Alberta Watson(1955-2015)
- Actress
- Soundtrack
Alberta Watson, well known to television audiences for her Gemini
award-nominated role as Madeline on
La Femme Nikita (1997),
enjoys a long and diverse career in television and film.
A native of Toronto, Watson began performing with a local theater group
as a teenager. She received a Genie nomination for Best Supporting
Actress for one of her first movie roles, Mitzi in
George Kaczender's
In Praise of Older Women (1978).
Just a year later, she took home the Best Actress award at the Yorkton
Film Festival for the short film "Exposure". Watson then headed to the
United States, where she studied with
Gene Lasko, made several films (including
Michael Mann's stylish horror
classic The Keep (1983), with
Scott Glenn,
Ian McKellen and
Gabriel Byrne) and the TV movie
Women of Valor (1986),
with Susan Sarandon.
After returning to the East Coast, Watson took a chance on a low-budget
independent film with then-novice director
David O. Russell: the black comedy
Spanking the Monkey (1994),
which received the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and multiple
Independent Spirit Awards. Watson won rave critical acclaim for her
memorable performance as a depressed, deeply-disturbed mother who has
an incestuous relationship with her son, played by
Jeremy Davies.
The next year Watson went on to play the far more stable mother to a
teenage computer genius in the box-office smash
Hackers (1995), along with
Angelina Jolie, and then the wife
of mobster John Gotti in the Emmy-nominated
Gotti (1996). She returned to
Toronto and continued to seek out interesting roles in independent
film, which led her to star in
Shoemaker (1996), directed by
Colleen Murphy. While the film
was not widely released in the United States, Watson's performance did
not go unnoticed -she received a second Genie nomination, this time in
the Lead Actress category.
The following year she won critical praise for another independent
film, Atom Egoyan's haunting
The Sweet Hereafter (1997),
in which she delivered a nuanced performance of an adulterous wife and
mourning mother. For this film, she shared the award for Best Acting by
an Ensemble (National Board of Review) with
Ian Holm,
Sarah Polley and the other members
of an exceptional cast. The film received the Grand Prize of the Jury
at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to earn both Academy Award and
Genie nominations.
Meanwhile, Watson had begun filming the TV series
La Femme Nikita (1997), which
ran for four years, where she played a character that has become
iconic, the tough anti-terrorist strategist Madeline. The cult series
earned her a 1998 Gemini nomination and marked the start of an
ever-growing fan base, with its main online presence at an unofficial
site dedicated to her.
Although she has appeared in numerous major commercial releases and hit
television shows, during the last ten years Watson has preferred
independent (and especially Canadian) productions.
She added another prize-winning movie to her credits with the rock
musical
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
by John Cameron Mitchell and
Stephen Trask, where she played Hedwig's
twisted mom. The film won the Audience Award and Best Director Award at
Sundance.
Watson starred later in
The Wild Dogs (2002) with director
Thom Fitzgerald, which took home top
honors at the Atlantic Film Festival. She also appeared as Dr. Fischer
in Sarah Polley's feature film
directorial debut, the prize-winning
Away from Her (2006), with
Julie Christie. In addition, she
starred opposite Colm Meaney in the feature
film A Lobster Tale (2006), a
quiet, low-key story which also won several awards.
Meanwhile, in television, Watson scored a second Gemini Award
nomination for her performance in
After the Harvest (2001),
co-starring Sam Shepard. The second
installment of
Chasing Cain II: Face (2002),
garnered her another Gemini nomination as Best Actress in a Leading
Role (2003). After that, Watson filmed
Choice: The Henry Morgentaler Story (2005),
the story of controversial Canadian physician Dr. Henry Morgentaler,
for which she was nominated for yet another Gemini Award in 2005.
While she had recurring roles in numerous television shows
(The Newsroom (1996),
Show Me Yours (2004),
At the Hotel (2006),
Angela's Eyes (2006)), she
reached again more international TV audiences when she starred in the
fourth season (2004-2005) of the hit Fox series
24 (2001), opposite
Kiefer Sutherland and
William Devane, playing the role of Erin
Driscoll, the head of a counter-terrorist unit. She had the chance to
play a different boss-woman (a Minister, and recovering alcoholic) when
she joined the cast of other popular prime-time drama, CBC's
The Border (2008), as a recurring
guest star.
Most recently Watson was cast as the voice of 350-pound Mary Rutherford
in the animated film The Spine (2009)
(produced and directed by Academy Award-winning animator
Chris Landreth), which took home
the Best Film Award at the 2009 Melbourne International Animation
Festival. In 2008, Alberta Watson received a Career Achievement Award
from the Boston-based Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film.
Watson died on March 21, 2015 due to complications from cancer at Kensington Hospice in Toronto; she was 60 years old.
award-nominated role as Madeline on
La Femme Nikita (1997),
enjoys a long and diverse career in television and film.
A native of Toronto, Watson began performing with a local theater group
as a teenager. She received a Genie nomination for Best Supporting
Actress for one of her first movie roles, Mitzi in
George Kaczender's
In Praise of Older Women (1978).
Just a year later, she took home the Best Actress award at the Yorkton
Film Festival for the short film "Exposure". Watson then headed to the
United States, where she studied with
Gene Lasko, made several films (including
Michael Mann's stylish horror
classic The Keep (1983), with
Scott Glenn,
Ian McKellen and
Gabriel Byrne) and the TV movie
Women of Valor (1986),
with Susan Sarandon.
After returning to the East Coast, Watson took a chance on a low-budget
independent film with then-novice director
David O. Russell: the black comedy
Spanking the Monkey (1994),
which received the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and multiple
Independent Spirit Awards. Watson won rave critical acclaim for her
memorable performance as a depressed, deeply-disturbed mother who has
an incestuous relationship with her son, played by
Jeremy Davies.
The next year Watson went on to play the far more stable mother to a
teenage computer genius in the box-office smash
Hackers (1995), along with
Angelina Jolie, and then the wife
of mobster John Gotti in the Emmy-nominated
Gotti (1996). She returned to
Toronto and continued to seek out interesting roles in independent
film, which led her to star in
Shoemaker (1996), directed by
Colleen Murphy. While the film
was not widely released in the United States, Watson's performance did
not go unnoticed -she received a second Genie nomination, this time in
the Lead Actress category.
The following year she won critical praise for another independent
film, Atom Egoyan's haunting
The Sweet Hereafter (1997),
in which she delivered a nuanced performance of an adulterous wife and
mourning mother. For this film, she shared the award for Best Acting by
an Ensemble (National Board of Review) with
Ian Holm,
Sarah Polley and the other members
of an exceptional cast. The film received the Grand Prize of the Jury
at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to earn both Academy Award and
Genie nominations.
Meanwhile, Watson had begun filming the TV series
La Femme Nikita (1997), which
ran for four years, where she played a character that has become
iconic, the tough anti-terrorist strategist Madeline. The cult series
earned her a 1998 Gemini nomination and marked the start of an
ever-growing fan base, with its main online presence at an unofficial
site dedicated to her.
Although she has appeared in numerous major commercial releases and hit
television shows, during the last ten years Watson has preferred
independent (and especially Canadian) productions.
She added another prize-winning movie to her credits with the rock
musical
Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)
by John Cameron Mitchell and
Stephen Trask, where she played Hedwig's
twisted mom. The film won the Audience Award and Best Director Award at
Sundance.
Watson starred later in
The Wild Dogs (2002) with director
Thom Fitzgerald, which took home top
honors at the Atlantic Film Festival. She also appeared as Dr. Fischer
in Sarah Polley's feature film
directorial debut, the prize-winning
Away from Her (2006), with
Julie Christie. In addition, she
starred opposite Colm Meaney in the feature
film A Lobster Tale (2006), a
quiet, low-key story which also won several awards.
Meanwhile, in television, Watson scored a second Gemini Award
nomination for her performance in
After the Harvest (2001),
co-starring Sam Shepard. The second
installment of
Chasing Cain II: Face (2002),
garnered her another Gemini nomination as Best Actress in a Leading
Role (2003). After that, Watson filmed
Choice: The Henry Morgentaler Story (2005),
the story of controversial Canadian physician Dr. Henry Morgentaler,
for which she was nominated for yet another Gemini Award in 2005.
While she had recurring roles in numerous television shows
(The Newsroom (1996),
Show Me Yours (2004),
At the Hotel (2006),
Angela's Eyes (2006)), she
reached again more international TV audiences when she starred in the
fourth season (2004-2005) of the hit Fox series
24 (2001), opposite
Kiefer Sutherland and
William Devane, playing the role of Erin
Driscoll, the head of a counter-terrorist unit. She had the chance to
play a different boss-woman (a Minister, and recovering alcoholic) when
she joined the cast of other popular prime-time drama, CBC's
The Border (2008), as a recurring
guest star.
Most recently Watson was cast as the voice of 350-pound Mary Rutherford
in the animated film The Spine (2009)
(produced and directed by Academy Award-winning animator
Chris Landreth), which took home
the Best Film Award at the 2009 Melbourne International Animation
Festival. In 2008, Alberta Watson received a Career Achievement Award
from the Boston-based Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film.
Watson died on March 21, 2015 due to complications from cancer at Kensington Hospice in Toronto; she was 60 years old.