Charmion King

Charmion King (July 25, 1925 – January 6, 2007) was a Canadian actress.

Biography Born in Toronto, Ontario. King studied theatre at the University of Toronto, where she performed at the University's Hart House Theatre, getting notice in Shaw's Saint Joan.

In 1947, King joined the Straw Hat Players, a summer circuit troupe in the Muskoka Lake district. In 1951, King went to England for two years of study.

In 1953, King returned to Canada and joined the cast of the new Crest Theatre. She gave notable performances as the main character in the Madwoman of Chaillot (1961) and in Chekhov's Three Sisters (1956). It was at the Crest that she met her future husband Gordon Pinsent.

King went on to the Stratford Festival appearing in productions of The Winter's Tale, Three Sisters and Uncle Vanya. In 1960, she appeared in Toronto at the Royal Alexandra Theatre (Royal Alex) and on Broadway in Tyrone Guthrie's production of Love and Libel.

After appearing in Orpheus Descending at the Crest (her 18th appearance at the Crest) in 1962, King took a break from acting. In 1964, her daughter Leah was born. King raised Leah while Gordon developed his career. After a while, King stopped receiving offers to act. It would be a decade before she returned to acting.

In 1972, King appeared at the Shaw Festival in a production of The Royal Family, directed by the Crest's Donald Davis, and also starring Jonathan White, Ruth Nelson, Patricia Gage and Paul Kligman. In 1977, King returned to the Toronto stage at the St Lawrence Centre in Easter. She also appeared in S.H.O.R.T.S at Toronto's Redlight Theatre, and in Sweet Bird of Youth at Hart House Theatre. In 1980, King starred with Alan Scarfe, Frances Hyland and Eric House in Night of the Iguana by Theatre Plus. In 1988, King starred with Kate Reid in Arsenic and Old Lace at Hart House Theatre. Her final stage role was in February 2006 with Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Company in Our Town.

King has also acted in notable television films, including Anne of Green Gables (as Josephine Barry) and Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot (as Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy). She also starred in the Canadian television series Wind at My Back and House of Pride. In 1988, she appeared in the film Shadow Dancing.

King won the Nellie Award in 1985 for best radio actress in Canada.

Personal life King was married to Gordon Pinsent for 44 years until her death. Their daughter, Leah Pinsent, is also a noted Canadian television actress.

King died, aged 81, in Toronto, reportedly from complications of emphysema.

Her papers are in the collection of the Toronto Public Library.

Filmography

Film

Television