Karen LeBlanc

Karen LeBlanc is a Canadian film, television and musical theatre actress.

Karen LeBlanc
LeBlanc in 2017
NationalityCanadian
Occupation(s)Actress, singer
Years active1992–present

Early life

LeBlanc grew up in Tottenham, Ontario to family from Nova Scotia. She attended the musical theatre program at Sheridan College.[1][2]

Career

Starting with a minor role in the 1992 television movie Split Images, LeBlanc's credits include guest appearances in television series including Trailer Park Boys, Producing Parker, Soul Food, Mutant X, and most notable The Playboy Club (2011) playing Tina Turner and singing two of Turner's signature songs, "Shake a Tail Feather" and "I Want to Be Made Over".[3] As regular, she first starred in the final season of the CBC sitcom Material World from 1992 to 1993. She appeared in 2000 fantasy-comedy film Santa Who? starring Leslie Nielsen. She co-starred in a number of made-for-television movies, including Snap Decision (2001), Guilt by Association (2002), Lucky Day (2002), Martha: Behind Bars (2005), Knights of the South Bronx (2005), and Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome (2012). On stage, she has appeared in productions of Outrageous!,[4] Rent.[5] and Cinderella.[5] She has also performed as a backing vocalist for Chaka Khan, Rik Emmett and Glass Tiger.[5]

LeBlanc starred in the short-lived the CW drama series Runaway in 2006. For her recurring role in ReGenesis, she was nominated for Gemini Awards for Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series in 2008.[6] In 2009, LeBlanc received positive reviews and Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress nomination for her performance in the drama film Nurse.Fighter.Boy. Her other film credits include Make It Happen (2008) and Dolan's Cadillac (2009). Also that year, she starred in the ABC drama series, Defying Gravity.[7] Her other series regular credits including Soul (2009), Shattered (2010–11), Cracked (2013), Insomnia (2018), Frontier (2017–18), and Ransom (2018-19). She also had a recurring roles in Motive, Trailer Park Boys and Killjoys. As regular, LeBlanc starred on the second season of Peacock series Departure in 2021, and in 2022 starred in the Oprah Winfrey Network prime time soap opera The Kings of Napa.[8]

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.[9]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2008 Gemini Awards Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series ReGenesis Nominated
2009 ACTRA Award Outstanding Performance - Female Nurse.Fighter.Boy Nominated
Atlantic Film Festival Best Actress Won [10]
Canadian Screen Awards Best Actress Nominated [11]
2022 Canadian Screen Awards Best Supporting Performance, Web Program or Series For the Record Nominated [9]
2023 Canadian Screen Awards Best Supporting Performance in a Drama Program or Series Departure Nominated [12]

References
  1. Before Nurse.Fighter.Boy, Karen LeBlanc wore many hats The Georgia Straight
  2. Biography Karenleblanc.com
  3. Mike Hale (2011-09-18). "Cigars? Cigarettes? Catty Rivalries?". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2015-02-13. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  4. "New Musical, Outrageous, Has World Premiere in Toronto Sept. 19-Oct. 21". Playbill, September 19, 2000.
  5. Ken Eisner (2009-02-04). "Before Nurse.Fighter.Boy, Karen LeBlanc wore many hats". Georgia Straight. Archived from the original on 2014-02-21. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  6. "Karen LeBlanc". IMDb.
  7. Lesley Goldberg (2012-03-09). "ABC's 'Beauty and the Beast' Adds 'Defying Gravity' Actress". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 2014-08-27. Retrieved 2015-02-12.
  8. Petski, Denise (April 8, 2021). "'The Kings Of Napa': Ebonee Noel, Rance Nix, Karen LeBlanc, Yaani King Mondschein To Star In OWN Drama".
  9. Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022.
  10. "Quebec tale of 10-year-old boy wins prizes at Atlantic film fest". Canadian Press, September 19, 2008.
  11. Cassandra Szklarski, "Denis Villeneuve's 'Polytechnique' lands leading 11 Genie nominations". Canadian Press, March 1, 2010.
  12. Vlessing, Etan (February 22, 2023). "Canadian Screen Awards: TV Drama 'The Porter' Leads With 19 Nominations".
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