The ACTRA Awards are Canadian accolades presented since 1972 to celebrate excellence in cinema, television and radio industries.[ "ACTRA". The Canadian Encyclopedia, February 6, 2006.] Initially it was organized and presented by the ACTRA,[ which represented performers, writers and broadcast journalists, and were responsible for awarding the Nellie statuettes until 1986.]["Canada's new TV award makes debut". Toronto Star, April 22, 1986.] That year, they were taken over by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to create the new Gemini Awards,["Last Nellie: Charlie Grant's War; Chaykin and Willoughby top actors in final ACTRAs". Montreal Gazette, April 3, 1986.] although ACTRA continued to present Nellies in radio categories.["CBC sweeps radio awards: CKO's Peter Varley sole winner in private sector". Toronto Star, December 3, 1986.]
The organization relaunched the awards in 2003, this time as a more local-focused film industry award, separately presented by each of ACTRA's regional chapters to honour performances in local film and television production, since expanded to incorporate web series and video games.[
]
History
ACTRA began presenting the John Drainie Award for distinguished lifetime contribution in broadcasting in 1968,[ "Broadcasters Honor W.O. Mitchell". Calgary Herald, October 5, 1968.] before launching a comprehensive program for television and radio awards in 1972. The 1st ACTRA Awards that year only presented the Drainie Award alongside the new Earle Grey Award for actors and Gordon Sinclair Award for broadcast journalism,[Michael Walsh, "Let's hear it for Canada...". The Province, April 21, 1972.] with its roster of categories beginning to expand the following year.[ "Murray, Pinsent win ACTRA awards". Red Deer Advocate, May 1, 1973.]
By 1978, there began to be talk in the industry of a "Nellie curse", as several broadcast personalities in the past couple of years had been fired or had their shows cancelled very soon after winning an ACTRA award.[Don Hammersmith, "Lights, Camera, ACTRA". The Globe and Mail, March 18, 1978.] The same year also saw the first widespread complaints about ACTRA's nomination criteria, which limited honours in most categories to ACTRA members; even if ACTRA members had collaborated with non-ACTRA members, then only the ACTRA member could be considered for nomination.[Morris Wolfe, "Politics of exclusion seen cheapening ACTRA Awards". The Globe and Mail, March 15, 1978.]
That year further saw the public revelation of an unconfirmed but longstanding industry rumour that if Lloyd Robertson had won the award for Best News Broadcaster at the 4th ACTRA Awards in 1975, elements in the audience were planning to pieing him in the face just to see if they could cause the normally unflappable Robertson to lose his composure.[
]
By 1980, the CTV network decided to boycott the awards, on the grounds that the members-only rule biased the awards in favour of CBC Television productions;["CTV dropping role in ACTRA Awards". The Globe and Mail, December 31, 1980.] the issue arose because the CBC produced most of its programming directly, and thus nearly all CBC programming involved ACTRA members, while CTV broadcast far more programming from independent non-ACTRA producers. The boycott, which continued for several years thereafter, sparked discussions through the early 1980s about how to improve the management and delivery of Canadian television awards.
In this era, there was also significant concern about the fact that ACTRA only presented awards in categories such as acting, writing and journalism, but had no categories for television crafts such as cinematography or editing,[ "Tonight's ACTRA Awards may be last". Owen Sound Sun-Times, April 16, 1983.] as well as a controversy when ACTRA rejected the CBC's proposal of Dan Aykroyd as host,[Sid Adilman, "Aykroyd willing to host show". Toronto Star, April 12, 1982.] on the grounds that he was working in the United States and not an active ACTRA member.[Sid Adilman, "'Thanks a lot, ACTRA,' angry Aykroyd says". Toronto Star, April 15, 1982.]
By 1983, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's experimental Bijou Awards, which had been presented for the first time in 1981, were being proposed to replace the ACTRA Awards,[Lorne Parton, "TV trade looking at alternatives to the ACTRA awards". The Province, April 21, 1983.] but this did not proceed at this time; ultimately, responsibility for presenting the Canadian television awards was transferred to the Academy's new Gemini Awards in 1986.[Matthew Fraser, "New awards for TV films announced". The Globe and Mail, May 31, 1985.]
Awards transferred to the Academy included the John Drainie Award, a lifetime achievement award for distinguished contributions to Canadian broadcasting, and the Earle Grey Award, which transitioned from ACTRA's award for best performance in a television film into the Academy's lifetime achievement award for acting.
Following the launch of the Geminis, the ACTRA Awards continued to honour radio programming.
Revival
Beginning in 2002, ACTRA took management of the John Drainie Award back from the Academy, presenting it thereafter at the Banff Television Festival.["Suzuki recognized with award". Barrie Examiner, June 11, 2002.]
On the 60th anniversary of the national union in 2003, now renamed the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists and representing only performers, the ACTRA Awards were resurrected in several of its branches across Canada as a local film and television award, presented by the organization's local chapters in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador and the Maritimes to honour achievements in film and television within their own regions.
However, the revived ACTRA Awards program also includes a national Award of Excellence, presented to an actor to honour their lifetime achievements;["ACTRA awards make cameo this week". Calgary Herald, February 25, 2003.] the national award of excellence is most commonly presented to an actor who is working in Hollywood, and would thus not be eligible for a regional chapter's local award of excellence. However, the national award of excellence is not necessarily always presented annually.
Some awards are handed out for performances, while others are given for union activism and contributions to the industry.
National ACTRA ceremonies
|
|
| Not presented |
| April 30, 1973 |
| March 2, 1974 |
| Next Year in Jerusalem |
| Pro Nobis Peccatoribus |
| The Assassination of Christopher Marlowe |
| A Bite of the Big Apple |
| The Other Self |
| Aftermath of Jonestown |
| Sunday Morning |
| This Year In Jerusalem |
| Fruit of the Poisoned Tree |
| The Panther and the Jaguar |
| George Orwell: A Radio Biography |
| Glenn Gould: The Well-Tempered Polymath |
National Award of Excellence recipients
Regional awards ceremonies
UBCP/ACTRA Awards (Vancouver)
ACTRA Montreal Awards
ACTRA Awards in Toronto
See also
-
Canadian television awards
