Jackie Burroughs

Born in Southport, Lancashire (now Merseyside), England, on 2 February 1939, Burroughs emigrated to Canada with her family in 1951. She attended the University of Toronto before moving to New York City.^[1][2]

After returning to Canada, Burroughs started acting in live theatre at Ontario's Stratford Festival and Shaw Festival,^[1] including starring as Portia in The Merchant of Venice in 1976.^[3] Burroughs won the 1969 Canadian Film Award for best actress, for starring in the television film Dulcima.^[4] Burroughs acted in over 100 films and television programs, including a voice-over stint in the animated anthology Heavy Metal (1981), appearances in The Grey Fox (1982), and The Dead Zone (1983). Burroughs played the voice of The Spirit in 1985's The Care Bears Movie.^[1]

In 1987, Burroughs produced, directed, co-wrote, and starred in A Winter Tan, a film based on the letters of Maryse Holder, published in 1979 as the book Give Sorrow Words – Maryse Holder's Letters from Mexico, later receiving a Genie Award for best performance by an actress in a leading role for the film.^[1] She played role of Mrs. Amelia Evans in Anne of Green Gables (1985).^[5] She was perhaps best known for her portrayal of the fictional character, Hetty King, in the CBC Television series Road to Avonlea from 1990 to 1996. The series was based on the works of Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery.^[2] She also played Mother Mucca in the television adaptations of Armistead Maupin's More Tales of the City and Further Tales of the City. Burroughs again played a mother role in 2003's Willard.^[6]

In 2001, she was awarded the Earle Grey Award for her contributions to arts and entertainment over the years by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. In 2005, Burroughs received a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts.^[6] Over her career, Burroughs was nominated ten times and won seven, including four Gemini Awards and two Canadian Film Awards. Burroughs also won three Genie Awards.^[5]

Burroughs was married to Zalman Yanovsky, co-founder (with John Sebastian) of The Lovin' Spoonful; they separated in 1968. They had one daughter.^[2]

Burroughs died at her home in Toronto on 22 September 2010, aged 71, after suffering from stomach cancer.^[1]