Walter Borden

Last updated
Walter Borden
CM ONS
Walter Borden CTM Interview 2018.jpg
Borden in 2018
Born
Walter Marven Borden

(1942-07-20) July 20, 1942 (age 83)
New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Canada
Occupation(s)Actor, poet, playwright

Walter Marven Borden CM ONS (born July 20, 1942) is a Canadian actor, poet, and playwright. He is originally from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. [1] His film and television credits include Nurse.Fighter.Boy , The Event , Gerontophilia , Lexx and Platinum .

Contents

Most prominent as a stage actor, he joined Halifax's Neptune Theatre company in 1972. [2] He has since appeared in stage productions across Canada, including William Shakespeare's Hamlet , Richard III , A Midsummer Night's Dream , The Merchant of Venice and Henry VIII , Aeschylus' Agamemnon , Jean-Paul Sartre's The Flies , James Weldon Johnson's God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse , Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof , and Djanet Sears' Harlem Duet and The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God . [2] Since 2003, he has been a member of the Stratford Festival of Canada. [2]

He has also recorded and released an album, Walter Borden Reads Shakespeare's Sonnets to the Music of Fernando Sor, in collaboration with classical guitarist Paul Martell.

Personal life

Openly gay, [1] he also wrote and performed his own autobiographical play Tightrope Time: Ain't Nuthin' More Than Some Itty Bitty Madness Between Twilight and Dawn, one of the first plays in the history of Black Canadian literature to directly present themes of male homosexuality. [1]

In 2023, the "tour de force" work The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time had a cross-provincial showing from Halifax, Toronto to Ottawa directed by virtuoso director Peter Hinton [3] It was later published by Nimbus Publishing [4]

His later writing credits include Testifyin' and Tellin' It Like It Is. [2]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1998One Heart Broken Into SongReverend Skinner
2000Our Daily BreadSam Downey(TV Movie)
Blessed Stranger: After Flight 111Grieving Father(TV Movie)
2001The Feast of All SaintsGrampere Lermontant(TV Movie)
Passion and PrejudiceMr. Peterson(TV Movie)
2003 The Event Fred
2008 Nurse.Fighter.Boy Horace
2012100 MusiciansNarration (voice)(Short film)
2013 Gerontophilia Melvyn Peabodydirected by Bruce LaBruce
A Dark MatterThe Demon
2015Grandpa Was HereGrandpa(Short film)
The Hexecutioners Mr. Poolewritten by Tony Burgess, directed by Milos Somborac
2012GUIONJohn Brice(Short film)

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1996-1997 Lexx: The Dark Zone Stories His Divine Shadow2 episodes
1997-2002 Lexx His Divine Shadow / Dr. Ernst Longbore / Dr. Ernst W. Longbore9 episodes, part of main cast
2003 Platinum Alderman Ray1 episode, aired on UPN
2004-2005 Da Boom Crew Additional voices13 episodes, Canadian/American children's television animated series
2020 Coroner Harold Carruthers1 episode

Awards

Borden was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, the African Nova Scotian Music Association (ANSMA) Music Heritage Award, and the Portia White Prize, which is awarded annually by the Nova Scotia Arts Council to someone who has made a significant contribution to culture and the arts in Nova Scotia. [5] He was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2006. [2] In 2007, Borden was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award for his prominence as a theater actor.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Poet radical: The adventures of Walter Borden. Xtra! , October 30, 2003.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Dawn Williams, Who's Who in Black Canada, Volume 2, p. 73. 2006. ISBN   0973138424.
  3. ↑ "Review: Walter Borden's the Last Epistle of Tightrope Time is a retrospective of the veteran actor's life, and a reason to smile". The Globe and Mail. October 2023.
  4. ↑ "The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time – Nimbus Publishing and Vagrant Press".
  5. ↑ Premier Presents Portia White Prize to Walter Borden. Government of Nova Scotia, March 1, 2006.
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