Theresa Tova

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Theresa Tova (born 1955) is a Canadian actress, singer and playwright. [1] She is most noted for her play Still the Night, which won several Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 1997 [2] and was a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 1999 Governor General's Awards. [3]

Contents

Early life and education

The daughter of Polish Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, Tova was born in Paris, France, and raised in Calgary, Alberta. [4] She studied acting at the University of Alberta. [5]

Career

Primarily a stage and musical theatre actress, she also had a role in the television series E.N.G. in the early-1990s as Marge Atherton, for which she received a Gemini Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role at the 8th Gemini Awards in 1993. [6]

Still the Night, a musical play which combined Jewish music, including vaudeville and klezmer, with the story of two young girls surviving the Holocaust in the forests of Poland, was staged in 1996 by Theatre Passe Muraille. [4] It won four Dora Awards in the Mid-Sized Theatre division in 1997, for outstanding new play or musical, outstanding production, outstanding music (John Alcorn) and outstanding female performance in a musical (Liza Balkan). [2]

Tova has continued to act on stage, including productions of They're Playing Our Song , Fiddler on the Roof and The Diary of Anne Frank , [1] as well as in supporting television, film and web series roles. In 2017, she was elected president of the Toronto chapter of ACTRA. [7]

She was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Lead Performance in a Web Program or Series at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022 for the web series For the Record . [8]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1980 Deadline Honey
1983 Curtains Inmate
1984 Unfinished Business Sally
1985 Eleni Katis' Daughter
1985 Head Office Woman Protestor
1985Big DealIris Leach
1986 Dancing in the Dark Nosey Neighbor
1990Love & MurderEvelyn
1992 This Is My Life Rochelle
2005 Lie with Me Wedding Singer
2012In ReturnSandy
2013 It Was You Charlie Sandra
2019Mistletoe & MenorahsTovah
2020 Akilla's Escape Athena
2022Christmas Lucky CharmMrs. Barnett
TBAMeet Me Next ChristmasDebra

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1982 Hangin' In DeniseEpisode: "Make Room for Mommy"
1985 Seeing Things GloriaEpisode: "Defective Vision"
1989–1994 E.N.G. Marge Atherton96 episodes
1993 Taking the Heat MaryTelevision film
1994Against Their WillCaptain Cooney
1994 Forever Knight Ms. SheppardEpisode: "Undue Process"
1995Degree of GuiltDr. SheltonTelevision film
1997 Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Women The Abbess
2005 G-Spot MickeyEpisode: "Stalker"
2007 ReGenesis Dr. LangEpisode: "I Dream of Genomes"
2009 Producing Parker Jack Cartwright / JackieEpisode: "Eat, Pray, Parker"
2010–2011 Bolts and Blip Olga26 episodes
2014 The Strain BeverlyEpisode: "Loved Ones"
2014 Meet the Family Mom3 episodes
2016Group HomeDr. GinsbergTelevision film
2018ClaireVoyantMadame Sonnom9 episodes
2019 Anne with an E Madam LyudmilaEpisode: "The Summit of My Desires"
2020 For the Record Fiona2 episodes
2022 Good Sam AnnaEpisode: "Truce"
2022 Pretty Hard Cases ZorkaEpisode: "Crystal Ball"
2022 Workin' Moms ER DoctorEpisode: "The Break"
2023 Shelved Michaela RamosEpisode: "Moby Dick FICTION MEL"
2023The Wedding RuleFayeTelevision film

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References

  1. 1 2 "Tova, Theresa". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, 2009.
  2. 1 2 "Hit musical captures seven awards. A great time for Ragtime". The Globe and Mail , September 30, 1997.
  3. "Governor-General's award nominees". Vancouver Sun , October 20, 1999.
  4. 1 2 "History haunts the present in new Holocaust drama". Toronto Star , October 31, 1996.
  5. Jaffe-Gill, Ellen (2005-12-15). "Tova's Songs Good for Yiddish's Image". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  6. "Bewitching music from E.N.G. film editor Tova". Toronto Star , January 29, 1993.
  7. "Theresa Tova Elected President of ACTRA Toronto". Canada NewsWire , January 4, 2017.
  8. Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada , February 15, 2022.