John Drainie Award
Encyclopedia
The John Drainie
Award is presented by the Canadian performers organisation ACTRA
at the Gemini Awards. Although meant to be presented annually there have been years where it was not presented. The award is given to an individual who has made a significant contribution to broadcasting in Canada.
Unlike other awards which are voted on by the Academy's board of directors, the recipient of the John Drainie Award is selected by a committee of previous winners. Any branch of the Academy's Television Division may put forth nominations to the Drainie Committee for consideration. The recipient receives a plaque with Drainie's likeness rather than a Gemini statuette. It was presented posthumously on some occasions but current ACTRA policy is to present this award to living people.
John Drainie
John Robert Roy Drainie was a Canadian actor and television presenter, who was called "the greatest radio actor in the world" by Orson Welles....
Award is presented by the Canadian performers organisation ACTRA
ACTRA
The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists is a Canadian labour union representing performers in English-language media. It has 22,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media....
at the Gemini Awards. Although meant to be presented annually there have been years where it was not presented. The award is given to an individual who has made a significant contribution to broadcasting in Canada.
Unlike other awards which are voted on by the Academy's board of directors, the recipient of the John Drainie Award is selected by a committee of previous winners. Any branch of the Academy's Television Division may put forth nominations to the Drainie Committee for consideration. The recipient receives a plaque with Drainie's likeness rather than a Gemini statuette. It was presented posthumously on some occasions but current ACTRA policy is to present this award to living people.
Past winners
The following people have won the award since 1968. The symbol π indicates the honour was awarded after death.- 1968: Esse Ljungh
- 1968: W.O. Mitchell
- 1968: Jean Murray
- 1968: Tommy Tweed
- 1969: Andrew AllanAndrew AllanAndrew Allan , born in Scotland, was the national head of CBC Radio Drama from 1943 to 1955. He oversaw the work of some of the finest talents of the day – writers and actors such as Lister Sinclair, Mavor Moore, W.O...
- 1970: Harry J. BoyleHarry J. BoyleHarry Joseph Boyle was a Canadian broadcaster and writer.He began his career in media working for a local radio station during the 1930s and later as district editor for the Stratford Beacon Herald...
- 1971: Lister Sinclair
- 1972: Graham SpryGraham Spry- Further reading :*Babe, Robert. "Graham Spry" in Canadian Communications Thought: Ten Foundational Writers. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-7949-0.*McChesney, Robert W. , Canadian Journal of Communication 24....
- 1973: Rupert Caplan
- 1974: Len PetersonLen PetersonLeonard Byron Peterson was a Canadian playwright, screenwriter and novelist. His career started in 1939 when he sold a script to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation....
- 1975: Robert Weaver
- 1976: Jane MallettJane MallettJane Mallett was born in London, Ontario, Canada. She was a notable Canadian stage and film actress, born Jean Dawson Keenleyside....
- 1977: John ReevesJohn ReevesJohn Reeves , was a British judge, public official and conservative activist. In 1792 he founded the Association for Preserving Liberty and Property against Republicans and Levellers to campaign against the ideas of the French Revolution and their British supporters...
- 1978: Wayne and ShusterWayne and ShusterWayne and Shuster were a Canadian comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s....
- 1979: Ruth SpringfordRuth SpringfordRuth Springford was a Canadian radio, stage, television and film actress....
- 1980: Norman CampbellNorman CampbellNorman Kenneth Campbell, was a Canadian composer, television producer, and television director best known for co-writing Anne of Green Gables - The Musical....
- 1981: Frances HylandFrances HylandFrances Hyland, OC was a well-known Canadian theatre actress.Hyland studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, making her professional debut in London as Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire, opposite John Gielgud. In 1954, she returned to Canada, becoming a regular at the Stratford Festival in...
- 1982: Mavor MooreMavor MooreJames Mavor Moore, CC, OBC was a Canadian writer, producer, actor, public servant, critic, and educator.-Biography:...
- 1983: Lucio AgostiniLucio AgostiniLucio Agostini was an Italian-born composer, arranger, and conductor who established his career in Canada.-Life:...
- 1984: Robert ChristieRobert Christie (actor)Robert Christie was a Canadian actor and director.He was born in Toronto in 1913 and received a B.A. from the University of Toronto. In 1936, he moved to England where he performed with various companies including the Old Vic Company. He served with the Canadian Army during World War II. After the...
- 1985: Fred Diehl
- 1986: Bernard CowanBernard CowanBernard Cowan was a Canadian actor, announcer and writer. He was born in Toronto, Ontario. He was occasionally credited under his nickname, Bunny Cowan, such as on the production Willy McBean and his Magic Machine....
- 1986: Pat Patterson
- 1987: Ross McLeanRoss McLeanRoss Malcolm McLean, AM is a former Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1975 to 1983, representing the Division of Perth, Western Australia....
π - 1988: Davidson Dunton π
- 1989: Peter GzowskiPeter GzowskiPeter Gzowski, was a Canadian broadcaster, writer and reporter, most famous for his work on the CBC radio show Morningside. His first biographer argued that Gzowski's contribution to Canadian media must be considered in the context of efforts by a generation of Canadian nationalists to understand...
- 1990: Allan McFeeAllan McFeeAllan McFee was an often irreverent announcer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's radio and television networks. Born in Belleville, Ontario, he joined the CBC in 1937, and remained with the network until his retirement in 1989....
- 1991: not presented
- 1992: Gordon PinsentGordon PinsentGordon Edward Pinsent, CC, FRSC is a Canadian television, theatre and film actor.-Early life:Pinsent, the youngest of six children, was born in Grand Falls, Newfoundland, the son of Flossie ; originally from Clifton, Newfoundland, and Stephen Arthur Pinsent, a papermill worker and cobbler;...
- 1993: Barbara FrumBarbara FrumBarbara Frum, OC was a Canadian radio and television journalist, acclaimed for her interviews for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.-Personal life:...
π - 1994: Max FergusonMax FergusonMax Ferguson, OC is a Canadian radio personality and satirist, best known for his long-running programs Rawhide and The Max Ferguson Show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ....
- 1995: Knowlton NashKnowlton NashCyril Knowlton Nash, OC, O.Ont , commonly known as Knowlton Nash, is a journalist, author, and former long-serving senior anchorman of CBC Television's flagship news program, The National...
- 1996: Dodi Robb
- 1997: Joe SchlesingerJoe SchlesingerJoe Schlesinger is a veteran Canadian journalist who for four decades has reported for CBC Television News from every corner of the world. Born in Vienna in 1928, Schlesinger was raised in Czechoslovakia. In 1939, after Hitler dismembered the country, Joe's parents sent him for safety to England...
- 1998: Peter HerrndorfPeter HerrndorfPeter A. Herrndorf, OC, O.Ont is a Canadian lawyer and media businessman. He is the president and chief executive officer of the National Arts Centre....
- 1998: Bernie Lucht
- 1999: Pierre BertonPierre BertonPierre Francis de Marigny Berton, was a noted Canadian author of non-fiction, especially Canadiana and Canadian history, and was a well-known television personality and journalist....
- 2000: Shelagh RogersShelagh RogersShelagh Rogers, OC is a Canadian radio broadcaster. She is currently the host of CBC Radio One's The Next Chapter.Rogers grew up in Ottawa, Ontario. She was the "Head Girl" at her high school, Lisgar Collegiate Institute. She played in the Ottawa Youth Orchestra and was a spare on the Reach for...
- 2001: not presented
- 2002: David SuzukiDavid SuzukiDavid Suzuki, CC, OBC is a Canadian academic, science broadcaster and environmental activist. Suzuki earned a Ph.D in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1961, and was a professor in the genetics department of the University of British Columbia from 1963 until his retirement in 2001...
- 2003: Jim Murray
- 2004: Daryl DukeDaryl DukeDaryl Duke was a Canadian film producer and director.Duke was born at Vancouver, British Columbia, where he became one of CBC Television's earliest regional producers...
- 2005: Vicki GabereauVicki GabereauVicki Frances Gabereau is a Canadian radio and television personality. Most recently she hosted an eponymously titled afternoon talk show on CTV Television Network, which wrapped up production on April 8, 2005 after 8 seasons...
- 2006: Wendy MesleyWendy MesleyWendy Mesley is a host and reporter for CBC Television's consumer investigation series Marketplace. She is also a frequent back-up anchor for CBC's flagship evening news program The National. She also co-hosts Test the Nation with Brent Bambury...
- 2008: Carol OffCarol OffCarol Off is a Canadian television and radio journalist, associated with CBC Television and CBC Radio. She has been a host of CBC Radio's As It Happens since 2006. Previously a documentary reporter for The National, Off also hosted the political debate series counterSpin on CBC Newsworld.She is the...