Janet Wright


Janet Wright was a Genie and Gemini Award-winning English-born Canadian actress and theatre director. She was best known for her role as Emma Leroy on the hit Canadian sitcom, Corner Gas. She performed in many film and television shows, and she also acted in, and directed, dozens of theatre productions in Saskatoon, Vancouver, and at the Stratford Festival.

Early life and education

Wright was born in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Wright grew up as the eldest of four siblings who have all participated in Canadian theatre.

Career

Wright, along with her sister Susan, co-founded the Persephone Theatre company in Saskatoon in 1974. Wright's first husband, Brian Richmond, became the theatre's director. Wright later worked at the Vancouver Arts Club Theatre where she appeared in and directed more than 40 productions. She also appeared in several other productions in live theatre across Canada, and at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. Her theatre work eventually led to television and film roles in Canada and the United States.
In 1991, she performed at the Stratford Festival with her sisters Anne and Susan in Les Belles-soeurs, to positive reviews. In 1995, she was the first woman to play the title role in King Lear, for Canadian Stage in Toronto. Wright acted in the film Bordertown Café, for which she received a best actress Genie Award in 1992. In 2003 she was named best supporting actress in a dramatic program or miniseries at the Gemini Awards for her role in Betrayed.
From 2004 to 2009, she played Emma Leroy in the television series Corner Gas. In this role she won a 2006 Canadian Comedy Award for Pretty Funny TV Female. The show also won a Gemini Award in 2007.
Wright continued her involvement with the Vancouver Arts Club Theatre, directing several contemporary American plays, including Katori Hall's The Mountaintop and Ayad Akhtar's Disgraced in 2015. She continued acting from time to time at the Stratford Festival, lastly in 2011, when she played Ma Joad in The Grapes of Wrath.

Family

Wright's sister Susan was killed in a fire in 1991 in Stratford, Ontario, along with their parents, Jack and Ruth Wright.
In January 2004, Wright's daughter Rachel Davis was fatally shot while intervening for a stranger who was being beaten in front of the Purple Onion bar in Vancouver, B.C. In July 2006, the shooter was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder, five counts of attempted murder and five counts of aggravated assault. His first degree murder conviction triggered an automatic sentence of life imprisonment with no chance of parole until 2029.
Wright and her second husband, Bruce Davis, along with the rest of their family, started the Rachel Davis Foundation. The foundation presents an award to a young person who has demonstrated an outstanding act of kindness or compassion.

Death

Wright died on the morning of November 14, 2016, in Vancouver, aged 71, from undisclosed causes.

Filmography

YearTitleRoleNotes
1975Peep ShowLucyEpisode: "The Victim"
1978Who'll Save Our Children?Television film
1979Huckleberry Finn and His FriendsMrs. Judith LoftusEpisode: "The Rains Come"
1979King of KensingtonEvelynEpisode: "Big Brother"
1983'Helen ArmstrongTelevision film
1984The Three Wishes of Billy GrierWoman in BarTelevision film
1985Brotherly LoveHelen NearyTelevision film
1986'Woman NeighborTelevision film
1987Deadly DeceptionDesk clerkTelevision film
1987After the PromiseWaitressTelevision film
1987'DideeEpisode: "Disposable People"
1987Christmas Comes to Willow CreekMartha JaneTelevision film
1988Laura Lansing Slept HereTelevision film
1988-1989WiseguyMillicent/MabelEpisodes: "Revenge of the Mud People" and "All or Nothing"
1993-1994Street LegalDoris Banachowska/Jessica GrantEpisodes: "The Price"
Episode: "Strange Bedfellows," "The Long and Winding Road," and "The Long and Winding Road"
1994Neon RiderMichelle PfeifferEpisode: "Where the Buffalo Roam"
1996My Mother's GhostTelevision film
1996Beyond the CallFranTelevision film
1996We the JuryGladys McKenzieTelevision film
1997Fast TrackCharlotte ScannelEpisode: "Triangle"
1998'Mrs. FloydEpisode: "I'm Okay, You're Really Weird"
1998Mr. HeadmistressNaomi BascombeTelevision film
1998Due SouthSgt. Sam ThornEpisode: "Mountie on the Bounty: Part 2"
1998-1999Emily of New MoonAunt ThomEpisodes: "A Shadow in His Dream," "When the Bough Breaks," and "Bred in the Bone"
1999More Tales of the CityVita KeatingTV miniseries
1999RedwallConstance 36 episodes
1999LexxLorcaEpisode: "Love Grows"
2000Redwall: The MovieConstanceTelevision film
2000Mattimeo: A Tale of RedwallConstance/Ghost of Martin TV series
2001Hostage Rescue TeamSimoneTelevision film
2001LexxFirst Lady PriestEpisode: "Texx Lexx"
Episode: "Stan Down"
2001Dark AngelAnnieEpisode: "Proof of Purchase"
2002FramedTelevision film
2002'EvieEpisode: "Farm Boys"
2002MonkBonnie3 episodes
2002TakenPattyEpisode: "God's Equation"
2003BetrayedDr. FlemingTelevision film
2003Jinnah: On Crime - White Knight, Black WidowFrostyTelevision film
2003'PhyllisTelevision film
2003Phenomenon IIJeriTelevision film
2004Kingdom HospitalLiz Hinton10 episodes
2004-2009Corner GasEmma Leroy107 episodes
2007WhistlerEpisode: "The Rules of Attachment: Part II"
Episode: "Last Run"
2008WisegalPatty Montanari's MotherTelevision film
2009Memory LanesSarah DuggenTelevision film

Awards and nominations

YearNominated workEventAwardResultRef
1992Bordertown CaféGenie AwardsBest Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
2001Chasing CainGemini AwardsBest Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
2003BetrayedGemini AwardsBest Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
2004Corner GasGemini AwardsBest Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series
2004Corner GasCanadian Comedy AwardsBest Female TV Performance
2006Corner GasCanadian Comedy AwardsBest Female TV Performance
2006Corner GasGemini AwardsBest Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series-
2007Corner GasGemini AwardsBest Ensemble Performance in a Comedy Program or Series
2008Corner GasCanadian Comedy AwardsBest Female TV Performance