Patricia Hamilton

Patricia Hamilton

Patricia Hamilton, actress (born 1938). Patricia Hamilton was educated at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh (BFA) and Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She is a prolific film and television actress, appearing in such shows as Upstairs, Downstairs, Who Has Seen the Wind, Hangin' In, Night Heat, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Street Legal and Traders. She is best known for her recurring role (1985-2008) as Rachel Lynde in CBC-TV's Anne of Green Gables and various sequels. She was nominated 3 times for a GENIE AWARD for best supporting actress, winning in 1996.

A stage actress for more than 4 decades, Patricia Hamilton has worked in theatres across Canada, and at the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Conn, the National American Shakespeare Festival in San Diego, the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland and the Old Vic in London, England.

Her long association with Toronto's TARRAGON THEATRE began during that theatre's inaugural season, when she appeared in Jack Cunningham's See No Evil, Hear No Evil in 1972. Later that year, she was in the Bill GLASSCO production of Michel TREMBLAY's Forever Yours, Marie-Lou and she returned in 1973 in Battering Ram by David Freeman.

She also starred in the Tarragon productions of Joanna GLASS's Artichoke (1976), Lillian Hellman's Toys in the Attic (1978), and Margaret HOLLINGSWORTH's Mother County (1980), all directed by Glassco.

In 1985, she played Albertine at age 50 in Tremblay's Albertine in Five Times, a show that subsequently toured internationally. Fittingly, she appeared in the same play at the SHAW FESTIVAL in 2009, this time playing Albertine at 70.

Other notable premieres at Tarragon have included Judith THOMPSON's I Am Yours (1987), Amigo's Blue Guitar by Joan MACLEOD (1990), Tremblay's Impromptu on Nun's Island (2002) and David Gow's Bea's Niece (2005).

In 1993, Patricia Hamilton appeared in Neil MUNRO's Bob's Kingdom at Toronto's FACTORY THEATRE and in 1996, she starred in Bob Baker's lauded production of the Tony Kushner epic Angels in America, performed at Toronto's CANADIAN STAGE. In 1997, she starred in Edward Albee's Three Tall Women at the Grand Theatre, London, and then collaborated with Bill Glassco in a THEATRE CALGARY production of another Albee play, A Delicate Balance.

In Toronto in 2008, she starred in the Harold Green Jewish Theatre production of Kindertransport, directed by Christopher NEWTON.

Patricia Hamilton's many appearances at the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake have included Lady Windermere's Fan (1998) and The Return of the Prodigal (2001-02), both directed by Newton, The Constant Wife (2005) and Rosmersholm (2006), both directed by Munro, A Month in the Country (2007), directed by Tadeusz Bradecki, and Heartbreak House (2011), directed by Newton.

Patricia Hamilton was the founding producer of the influential Masterclass Theatre (1984-94) and was director of the Advanced Actors Workshop at the Banff Centre for the Arts from 1988 to 1994. Among her many awards are a Brenda Donohue Award for distinguished contribution to Toronto theatre (1987), a DORA AWARD for I Am Yours, and the Silver Ticket Award for outstanding contribution to theatre in Toronto and in Canada.