Nonnie Griffin obit

Toronto actress Nonnie Griffin dies at 85 on eve of debuting new one-woman show

 

 She was not on the list.

Toronto actress and playwright Nonnie Griffin has died less than two weeks before debuting a new one-woman show.

Close friend Lorraine Heaton says Griffin passed away Friday morning in hospital of an aortic aneurysm that ruptured Tuesday. She was 85.

The seasoned stage performer was known for roles in radio, TV and the theatre.

Griffin began writing her own parts while in her 70s, starting with “Sister Annunciata’s Secret,” in which she played six different characters at the 2012 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She followed that with 2014’s “Marilyn — After,” which imagined what Marilyn Monroe would have been like if she were alive 50 years after her death.

Griffin had been preparing to return to the stage June 19 with the self-financed production “Before Scarlett,” in which she was to portray “Gone with the Wind” author Margaret Mitchell.

Heaton says Griffin “went out the way she lived her life — with gusto, with joy, with encouragement to everybody, with just a radiant beauty.”

She says her friend turned to writing “when parts dried up for elderly women.”

Griffin told The Canadian Press in 2014 that she was especially fascinated with Monroe, and could relate to aspects of the pin-up’s troubled personal life.

Griffin said she, too, had some hard times growing up around Ontario and Quebec. Though her father was the son of Sir William Mackenzie, the builder of the Canadian Northern Railway, he didn’t have much money himself.

“We were poor, so I understood people who are having tough times,” said Griffin.

“I think that we share that, Marilyn and I. We have empathy for people who are down and out, or people who are being ignored and that sort of stuff. Empathy — I think that’s what makes a really good actor or actress.”

Apart from being a veteran of the stage, her voice over work includes Nelvana's Star Wars: Ewoks, and playing Harmony Bear in 1986's Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation. She voiced Funshine Bear in the Nelvana version of Care Bears, and also voiced Mrs. Suey-Ellen Pig in The Raccoons episodes "Mom's the Word!" and "Promises Promises!". Nonnie's voice appears in Wild Life, a film that was nominated for Best Animated Short at the 2012 Academy Awards.

She made guest appearances on several television series, including Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, King of Kensington, RoboCop: The Series, Forever Knight, Street Legal, Doc, Bizarre and Strange Paradise. Nonnie was a favorite on the children's television series, Polka Dot Door. She played Diana Barry in the first televised production of Anne of Green Gables in 1956.

She also appeared in several films, including The Believers, The Abduction, Good Fences, A Husband, a Wife and a Lover and If You Could See What I Hear.

Nonnie wrote the play Sister Annunciata’s Secret, in which she played six different characters. The play appeared at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and later at the Hamilton Fringe Festival.

She studied at the Toronto Conservatory in her native land, the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, and even with famed mime artist Marcel Marceau. Her stage work includes playing Mrs. Rafi in the original Toronto production of The Sea and a 10-month run as the title character in Hello, Dolly! at the Limelight Dinner Theatre in Toronto in 1990. Griffin appeared in the original Toronto production of John Murrell's Waiting for the Parade. She also played Jessica in the original Montreal production of David French's Jitters.

 

Actress (54 credits)

 2018 Stockholm

Old Lady in Bank

 2016 A Puppy for Christmas (TV Movie)

Sweet Elderly Woman

 2016 Sundowning (Short)

Leo

 2015 Backpackers (TV Series)

Old Lady

- Andrew's Version (2015) ... Old Lady

 2014 Wet Bum

Sylvia

 2014 Bitten (TV Series)

Townie

- Prodigal (2014) ... Townie

 2013 Air Crash Investigation (TV Series documentary)

Marion Carroll

- Titanic in the Sky (2013) ... Marion Carroll

 2012 Old Stock

Pretty Senior

 2011 Wild Life (Short) (voice)

 2002-2003 Doc (TV Series)

Dottie Johannson / Dottie

- Welcome to New York: Part 2 (2003) ... Dottie Johannson

- Time Flies (2002) ... Dottie

 2003 Good Fences (TV Movie)

Mrs. Winsloe

 1996 An Angel for Christmas (Video)

Margaret (voice)

 1996 The Little Princess (Video) (voice)

 1996 The Abduction (TV Movie)

Woman at Gas Station

 1996 A Husband, a Wife and a Lover (TV Movie)

Mrs. Feld

 1996 The Toy Shop (Video) (voice)

 1995 Forever Knight (TV Series)

Nick's Mother

- Be My Valentine (1995) ... Nick's Mother

 1994 RoboCop (TV Series)

Dorothy Murphy

- Corporate Raiders (1994) ... Dorothy Murphy

- The Human Factor (1994) ... Dorothy Murphy

 1989-1991 The Raccoons (TV Series)

Mrs. Pig

- Promises Promises! (1991) ... Mrs. Pig (voice)

- Mom's the Word! (1989) ... Mrs. Pig (voice)

 1990 Polkaroo's Birthday Party (TV Special)

Nonnie

 1989 Street Legal (TV Series)

Mrs. Burke

- In Search of a Dream (1989) ... Mrs. Burke

 1988 Blades of Courage (TV Movie)

 1986-1987 Adderly (TV Series)

- Horse Cents (1987)

- Mailman (1986)

 1987 The Believers

Cigar Couple

 1986 The Care Bears (TV Series)

Funshine Bear

- The Cloud of Uncaring (1986) ... (voice)

- The All Powerful Mr. Beastly/Order on the Court (1986) ... (voice)

- Grams Bear's Thanksgiving Surprise (1986) ... (voice)

- Birthday Bear's Blues (1986) ... (voice)

- The Long Lost Care Bears (1986) ... (voice)

Show all 13 episodes

 1986 Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation

Harmony Bear (voice)

 1986 Check It Out (TV Series)

Helen Arden

- Love Is a Many Splendored Alf (1986) ... Helen Arden

 1985 Ewoks (TV Series)

Shodu

- Asha (1985) ... (voice, credit only)

- Blue Harvest (1985) ... (voice, credit only)

- The Three Lessons (1985) ... (voice, credit only)

- Wicket's Wagon (1985) ... (voice, credit only)

- Sunstar vs. Shadowstone (1985) ... (voice, credit only)

1984 Toronto Trilogy (TV Special)

Sonja

 1984 When We First Met (TV Movie)

Mrs. Holtzer

 1983 The Littlest Hobo (TV Series)

Mrs. Cavanaugh

- The Five Labours of Hercules: Part Two (1983)

- The Five Labours of Hercules: Part One (1983) ... Mrs. Cavanaugh

 1982 If You Could See What I Hear

Mrs. Steffen

 1979 Bizarre (TV Series)

Various Characters

 1978 King of Kensington (TV Series)

- Summer of '56 (1978)

 1975 Here's Looking at You: Two Families, Two Lifestyles (Short)

Claire

 1969 Strange Paradise (TV Series)

Beryl Forbes

- Episode #1.1 (1969) ... Beryl Forbes

 1967 Counter Etiquette. Part 1 (Short) (as Margaret Griffin)

 1966 Mighty Thor (TV Series)

Enchantress

- Trial of the Gods (1966) ... Enchantress

- Battle of the Gods (1966) ... Enchantress

 1964-1966 Festival (TV Series)

Ethel

- The Scotch (1966)

- The Birthday Party (1965)

- The Close Prisoner (1964) ... Ethel

 1963 Playdate (TV Series)

Princess Victoria

- The Ninety-Ninth Day (1963) ... Princess Victoria (as Margaret Griffin)

 1961 Drama 61-67 (TV Series)

Rhoda

- Drama '61: So Long at the Fair (1961) ... Rhoda (as Margaret Griffin)

 1961 The Watching Cat (TV Movie)

Secretary (as Margaret Griffin)

 1960 Armchair Mystery Theatre (TV Series)

Christine

- Eye Witness (1960) ... Christine (as Margaret Griffin)

 1960 Armchair Theatre (TV Series)

Stewardess

- Roman Gesture (1960) ... Stewardess (as Margaret Griffin)

 1960 Too Young to Love

Bit Part (uncredited)

 1959 ITV Play of the Week (TV Series)

- A Touch of the Sun (1959) ... (as Margaret Griffin)

 1958 Anne of Green Gables (TV Movie)

Diana (as Margaret Griffin)

 1954-1958 Encounter (TV Series)

Kate Murdoch / Jane / Pheasant Whiteoak / ...

- A Matter of Principle (1958) ... Jane (as Margaret Griffin)

- Black Chiffon (1957) ... (as Margaret Griffin)

- Whiteoaks (1957) ... Pheasant Whiteoak (as Margaret Griffin)

- Kathleen (1956) ... Kathleen (as Margaret Griffin)

- The Painted Blind (1956) ... Barbara (as Margaret Griffin)

1958 On Camera (TV Series)

Angelina

- Three to Get Married: Part 1 (1958) ... Angelina (as Margaret Griffin)

 1956-1958 Folio (TV Series)

Mashenka / Jean

- The Diary of a Scoundrel (1958) ... Mashenka (as Margaret Griffin)

- Mr. Bolfry (1957) ... Jean (as Margaret Griffin)

- The Trial of James Whelan (1957) ... (as Margaret Griffin)

- When Soft Voices Die (1956) ... (as Margaret Griffin)

 1957 Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans (TV Series)

Sally

- False Witness (1957) ... Sally (as Margaret Griffin)

 1956 First Performance (TV Series)

- Black of the Moon (1956) ... (as Margaret Griffin)

 1956 Anne of Green Gables (TV Movie)

Diana (as Margaret Griffin)

 1954 Hidden Pages (TV Series)

Zelomi

- The Ox and the Ass (1954) ... Zelomi (as Margaret Griffin)