [21]
2012 Salento International Film Festival Best Actress Ghett'A Life Won [21]
2013 Betty Mitchell Award Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Drama Intimate Apparel Nominated [22]
2013/2014 Dora Mavor Moore Award Outstanding Performance - Ensemble Minotaur [23]

[21]

2019 Canadian Screen Awards Best Guest Performance, Drama Series Mary Kills People Won [24]
2019 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Schitt's Creek Nominated [25]
2020 ACTRA Award Outstanding Performance - Female Forgive Me Pending [26]
Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series Schitt's Creek Won [27]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ouzounian, Richard (24 May 2003). "First role came at five days old". Toronto Star. p. H12.
  2. ↑ "The Winners: Canadian Screen Awards Presented For Creative Fiction Storytelling". ET Canada, March 28, 2019.
  3. ↑ "Karen Robinson is King". Toronto.com, April 2, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Angry play sheds light on Canada's role in slavery". Calgary Herald, February 9, 1998.
  5. 1 2 "ATP leads awards parade". Calgary Herald, July 18, 1998.
  6. ↑ "Performances rise above plays' limitations". Waterloo Region Record, August 28, 2002.
  7. ↑ "General Theatre major nominations". Toronto Star, June 7, 2006.
  8. ↑ "Tempest with a twist". Toronto Star, July 6, 2009.
  9. 1 2 "Ovation for excellence in theatre". Edmonton Journal, June 23, 2009.
  10. ↑ "Theatre Review: Coups and Calypsos". The Globe and Mail, May 15, 1997.
  11. ↑ "Play takes on the system". Calgary Herald, October 27, 2000.
  12. ↑ "A Dream worth remembering". National Post, November 3, 2001.
  13. ↑ "Playing the race bard". National Post, July 10, 2006.
  14. ↑ "How she forgets; The Gravitational Pull of Bernice Trimble deftly avoids becoming a clinical study of early-onset Alzheimer's". National Post, November 16, 2013.
  15. ↑ "The last laugh; The tragedy behind the comedy of The Importance of Being Earnest". Ottawa Citizen, October 15, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Gemini nominations announced: Flashpoint leads, once again, and controversial Kennedys miniseries gets some nods". Toronto Life, August 4, 2011.
  17. ↑ Peter White, "‘Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent’ Sets Cast". Deadline Hollywood, October 16, 2023.
  18. ↑ "Recipients". TAPA. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  19. 1 2 "Nominees". TAPA. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  20. ↑ Stitt, Eric (2007-02-21). "NAACP fetes Fishburne, Pettiford". Variety. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  21. 1 2 3 4 "Karen Robinson | Biographies". nac-cna.ca. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  22. ↑ "The Betty Mitchell Awards | Past Winners". bettymitchellawards. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  23. ↑ "Nominees & Recipients". TAPA. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  24. ↑ "Karen Robinson". Academy.ca. 2019-02-07. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  25. ↑ "Nominations Announced for the 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards ® | Screen Actors Guild Awards". www.sagawards.org. Retrieved 2019-12-11.
  26. ↑ "The 18th Annual ACTRA Awards in Toronto Nominees | ACTRA Toronto". Retrieved 2020-02-03.
  27. ↑ "2021 SAG Awards: The Complete Nominations List". 4 February 2021.
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