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Theresa Tova

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Theresa Tova (born 1955) is a Canadian actress, singer and playwright.[1] She is most noted for her play Still the Night, which won several Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 1997[2] and was a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 1999 Governor General's Awards.[3]

Early life and education

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The daughter of Polish Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, Tova was born in Paris, France, and raised in Calgary, Alberta.[4] She studied acting at the University of Alberta.[5]

Career

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Primarily a stage and musical theatre actress, she also had a role in the television series E.N.G. in the early-1990s as Marge Atherton, for which she received a Gemini Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role at the 8th Gemini Awards in 1993.[6]

Still the Night, a musical play which combined Jewish music, including vaudeville and klezmer, with the story of two young girls surviving the Holocaust in the forests of Poland, was staged in 1996 by Theatre Passe Muraille.[4] It won four Dora Awards in the Mid-Sized Theatre division in 1997, for outstanding new play or musical, outstanding production, outstanding music (John Alcorn) and outstanding female performance in a musical (Liza Balkan).[2]

Tova has continued to act on stage, including productions of They're Playing Our Song, Fiddler on the Roof and The Diary of Anne Frank,[1] as well as in supporting television, film and web series roles. In 2017, she was elected president of the Toronto chapter of ACTRA.[7]

She was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Lead Performance in a Web Program or Series at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022 for the web series For the Record.[8]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1980 Deadline Honey
1983 Curtains Inmate
1984 Unfinished Business Sally
1985 Eleni Katis' Daughter
1985 Head Office Woman Protestor
1985 Big Deal Iris Leach
1986 Dancing in the Dark Nosey Neighbor
1990 Love & Murder Evelyn
1992 This Is My Life Rochelle
2005 Lie with Me Wedding Singer
2012 In Return Sandy
2013 It Was You Charlie Sandra
2019 Mistletoe & Menorahs Tovah
2020 Akilla's Escape Athena
2022 Christmas Lucky Charm Mrs. Barnett
TBA Meet Me Next Christmas Debra

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1982 Hangin' In Denise Episode: "Make Room for Mommy"
1985 Seeing Things Gloria Episode: "Defective Vision"
1989–1994 E.N.G. Marge Atherton 96 episodes
1993 Taking the Heat Mary Television film
1994 Against Their Will Captain Cooney
1994 Forever Knight Ms. Sheppard Episode: "Undue Process"
1995 Degree of Guilt Dr. Shelton Television film
1997 Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Women The Abbess
2005 G-Spot Mickey Episode: "Stalker"
2007 ReGenesis Dr. Lang Episode: "I Dream of Genomes"
2009 Producing Parker Jack Cartwright / Jackie Episode: "Eat, Pray, Parker"
2010–2011 Bolts and Blip Olga 26 episodes
2014 The Strain Beverly Episode: "Loved Ones"
2014 Meet the Family Mom 3 episodes
2016 Group Home Dr. Ginsberg Television film
2018 ClaireVoyant Madame Sonnom 9 episodes
2019 Anne with an E Madam Lyudmila Episode: "The Summit of My Desires"
2020 For the Record Fiona 2 episodes
2022 Good Sam Anna Episode: "Truce"
2022 Pretty Hard Cases Zorka Episode: "Crystal Ball"
2022 Workin' Moms ER Doctor Episode: "The Break"
2023 Shelved Michaela Ramos Episode: "Moby Dick FICTION MEL"
2023 The Wedding Rule Faye Television film

References

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  1. ^ a b "Tova, Theresa". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, 2009.
  2. ^ a b "Hit musical captures seven awards. A great time for Ragtime". The Globe and Mail, September 30, 1997.
  3. ^ "Governor-General's award nominees". Vancouver Sun, October 20, 1999.
  4. ^ a b "History haunts the present in new Holocaust drama". Toronto Star, October 31, 1996.
  5. ^ Jaffe-Gill, Ellen (2005-12-15). "Tova's Songs Good for Yiddish's Image". Jewish Journal. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  6. ^ "Bewitching music from E.N.G. film editor Tova". Toronto Star, January 29, 1993.
  7. ^ "Theresa Tova Elected President of ACTRA Toronto". Canada NewsWire, January 4, 2017.
  8. ^ Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022.
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