Peter Blais
Peter Blais (born 1949) is a Canadian actor, best known for his frequent roles in the plays of George F. Walker.[1]
Background
[edit]A native of Ottawa, Ontario, Blais is the grandson of John Peter Macmillan, a civil engineer who played a key role in establishing Cape Breton Highlands National Park.[2] He attended Carleton University and joined the campus drama society, where he met Dan Aykroyd. They performed together in several amateur productions during the 1960s.[3]
Through the early 1970s he continued to have stage acting roles,[4] while also working as a textile artist and theatrical costume and set designer, most notably on a 1977 production of King Lear for Halifax's Neptune Theatre.[5]
It was as an actor that he first began to collaborate with Walker on Walker's remount of Beyond Mozambique in 1978 at Factory Theatre in Toronto. In 1981 he had his first design collaboration with Walker codesigning the premiere production of Theatre Of the Film Noir directed by Walker at Factory Theatre..[6] His design credits include several remounts of Film Noir as well as the premiere productions of Love And Anger and Escape From Happiness, both directed by Walker.
He was additionally the designer of the original Arthur Ellis Award statuette for the Crime Writers of Canada.[7]
Acting career
[edit]His performances in Walker's plays included Beyond Mozambique (1978),[6] Rumours of Our Death (1980),[8] Theatre of the Film Noir (1981),[9] Criminals in Love (1984),[10] Better Living (1987),[11] Zastrozzi, The Master of Discipline,[12] Beautiful City (1987),[13] Nothing Sacred (1988),[14] and Love and Anger (1989).[15] By the time of Love and Anger, Blais had a reputation as "the quintessential Walker actor", to the point that Walker wrote Love and Anger specifically for Blais to play the lead.[6]
He did not appear in the original cast of Escape from Happiness, although he designed the sets,[16] and subsequently stepped into the role of Rolly Moore after Eric Peterson departed the cast.[17]
His other stage roles included productions of The Lark (1980),[18] Glengarry Glen Ross (1986)[19] and The Nerd (1988).[20]
He has also had supporting and guest roles in film and television, most prominently recurring roles as Lennox Cooper in PSI Factor and Geoff/Parson Hubbard in Made in Canada.
In the late 1990s he moved to Nova Scotia, where he became a partner with artist Tom Alway in the Maritime Painted Saltbox Gallery in Petite Riviere, although he continued to appear on stage in Halifax and in series television in Toronto and Halifax until 2005..[21]
Awards
[edit]He has been a two-time Dora Mavor Moore Award nominee, receiving nods for Best Leading Actor, General Theatre at the 1985 Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Criminals in Love,[22] and Best Supporting Actor, General Theatre at the 1988 Dora Mavor Moore Awards for Nothing Sacred.[23]
He won a Golden Sheaf Award for Best Performance - Male at the 1999 Yorkton Film Festival for The Wager.
He received a Gemini Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Program or Series at the 14th Gemini Awards in 1999, for his work in PSI Factor.[24]
Partial filmography
[edit]Films
[edit]- Baby on Board (1992) — Bald Man
- The Wager (1998) — Victor
- Snow Angels (2007) — Mr. Eisenstat
Made-for-television films
[edit]- Trudeau (2002) — McIlwraith
- Plain Truth (2004) — Dr. Ziegler
- Trudeau II: Maverick in the Making (2005) — Professor Émilken Caron
Television
[edit]- Faerie Tale Theatre (1 episode) (1985) — Julius Caesar Rat
- Star Wars: Ewoks (1985)— Additional Voices
- The Ray Bradbury Theater (Skeleton) (1988) — Munigant
- War of the Worlds (1 episode) (1989) — Ralph
- Forever Knight (Crazy Love) (1995) — Barlow
- PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal (21 episodes) (1996–1999) — Lennox "L.Q." Cooper
- TekWar (Redemption) (1996) — Jonas La Salle (1 episode, 1996)
- Made in Canada (1998-2003) — Geoff (12 episodes)
- Beach Girls (TV mini-series) (2005) — Judge
References
[edit]- ^ "Blais returning to Love and Anger". Toronto Star, April 29, 1990.
- ^ Janice Middleton, "The fabric of in Nova Scotia". Halifax Chronicle-Herald, May 6, 2017.
- ^ Dave Brown, "Orpheus is 100, still having fun". Ottawa Citizen, April 9, 2007, Page 2.
- ^ Herbert Whittaker, "A splendid Scandal reaches Sussex". The Globe and Mail, February 6, 1975.
- ^ Herbert Whittaker, "Neptune's Lear defies traditional approach, remains compelling". The Globe and Mail, January 13, 1977.
- ^ a b c Vit Wagner, "Walker's friend Blais at centre of his stage". Toronto Star, October 6, 1989.
- ^ "Crime Writers of Canada honors Murdoch, Wright". The Globe and Mail, May 25, 1984.
- ^ Ray Conlogue, "Actors the best feature of Rumors of Our Death". The Globe and Mail, January 21, 1980.
- ^ Carole Corbeil, "Walker's Film Noir is a-buzz with fun". The Globe and Mail, May 16, 1981.
- ^ Stephen Godfrey, "Criminals in Love hilarious despite flaws in second act". The Globe and Mail, November 8, 1984.
- ^ Ray Conlogue, "Better Living less than sum of parts". The Globe and Mail, May 27, 1986.
- ^ Robert Crew, "Zastrozzi returns in splendid form". Toronto Star, May 14, 1987.
- ^ Robert Crew, "Play's real anger diluted". Toronto Star, October 1, 1987.
- ^ Ray Conlogue, "Nothing Sacred best play the city has seen in years". The Globe and Mail, January 15, 1988.
- ^ Robert Crew, "Love And Anger simply stunning". Toronto Star, October 12, 1989.
- ^ Liam Lacey, "Theatre Review: Escape from Happiness". The Globe and Mail, February 24, 1992.
- ^ "Walker play to get new cast for extended run". The Globe and Mail, March 25, 1992.
- ^ Norma Harris, "Lark doesn't really soar". The Globe and Mail, May 31, 1980.
- ^ Robert Crew, "Glengarry Glen Ross beautifully cast". Toronto Star, November 7, 1986.
- ^ Henry Mietkiewicz, "Burghoff's gamble pays off". Toronto Star, November 2, 1988.
- ^ Anne Calder, "A feast of colour and joy". Saltscapes, March 2022.
- ^ Henry Mietkiewicz, "Cats leads pack of Dora nominees". Toronto Star, September 5, 1985.
- ^ Robert Crew, "CentreStage play tops Dora Award nominees". Toronto Star, May 11, 1988.
- ^ "Major Gemini Awards nominations". Toronto Star, September 22, 1999.
External links
[edit]- Peter Blais at IMDb
- 1949 births
- Living people
- 20th-century Canadian male actors
- 20th-century Canadian male artists
- 21st-century Canadian male actors
- 21st-century Canadian male artists
- Canadian male film actors
- Canadian male stage actors
- Canadian male television actors
- Canadian male voice actors
- Canadian textile artists
- Canadian theatre designers
- Canadian costume designers
- Carleton University alumni