John Francis Dunsworth was a Canadianactor, best known for playing the alcoholic trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey on the comedy series Trailer Park Boys, despite not drinking for the part. He is also known for playing the mysterious reporter Dave Teagues on the supernatural drama series Haven, and for playing Officer McNabb in , a CBC film about the 1917 Halifax Explosion. He had extensive experience in regional theater.
Life and career
Dunsworth was born in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, the second of ten children of Frank and Frances Dunsworth.
Dunsworth studied acting at the University of Guelph, but dropped out in his fourth year. He went on to act in numerous CBC radio dramas, and had starring roles in many stage productions at the Neptune Theatre in Halifax. In 1970, Dunsworth leased an abandoned building on Halifax's waterfront, and converted it into a playhouse. Dubbing it the Pier One Theatre, it became the city's first and most successful alternative theater production house. In the late 1980s, Dalhousie University hired Dunsworth to produce the university's Welcome Show for new students at the Rebecca Cohn Auditorium, in which he also occasionally had an unseen voice-over role. In 1987, Dunsworth founded Filmworks Casting where he worked as Halifax's most renowned casting director. Dunsworth met director Mike Clattenburg in the mid-1990s when he tried out for a bit part in Clattenburg's film short, "One Last Shot". Dunsworth's small role gradually transformed into a leading part that earned him a Best Performance award from the Atlantic Film Festival. From there, he further developed the character into what would eventually become Jim Lahey in Trailer Park Boys. Dunsworth, John Paul Tremblay, and Robb Wells can be seen in the 2002 movie Virginia's Run starring Gabriel Byrne and Joanne Whalley. Dunsworth plays a local cop while Tremblay and Wells play active and verbal townsmen similar to their Trailer Park Boys characters. Actors are credited as cop for John Dunsworth, J.P. for John Paul Tremblay, and Robb Wells as Rob. The movie was filmed in Nova Scotia, Canada. Dunsworth starred in Haven, the television series adaptation of the Stephen King novel The Colorado Kid. In 2010, Dunsworth reunited with many of his former Trailer Park Boys castmates in the new series The Drunk and On Drugs Happy Fun Time Hour.
Personal life
Dunsworth lived in Nova Scotia with his wife, three daughters, and one son, John. His daughters Sarah and Molly are both actresses. Unlike the character he played on Trailer Park Boys, Dunsworth rarely drank alcohol; the 'alcohol' he drank in the show was usually iced tea. He admitted suffering from a gambling problem in the past. As a result of his recovery, he had been instrumental in trying to remove video lottery terminals from bars in Nova Scotia. Dunsworth once appeared on stage with Guns N' Roses in Halifax, as Axl Rose is a fan of Trailer Park Boys and Dunsworth's character in particular. He was a boating enthusiast and frequently spent time on his yacht, Emerald Princess. He enjoyed building granite sculptures and structures with local stone and cement.
Death
Dunsworth died of an undisclosed illness on October 16, 2017 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, at the age of 71. In a statement, Dunsworth's daughter Sarah described the illness as "short and unexpected" and stated that her father was an "amazing husband, father and grandfather".
Filmography
Dunsworth had 70 titles for which he is credited as an actor. Below is a selected filmography.
