Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Welsh, Jonathan
Versatile stage and television actor and playwright, born in St. Catharines Ontario April 3, 1947, died January 27, 2005. He studied theatre at Niagara College. His acting career began in the 1960s with roles at the Shaw Festival and Stratford Festival (Louis in Walsh by Sharon Pollock in 1974), and in the 1969 Canadian debut of Hair at the Royal Alexandra Theatre.
In the 1970s he moved into television, starring in the police drama Sidestreet, and in E.N.G. (where he played an openly gay character), and in Adderly.
In 1984 he played Joe in The Tomorrow Box by Anne Chislett (dir. Ted Follows); and Sean/Michael in The Mark of Cain by Peter Colley (dir. Heiner Pillar at the Muskoka Festival in Gravenhurst, Ontario. He also played in American Modern by Peter Garrett for Toronto Truck Theatre at the Bayview Playhouse in Toronto.
His play, Letter to the West Wind, was about Canadian artist Tom Thompson.
In 1990, Welsh founded Performers for Literacy, a highly regarded national charity that encourages children to read with interactive shows and readings, and with Second Story Reading Centres in Toronto and Edmonton.
Last updated 2021-06-11
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