Lorena Gale
Lorena Gale (May 9, 1958 – June 21, 2009)[1] was a Canadian actress, playwright and theatre director. She was active onstage and in films and television since the 1980s. She also authored two award-winning plays, Angélique and Je me souviens.
Lorena Gale | |
|---|---|
 Gale at Gatecon, July 30, 2005 | |
| Born | May 9, 1958 Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | June 21, 2009 (aged 51) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Other names | Lorena Gayle Lorineda Gayle |
| Occupation(s) | Actress, playwright, theatre director |
| Years active | 1981–2009 |
| Spouse | John Cooper (1988–2009; her death) |
Life and career
Gale was born in Montreal, Quebec.[2] She studied at Concordia University and the National Theatre School and completed a Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Simon Fraser University in Vancouver in 2005.[2]
Her performances on stage for Lorraine Hansberry's Raisin in the Sun and Joseph A. Walker's River Niger won her the Montreal Gazette Theatre Critics Award for Outstanding Performance in 1981.[2]
In 1985 she became the artistic director of Montréal's Black Theatre Workshop.[3] She then studied playwriting at the Playwrights' Workshop Montréal.[2]
After moving to Vancouver in 1988, Lorena won a 1991 Jessie Richardson Award for best supporting actress as Normal Jean in The Colored Museum (1990) .[2]
Her play, Angélique, the story of executed slave Marie-Joseph Angelique, was the winner of the 1995 duMaurier National Playwriting Competition in Canada.[4][2] Her writing explores the nature of being black and mixed race and belonging in Canada.[5] In 2000, she produced her play Je me souviens, a monologue about her experiences growing up in Montreal, at the Firehall Arts Centre in Vancouver, BC.[6] The play was published by Talonbooks in 2001.[7]
She appeared in such movies as The Hotel New Hampshire, Another Cinderella Story, Ernest Goes to School, Fantastic Four, Traitor, The Chronicles of Riddick, The Mermaid Chair, and The Exorcism of Emily Rose. She has guest starred on programs such as The X-Files, Stargate SG-1, Smallville and Kingdom Hospital. Until August 2005, she starred as Priestess Elosha on the SciFi Channel television program Battlestar Galactica.
Gale also lent her voice to several animated works such as RoboCop: Alpha Commando, The Bitsy Bears, Camp Candy, The Adventures of Corduroy and Hurricanes.
Gale's final film role was as a librarian in Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins, which was dedicated to her.
Death
Gale died following a battle with throat cancer on June 21, 2009, at age 51.[2] Her body was cremated.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Visiting Hours | Nurse 1 | |
| 1984 | The Hotel New Hampshire | Dark Inge | |
| 1987 | Wild Thing | Scooter | |
| 1989 | Cousins | Cosmetic Demonstrator | |
| 1989 | The Fly II | Woman | |
| 1992 | Farther West | ||
| 1994 | Ernest Goes to School | History Teacher | |
| 1996 | Maternal Instincts | Anita | |
| 1997 | Indefensible: The Truth About Edward Brannigan | Cheryl Drew | TV movie |
| 1998 | American Dragons | Captain Talman | |
| 2000 | Snow Day | Radio Mother | |
| 2000 | Holiday Heart | Mrs. Owens | TV movie |
| 2000 | Screwed | Angry Momma | |
| 2001 | Freddy Got Fingered | Psychiatrist / Social Worker | |
| 2002 | Halloween: Resurrection | Nurse Wells | |
| 2003 | Agent Cody Banks | Waitress | |
| 2003 | Battlestar Galactica | Elosha | Miniseries |
| 2004–2005, 2008 | Battlestar Galactica | Elosha | TV series |
| 2004 | The Butterfly Effect | Mrs. Boswell | |
| 2004 | The Perfect Score | Proctor | |
| 2004 | The Chronicles of Riddick | Defense Minister | |
| 2005 | Bob the Butler | Dr. Wilma | |
| 2005 | Fantastic Four | Old Lady With Car #1 | |
| 2005 | The Exorcism of Emily Rose | Jury Foreman | |
| 2005 | Neverwas | Judy | |
| 2006 | Slither | Janene | |
| 2006 | The Mermaid Chair | Hepzibah | TV movie |
| 2006 | The Foursome | Marjorie | |
| 2007 | Love Notes | Aveva Marley | |
| 2007 | Things We Lost in the Fire | N.A. Meeting Person | |
| 2008 | Another Cinderella Story | Helga | |
| 2008 | The X-Files: I Want to Believe | On Screen Doctor | |
| 2008 | Traitor | Dierdre Horn | |
| 2008 | The Day the Earth Stood Still | Scientist #2 | |
| 2009 | Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins | Librarian | TV movie, posthumous release |
References
- "Lorena Gale (1958-2009)". Caprica-City.de. 2009-06-25. Retrieved 2009-06-25.
- Hustak, Alan (24 January 2010). "Lorena Gale". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Foundation of Canada. Retrieved March 8, 2016.
- Bayne, Clarence (2001). "Le Black Theatre Workshop de Montréal: un nouveau bilan". L'Annuaire théâtral: Revue québécoise d'études théâtrales. 29: 141–155 – via Erudit.
- Gale, Lorena (1995). "Writing "Angelique" (Includes excerpt)". Canadian Theatre Review. 83: 20–23. ProQuest 211995628.
- Clarke, George Elliott (2009). "Strategies for Legitimizing Difference. Mixed-Race Resistance in the Works of Andrea Thompson and Lorena Gale, Two African-Canadian Writers". Canada: Images of a post/national society. New York: P.I.E.—Peter Lang. pp. 263–264. ISBN 978-90-5201-485-2.
- BC, Popgun Media-- Vancouver. "Our History". Firehall Arts Centre. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
- "Je me souviens » Books » Talonbooks". talonbooks.com. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
External links
- Podcast conversation with Lorena Gale on Sci-Fi Talk (about 24 minutes in length; Gale talked about her recent roles)
- Lorena Gale, Angélique (1999) (from the Way Back Machine, June 30, 2007)
- Lorena Gale at IMDb
- Lorena Gale at TV Guide
- Lorena Gale article at Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia