Ron Pederson
Encyclopedia
Ronald "Ron" Pederson is a Canadian
actor
and comedian
, who has performed extensively throughout Canada and in the United States.
Born in Edmonton
, Alberta
, Pederson began working professionally in the theatre at a very young age and has worked with such notable directors as Robin Phillips
, Ron Jenkins, David Storch, R.H. Thompson, and Bob Baker. He has a long-standing artistic relationship with award-winning playwright Stewart Lemoine
. Pederson has performed in numerous theatre productions with such notable theatre institutions as The Citadel Theatre
, the Manitoba Theatre Centre
, Theatre Network, The River City Shakespeare Festival, Workshop West, The Chicago Improv Festival, The Canadian Stage Company, The Vancouver Playhouse, The Vancouver Arts Club, Tarragon Theatre
and Theatre Passe Muraille
. He is also an Artistic Associate of Teatro La Quindicina, a theatre company in Edmonton dedicated to producing the work of Stewart Lemoine.
In 1995, at the invitation of The Second City
legend Dana Andersen
, Ron joined the cast of the live improvised soap opera Die-Nasty
(winners of a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Improv Troupe). Here Ron collaborated with such comedic artists as Mark McKinney
, Mike Myers
and Joe Flaherty
. He has also completed Die-Nastys annual 53-hour Soap-A-Thon.
In 2002, Pederson won a Sterling Award for best supporting actor for playing Ray Dooley in Martin McDonagh
's play The Beauty Queen of Leenane at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. He was discovered in Hollywood while improvising at The Second City with Martin Short
, Catherine O'Hara
and Fred Willard
. Ron joined the Fox
comedy sketch series MADtv
in September and went on to perform with them for three seasons. He was nominated for a Best Television Performance Canadian Comedy Award for his work on the tenth season of MADtv.
Following his years on MADtv Pederson went on to write and perform original sketches on CBS's The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
for one season, turning down a second to return to Canada and dedicate himself to the stage.
Ron moved to Toronto
, Ontario
in 2007, playing Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors
at The Canadian Stage Company. In 2008 he appeared with the Vancouver
Arts Club Theatre Company playing Carmen Ghia in an extensive run of Mel Brooks
’ musical The Producers
, for which he was nominated for a 2009 Jessie Richardson Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also wrote sketches for CBC Radio
's national program The Irrelevant Show
and taught at the Second City Training Center in Toronto.
In October 2008, he became a founding member and Co-artistic director of the three time Canadian Comedy Award Winning (Best Improv troupe) Improv Theatre Company the National Theatre of the World with Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus. The National Theatre of the World produces four shows in Toronto, Impromptu Splendor, an improvised one-act play,The Carnegie Hall Show, an improvised Variety Show, The Soaps, an serialized improvised soap opera and Fiasco Playhouse, an evening of improvised theatrical experiments. In 2008 the National Theatre of the World won the RBC Arts Professional Award and have performed their shows as part of Toronto's Summerworks Theatre Festival, the Global Cabaret Festival, at Theatre Passe Muraille as well as in New York City
, Chicago
, Los Angeles
, Charleston
, Edmonton
, Hamilton
and Halifax. In early 2012, they will take their shows on a European tour.
Pederson was nominated for a 2010 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Male Improviser for his work with the National Theatre of the World and went on to win the award in October 2011.
His most recent stage work includes starring in the world premiere of a Sterling Award-winning one-man show written and directed by Ron Jenkins called Extinction Song for both the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton and Eastern Front Theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, earning him his eighth Sterling Award Nomination and his first Robert Merritt Award Nomination. In September 2009 he starred in the Dora Award Nominated Mimi: The Poisoners Comedy at the Tarragon Theatre and then returned to the Citadel Theatre in 2011 playing Quasimodo
in Catalyst Theatre's production of Hunchback, a role that he will reprise in Vancouver
in 2012.
Also in 2011 he appeared Off-Broadway at the Barrow Street theater in Impromptu Splendor.
Pederson's film and television credits include providing the voice of the Golly Gee Kid in the YTV cartoon SIDEKICK, guest starring on Colin Mochrie
's new sitcom, She's the Mayor, and the CBC
series InSecurity as well as playing Frank, one of the villains in the upcoming Family film Vampire Dog
He lives in Toronto
, Ontario.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, who has performed extensively throughout Canada and in the United States.
Born in Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, Alberta
Alberta
Alberta is a province of Canada. It had an estimated population of 3.7 million in 2010 making it the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces...
, Pederson began working professionally in the theatre at a very young age and has worked with such notable directors as Robin Phillips
Robin Phillips
Robin Phillips is an English actor and director.Phillips was born in Haslemere, Surrey, the son of EllenAnne and James William Phillips. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic and worked as an actor and director for many years in the United Kingdom, finishing as Artistic Director at the Greenwich...
, Ron Jenkins, David Storch, R.H. Thompson, and Bob Baker. He has a long-standing artistic relationship with award-winning playwright Stewart Lemoine
Stewart Lemoine
Stewart Lemoine is a Canadian playwright, director, and producer. Lemoine is based in Edmonton, Alberta and from 1982-2007 was the Artistic Director of Teatro la Quindicina...
. Pederson has performed in numerous theatre productions with such notable theatre institutions as The Citadel Theatre
Citadel Theatre
The Citadel Theatre is the major venue for theatre arts in the city of Edmonton, located in the Downtown Core on Churchill Square.-History:Originally the "Old Salvation Army Citadel", the Citadel was bought by Joseph H. Shoctor, James L. Martin, Ralph B. MacMillan, and Sandy Mactaggart, and the...
, the Manitoba Theatre Centre
Manitoba Theatre Centre
Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre is Canada's oldest English-language regional theatre. Next to the Stratford and Shaw Festivals, MTC has a higher annual attendance than any other theatre in the country...
, Theatre Network, The River City Shakespeare Festival, Workshop West, The Chicago Improv Festival, The Canadian Stage Company, The Vancouver Playhouse, The Vancouver Arts Club, Tarragon Theatre
Tarragon Theatre
The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country. Located near Casa Loma, the theatre was founded by Bill and Jane Glassco in 1970. Bill was the Artistic Director from 1971 to 1982. In 1982, Urjo Kareda took over as...
and Theatre Passe Muraille
Theatre Passe Muraille
Theatre Passe Muraille is a theatre company in Toronto, Canada.-Brief history:One of Canada's most influential alternative theatres, Theatre Passe Muraille was founded in 1968 by director and playwright Jim Garrard, who started the company out of Rochdale College.Its radical intention was create a...
. He is also an Artistic Associate of Teatro La Quindicina, a theatre company in Edmonton dedicated to producing the work of Stewart Lemoine.
In 1995, at the invitation of The Second City
The Second City
The Second City is a improvisational comedy enterprise which originated in Chicago's Old Town neighborhood.The Second City Theatre opened on December 16, 1959 and has since expanded its presence to several other cities, including Toronto and Los Angeles...
legend Dana Andersen
Dana Andersen
Dana Andersen is an Edmonton-based actor, improvisor, filmmaker, writer and director. He is an alumnus of The Second City, and has worked closely with Mike Myers, Ryan Stiles, and Joe Flaherty, among others. He currently serves as director of the live improvised soap opera Die-Nasty, and has been a...
, Ron joined the cast of the live improvised soap opera Die-Nasty
Die-Nasty
Die-Nasty is a live improvised soap opera, running weekly in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada since 1991. Die-Nastys improv comedy format features a continuing storyline and recurring characters, live music, and a director who sets up scenes for the audience in voiceover.The cast of Die-Nasty...
(winners of a Canadian Comedy Award for Best Improv Troupe). Here Ron collaborated with such comedic artists as Mark McKinney
Mark McKinney
Mark Douglas Brown McKinney is a Canadian comedian and actor, best known for his work in the sketch comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall. Following the run of their television series and feature film , he went on to star in Saturday Night Live from 1995 to 1997...
, Mike Myers
Mike Myers (actor)
Michael John "Mike" Myers is a Canadian actor, comedian, screenwriter, and film producer of British parentage...
and Joe Flaherty
Joe Flaherty
Joe Flaherty is an American-Canadian actor and comedian. He is best known for his work on the Canadian sketch comedy SCTV, from 1976 to 1984, and as Harold Weir on Freaks and Geeks...
. He has also completed Die-Nastys annual 53-hour Soap-A-Thon.
In 2002, Pederson won a Sterling Award for best supporting actor for playing Ray Dooley in Martin McDonagh
Martin McDonagh
Martin McDonagh is an Irish-British playwright, filmmaker, and screenwriter. Although he has lived in London his entire life, he is considered one of the most important living Irish playwrights.-Life:...
's play The Beauty Queen of Leenane at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton. He was discovered in Hollywood while improvising at The Second City with Martin Short
Martin Short
Martin Hayter Short, CM is a Canadian actor, comedian, writer, singer and producer. He is best-known for his comedy work, particularly on the TV programs SCTV and Saturday Night Live...
, Catherine O'Hara
Catherine O'Hara
Catherine Anne O'Hara is a Canadian-American actress and comedienne. She is well known for her comedy work on SCTV, and her roles in the films After Hours, Beetlejuice, Home Alone, and The Nightmare Before Christmas, and also in the mockumentary films written and directed by Christopher Guest...
and Fred Willard
Fred Willard
Fred Willard is an American actor, comedian, and voice over actor, best known for his improvisational comedy skills. He is known for his roles in the Christopher Guest mockumentary films This is Spinal Tap, Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, A Mighty Wind, and For Your Consideration as well as...
. Ron joined the Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
comedy sketch series MADtv
MADtv
MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
in September and went on to perform with them for three seasons. He was nominated for a Best Television Performance Canadian Comedy Award for his work on the tenth season of MADtv.
Following his years on MADtv Pederson went on to write and perform original sketches on CBS's The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson is a Peabody Award-winning American late-night talk show hosted by Scottish American comedian Craig Ferguson. Ferguson, the third regular host of the Late Late Show franchise, follows Late Show with David Letterman in the CBS late-night lineup...
for one season, turning down a second to return to Canada and dedicate himself to the stage.
Ron moved to Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
in 2007, playing Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors
Little Shop of Horrors (musical)
Little Shop of Horrors is a rock musical, by composer Alan Menken and writer Howard Ashman, about a hapless florist shop worker who raises a plant that feeds on human blood. The musical is based on the low-budget 1960 black comedy film The Little Shop of Horrors, directed by Roger Corman...
at The Canadian Stage Company. In 2008 he appeared with the Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
Arts Club Theatre Company playing Carmen Ghia in an extensive run of Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks
Mel Brooks is an American film director, screenwriter, composer, lyricist, comedian, actor and producer. He is best known as a creator of broad film farces and comic parodies. He began his career as a stand-up comic and as a writer for the early TV variety show Your Show of Shows...
’ musical The Producers
The Producers (musical)
The Producers is a musical adapted by Mel Brooks and Thomas Meehan from Brooks' 1968 film of the same name, with lyrics written by Brooks and music composed by Brooks and arranged by Glen Kelly and Doug Besterman. As in the film, the story concerns two theatrical producers who scheme to get rich...
, for which he was nominated for a 2009 Jessie Richardson Award for Best Supporting Actor. He also wrote sketches for CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
's national program The Irrelevant Show
The Irrelevant Show
The Irrelevant Show is a half-hour radio sketch comedy show airing on CBC Radio One.-Broadcast history:The show initially broadcast Saturday afternoons during the third hour of Definitely Not the Opera starting in 2003...
and taught at the Second City Training Center in Toronto.
In October 2008, he became a founding member and Co-artistic director of the three time Canadian Comedy Award Winning (Best Improv troupe) Improv Theatre Company the National Theatre of the World with Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus. The National Theatre of the World produces four shows in Toronto, Impromptu Splendor, an improvised one-act play,The Carnegie Hall Show, an improvised Variety Show, The Soaps, an serialized improvised soap opera and Fiasco Playhouse, an evening of improvised theatrical experiments. In 2008 the National Theatre of the World won the RBC Arts Professional Award and have performed their shows as part of Toronto's Summerworks Theatre Festival, the Global Cabaret Festival, at Theatre Passe Muraille as well as in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, Charleston
Charleston
Charleston often refers to:*Charleston, South Carolina, a city in South Carolina.*Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital of West VirginiaCharleston may also refer to:- Geography :In Australia:* Charleston, South Australia...
, Edmonton
Edmonton
Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta and is the province's second-largest city. Edmonton is located on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Capital Region, which is surrounded by the central region of the province.The city and its census...
, Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
and Halifax. In early 2012, they will take their shows on a European tour.
Pederson was nominated for a 2010 Canadian Comedy Award for Best Male Improviser for his work with the National Theatre of the World and went on to win the award in October 2011.
His most recent stage work includes starring in the world premiere of a Sterling Award-winning one-man show written and directed by Ron Jenkins called Extinction Song for both the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton and Eastern Front Theatre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, earning him his eighth Sterling Award Nomination and his first Robert Merritt Award Nomination. In September 2009 he starred in the Dora Award Nominated Mimi: The Poisoners Comedy at the Tarragon Theatre and then returned to the Citadel Theatre in 2011 playing Quasimodo
Quasimodo
Quasimodo is a fictional character in the novel The Hunchback of Notre-Dame by Victor Hugo. Quasimodo was born with a hunchback and feared by the townspeople as a sort of monster but he finds sanctuary in an unlikely love that is fulfilled only in death. The role of Quasimodo has been played by...
in Catalyst Theatre's production of Hunchback, a role that he will reprise in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
in 2012.
Also in 2011 he appeared Off-Broadway at the Barrow Street theater in Impromptu Splendor.
Pederson's film and television credits include providing the voice of the Golly Gee Kid in the YTV cartoon SIDEKICK, guest starring on Colin Mochrie
Colin Mochrie
Colin Andrew Mochrie is a Scottish Canadian actor and improvisational comedian, most famous for his appearances on the British and US versions of television improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?.-Early life:...
's new sitcom, She's the Mayor, and the CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
series InSecurity as well as playing Frank, one of the villains in the upcoming Family film Vampire Dog
He lives in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario.
External links
- Ron Pederson at the Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia