Ann marie macdonald biography of martin
Home / General Biography Information / Ann marie macdonald biography of martin
She went on to host and narrate CBC’s Doc Zone for eight seasons.
In 1996 Ann-Marie’s first novel, Fall on Your Knees, was published by Knopf Canada as part of their inaugural “New Face of Fiction”. She has acted in many new Canadian plays such as Dreaming and Duelling (Young People’s Theatre), Generals Die in Bed (Theatre Passe Muraille) and St Sam and the Nukes (Blyth Festival); as well as in celebrated productions of Cloud Nine (Mirvish Productions) and Top Girls (Soulpepper Theatre).
Her work as an actor on stage and screen has earned her a Gemini Award and a Genie Nomination, and she hosted and narrated CBC TV’s documentary series, Life and Times and Doc Zone. Her paternal grandparents spoke Gaelic as their first language, and her maternal grandparents’ mother tongue was Arabic.
In 1985 MacDonald's first work as a playwright emerged in a feminist collective creation, This Is for You, Anna, and a comedy, Clue in the Fast Lane, written with Beverly Cooper.
It begins by recapturing in meticulous detail the thoughts and sensations of a young girl and her family as they live through a series of alarming events while stationed on an air force base in Canada during the Cuban missile crisis, then traces the consequences of these events through their later lives. We can't be certain what the letter inside says, but we can see the writing inside, at first opaquely and then gradually with increased clarity, as scrutiny is increased.
In 2019 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in recognition of her contribution to the arts, and her activism and advocacy for LGBTQ2S+ rights. She graduated from the National Theatre School in 1980, then became a popular performer in Toronto theatre, where she was widely admired in such roles as Maria in Twelfth Night for Theatre Columbus and Rosalind in As You Like It for the Canadian Stage Company.
In 2004 the Libris Awards honoured The Way the Crow Flies as the Fiction Book of the Year. She has performed featured and lead roles in numerous TV series and several independent Canadian films including The Wars and Better Than Chocolate, earning a Genie nomination for her role in I’ve Heard the Mermaids Singing, and winning a Gemini Award for Where the Spirit Lives.
Indeed, one of the characters, Frances, is described as a "sealed letter.
Ann-Marie MacDonald
Ann-Marie MacDonald is an author, playwright, and actor. The naturalness of the conversations between lovers, neighbors, and sisters creates a believable backdrop for the sometimes horrific events in the novel.
She moved to Toronto where she immersed herself in the vibrant alternative theatre scene, and simultaneously pursued a career in television and film. Until she was five, Ann-Marie MacDonald lived on the Royal Canadian Air Force base at Baden-Baden; but she considered her real home to be Nova Scotia, where both her parents had been born - her father to a family of Scottish heritage in New Waterford, and her mother to a family of Lebanese heritage in Sydney.
She was the host of CBC television's Life and Times and began hosting Doc Zone in 2008. In 2014 the family moved from Toronto to Montreal where Alisa took up the post as Artistic Director, English Section, of The National Theatre School of Canada – Ann-Marie’s alma mater.
In Montreal, Ann-Marie enjoyed being the inaugural Mordecai Richler Reading Room Writer in Residence at Concordia University.
It is published by Knopf Canada.