Tony Nardi | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Canadian |
Occupation(s) | Actor, playwright, stage director |
Years active | 1978–present |
Honours | 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal |
Tony Nardi is a Canadian actor, playwright, and theatre director based in Toronto, who has performed on stage and in film and television. [1] [2]
Fluent in four languages; he has appeared in French, Italian and English-language productions, including over 60 plays and 70 films and television series. He won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role twice, for La Sarrasine (which he co-wrote) [3] and My Father's Angel , with three additional nominations. [4]
His series of monologues, Two Letters...And Counting!, was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play and earned Nardi a nomination for the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre long list. [5] He has worked with Théâtre français de Toronto, Persephone Theatre, Great Canadian Theatre Company, and the Stratford Festival. [6] He has also taught Acting and Directing courses at the University of Toronto and York University. [7]
Nardi made his stage debut in a 1978 production of Solzhenitsyn, directed by Alexander Hausvater. Since then, he has performed in over 60 plays including For Those in the Peril on the Sea, Sandinista, Nineteen Eighty-Four , La Storia Calvino, A Flea in Her Ear and The Lesson.
He received a Montreal Gazette Critic's Award in 1979 for his role in an adaptation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Artistic Excellence – Collective – in 1985 for La Storia Calvino, garnered a Dora Award nomination in 2001 for his role in A Flea in Her Ear, and a Dora Award in 2002 for Outstanding Performance for his role in The Lesson. In 2007 he received a Best Actor Thespis Award for Two Letters.
His movie roles include Caffè Italia, Montréal , Concrete Angels , Cruising Bar , La Sarrasine , An Imaginary Tale , Mr. Aiello (La Déroute), My Father's Angel , Almost America , Corbo and Kiss Me Like a Lover (Embrasse-moi comme tu m'aimes), and his TV credits include Rossini's Ghost, Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants, Bonanno: A Godfather's Story, Almost America, Il Duce Canadese and Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis.
A four-time Genie Award nominee, he has won twice for Best Actor for roles in La Sarrasine (1992) [8] and My Father's Angel (2001), for which he had also received a Best Actor award at the Sonoma Wine and Country Film Festival in 2000. He received the Guy L’Écuyer Award for his role in La Déroute in 1998. In 2010, the year marking the 30th Genie Awards, he made the Academy's 30th Anniversary Top 10 list in the Lead Actor category in Canadian cinema – a ranking based on the number of wins and nominations over the 30-year period.
In television, he received a Gemini Award nomination in 2006 for his role in Il Duce Canadese and a Best Actor Award at the Geneva International Film Festival, Tous Écrans/All Screens, in 1999, for his role in Ken Finkleman's Foolish Heart .
Nardi is co-author with Vincent Ierfino of the play La Storia dell'Emigrante. Written in Calabrian, English and French, the play was the first in Canada (on record) written by an Italian-Canadian and addressing an Italian-Canadian reality. In 1982 La Storia dell'Emigrante received the first James Bullet Award for Best Original Canadian play at the Ontario Multicultural Theatre Festival.
A Modo Suo: A Fable, written in Calabrian in 1990, received a Dora Award nomination for Best Play. An English translation was published in its entirety in the Canadian Theatre Review in 2000.
He collaborated on the screenplays for La Sarrasine and La Déroute.
Two Letters (2006), two theatrical monologues based on two actual letters sent to a film/television producer and two theatre critics, [9] [10] [11] received a 2007 Dora Award Nomination for Outstanding New Play. "...And Counting!" - a postmortem of "Two Letters" and journey into the state of culture and funding in Canada [12] was presented in 2008 in Toronto and Montreal, at Factory Theatre and McGill University, respectively and in 2010 at the Festival TransAmeriques in Montreal. In 2008 he was nominated for a Siminovitch Prize in Theatre for playwriting. [13]
"Letter One", "Letter Two", and "...And Counting!" were filmed in front of a live audience and released respectively in 2011, 2013 and 2014. [14] "Letter One" was screened at Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois in Montreal in 2011, [15] at Hot Docs in Toronto in 2012 and the Italian Contemporary Film Festival at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2012. [16] "Letter Two" was screened at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival at TIFF in 2013. [17] "...And Counting!" was screened at the 2014 Italian Contemporary Italian Film Festival at TIFF. [18]
Nardi began teaching acting and directing courses in Autumn of 2017. He has instructed courses at the University of Toronto and University of Toronto Scarborough, and directed courses at York University. [7] He is a PhD candidate in Performance at the University of Toronto, [19] specializing in “the impact of cultural background and first language on performance in Canadian theatre, film and TV."
In 1992, Nardi received the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal, awarded to Canadians for significant contribution to their fellow citizens, to their community, or to Canada.
Nardi is multilingual. His primary languages are French and English, but he is also fluent in both Standard Italian and Calabrian. [20] Nardi lived in Montreal with Janne Mortil, [21] his former partner, in 1999-2000. [22]
Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1981 | Gas | Plant Manager | Les Rose | |
1982 | Deux super-dingues | Toto | Claudio Castravelli | |
1983 | Videodrome | Man at Conference | David Cronenberg | Uncredited |
1985 | Caffè Italia, Montréal | Paul Tana | ||
1987 | Concrete Angels | Sal | Carlo Liconti | Nominated- Genie Award for Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role |
1988 | Kalamazoo | Pasquale Globenski | André Forcier | |
Dreams Beyond Memory | Commercial Director | Andrzej Markiewicz | ||
1989 | Cruising Bar | Marcello | Robert Ménard | |
1989 | Speaking Parts | Eddy | Atom Egoyan | |
1989 | Brown Bread Sandwiches | Rogero | Carlo Liconti | |
1990 | An Imaginary Tale | Toni | André Forcier | |
1991 | The Adjuster | Motel Manager | Atom Egoyan | |
1992 | La Sarrasine | Giuseppe Moschella | Paul Tana | Also co-writer Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role |
1993 | Les Amoureuses | Nino | Johanne Prégent | |
1994 | Operation Golden Phoenix | Saul “The Lawyer” Silverstein | Jalal Merhi | |
1996 | La bruttina stagionata | Ian | Anna Di Francisca | |
1998 | Mr. Aiello (La déroute) | Joe Aiello | Paul Tana | Also co-writer Prix Guy-L'Écuyer for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role |
1999 | My Father's Angel | Ahmed | Davor Marjanovic | Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role |
2000 | Cold Blooded | Vidal | Randy Bradshaw | |
2001 | Almost America | Vincenzo De Vito | Antonio Frazzi Andrea Frazzi | |
2008 | Adoration | Principal Rollis | Atom Egoyan | |
2011 | Another Silence | Tony | Santiago Amigorena | |
Man on the Train | Loco | Mary McGuckian | ||
2012 | Havana 57 | Capt. Calzado | Jim Purdy | |
2013 | The Resurrection of Tony Gitone | Mario | Jerry Ciccoritti | |
2014 | Corbo | Nicola Corbo | Mathieu Denis | Nominated- Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated- Jutra Award for Best Supporting Actor |
The Big Fat Stone | Victor Rossi | Frank D'Angelo | ||
2015 | No Deposit | Det. Vincent Scartelli | ||
Sicilian Vampire | Little Anthony | |||
Born to Be Blue | Nicholas | Robert Budreau | ||
2016 | Kiss Me Like a Lover (Embrasses-moi comme tu m'aimes) | Élio | André Forcier | Nominated- Prix Iris for Best Supporting Actor |
2017 | The Neighborhood | Shorty | Frank D'Angelo | |
Hochelaga, Land of Souls | Mario Ricci | François Girard | ||
2018 | The Joke Thief | Francis Sellano | Frank D'Angelo | |
Bella Ciao! | Arnaldo | Carolyn Combs | ||
2019 | The Last Big Save | Guy Bouche | Frank D'Angelo | |
Making a Deal with the Devil | Merant | |||
From the Vine | Marcello | Sean Cisterna | ||
Mafia Inc. | Zizi “Z” Zippo | Daniel Grou |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1987-93 | Street Legal | Schultz / Phil Carrera | 2 episodes |
1990-93 | E.N.G. | Regossi / Frank Berman | 2 episodes |
1993 | Embrasse-moi, c'est pour la vie | Jean-René | Television film |
Armen and Bullik | Spicuzza | ||
1994 | Side Effects | Peter | Episode: “The Great Chendini” |
1996 | Rossini's Ghost | Duke Cesarini | Television film |
1997 | Kung Fu: The Legend Continues | Alvin Barnes | Episode: “May I Talk With You” |
Viper | Pete | Episode: “Manhunt” | |
In the Presence of Mine Enemies | Emmanuel | Television film | |
1998 | Da Vinci's Inquest | François | 4 episodes |
Loss of Faith | Victor | Television film | |
1999 | Foolish Heart | Judge James Schneller | 2 episodes |
Bonanno: A Godfather's Story | Joseph Bonanno (Ages 35–61) | Television film | |
2001 | Foreign Objects | Bureaucrat | Episode: “The Award” |
2002 | Escape from the Newsroom | Producer | Television film |
2003 | Platinum | Nick Tashijan | Main cast; Season 1 |
2004 | The Newsroom | Patrick | Episode: “Slow Burn” |
Il Duce Canadese | Angelo Alvaro | Miniseries; 2 episodes Nominated- Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in Dramatic Program or Mini-Series | |
2006 | Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis | John Ciaccia | Miniseries; 4 episodes |
2007 | Intelligence | Nick Jordan | 7 episodes |
2009-10 | Cra$h & Burn | Lindo | Recurring role; Season 1 |
2011 | Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants | Michelangelo | Television film |
Flashpoint | Cary McCarty | Episode: “A Day in the Life” | |
2011-12 | King | Chief Paul Graci | Main role; Seasons 1-2 |
2013 | Motive | Father Noel Barnett | Episode: “Fallen Angel” |
Played | Chief Inspector | Episode: “Cops” | |
2015 | Pirate's Passage | Immigration Officer (voice) | Television film |
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe | Johnny Hyde | ||
Year | Award/Association | Category | Work | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
1988 | Genie Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role | Concrete Angels | Nominated |
1992 | Genie Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role | La Sarrasine | Won |
1998 | Prix Guy-L'Écuyer Rendez-vous Québec Cinéma | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role | La Déroute | Won |
1999 | Genie Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role | La Déroute | Nominated |
1999 | Geneva International Film Festival Tous Ecrans | Best Actor | Foolish Heart | Won |
2000 | Wine Country Film Festival | Best Actor (Tied with Brendan Fletcher for My Father's Angel) | My Father's Angel | Won |
2001 | Genie Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role | My Father's Angel | Won |
2006 | Gemini Award | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program | Il Duce Canadese | Nominated |
2016 | Jutra Award | Best Supporting Actor | Corbo | Nominated |
Canadian Screen Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Corbo | Nominated | |
2017 | 19th Quebec Cinema Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Kiss Me Like a Lover (Embrasses-moi comme tu m'aimes) | Nominated |
Evalyn Parry is a Canadian performance-maker, theatrical innovator and singer-songwriter. She grew up in Toronto, Ontario in the Kensington Market neighbourhood. Her music combines elements of spoken word and folk.
Rebecca Northan is a Canadian actor, improviser, theatre director, and creative artist. She is known for playing the hippie mother Diane Macleod on the CTV & The Comedy Network sitcom Alice, I Think and for her role as Jane in the independent film Adult Adoption. She is a graduate of the University of Calgary, and an alumna of the Loose Moose Theatre Company where she did her improv training with Keith Johnstone.
Luke Farrell Kirby is an American-Canadian actor. He is best known for his role as Lenny Bruce in the Amazon Prime Video comedy-drama series The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series.
David Yee is a Canadian actor and playwright. His play lady in the red dress was a shortlisted nominee for the Governor General's Award for English language drama at the 2010 Governor General's Awards. His play carried away on the crest of a wave won this award at the 2015 Governor General's Awards. In 2023, David was named as the Laureate of the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre, which recognizes artists whose groundbreaking work is advancing the art form. The Siminovitch jury praised David's unique and prolific voice as well as his advocacy in the Asian Canadian community.
The Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in Toronto theatre.
The Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Production of a Play is an annual award celebrating achievements in live Canadian theatre.
La Sarrasine is a Canadian drama film, released in 1992. Directed by Paul Tana and written by Tana and Bruno Ramirez, the film stars Tony Nardi and Enrica Maria Modugno as Giuseppe and Ninetta Moschella, Italian immigrants in Montreal, Quebec. One day, Giuseppe breaks up a fight between a Sicilian tenant of the Moschellas' boarding house and Theo, a French Canadian labourer who is also the son-in-law of Giuseppe's friend Alphonse Lamoureux, and is put on trial for murder after his intervention results in Theo's accidental death.
Anusree Roy is a Canadian award-winning writer of plays, television, film and libretto. She is also an actress.
Ronald Pederson is a Canadian, Métis actor, comedian and theatre director who has worked extensively throughout Canada and in the United States. He has performed at most of Canada's major theatres including The Stratford Festival, The Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre, The Citadel Theatre, Alberta Theatre Projects, The Arts Club, The Vancouver Playhouse, The Young Centre, The Canadian Stage Company, The Tarragon Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille, Soulpepper and The SummerWorks Festival. Pederson is an alumni of Toronto’s The Second City and has also worked extensively in television and may be best known for his Canadian Comedy Award-nominated work and his three seasons on Fox Television's MADtv.
Brendan Gall is a Canadian writer, actor and producer living in Toronto, Ontario.
Tawiah Ben M'Carthy is a Ghanaian-born Canadian actor and playwright. He is best known for his 2012 play Obaaberima, a one-man play about growing up gay in Ghana.
Ben Carlson is a Canadian actor. Primarily associated with stage roles at the Stratford Festival, he won a Canadian Screen Award for Best Actor in a Television Film or Miniseries for his performance as Petruchio in the CBC Presents the Stratford Festival adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew.
Mr. Aiello is a Canadian drama film, directed by Paul Tana and released in 1998. The film stars Tony Nardi as Joe Aiello, a successful Italian Canadian businessman in Montreal whose life begins to unravel when his daughter, whom he has long expected to take over the company, announces her plan to drop out of business school to become a photographer.
Lee MacDougall is a Canadian actor, writer and theatre director. Originally from Kirkland Lake, Ontario, he studied at the University of Toronto and Ryerson University before launching his career as an actor.
Hugh Webster was a Scottish-born Canadian actor. He was most noted for his role in the film For Gentlemen Only, for which he and his costar Ed McNamara were joint winners of the Canadian Film Award for Best Actor in a Non-Feature at the 27th Canadian Film Awards in 1976.
Layne Coleman is a Canadian actor, playwright and theatre director, most noted as a former artistic director of Theatre Passe Muraille. Originally from North Battleford, Saskatchewan, he first became prominent as a cofounder and artistic director of the 25th Street Theatre in Saskatoon in the 1980s.
Paul Tana is an Italian-Canadian film director and screenwriter. He is most noted for his 1992 film La Sarrasine, which received ten Genie Award nominations at the 13th Genie Awards in 1992 including a nomination for Tana in the Best Original Screenplay category.
Joe Cobden is a Canadian actor and filmmaker. He started performing at age 10 as a street vaudevillian, touring festivals worldwide. In 1996, at age 17, Joe enrolled at Concordia University’s Theatre Performance Programme, in Montreal.
John Keith Gilbert was a Canadian actor, most noted as a Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee for Best Leading Actor in 1994 for his performance as Ebenezer Scrooge in Young People's Theatre's 1993 production of A Christmas Carol.
Daniel Krolik is a Canadian actor and playwright. He is most noted for his 2022 Toronto Fringe Festival play Gay for Pay with Blake & Clay, which he cowrote with Curtis Campbell and co-starred in with Jonathan Wilson.