Theresa Tova (born 1955) is a Canadian actress, singer and playwright.[1] She is most noted for her play Still the Night, which won several Dora Mavor Moore Awards in 1997[2] and was a shortlisted finalist for the Governor General's Award for English-language drama at the 1999 Governor General's Awards.[3]
The daughter of Polish Jewish survivors of the Holocaust, Tova was born in Paris, France, and raised in Calgary, Alberta.[4] She studied acting at the University of Alberta.[5]
Primarily a stage and musical theatre actress, she also had a role in the television series E.N.G. in the early-1990s as Marge Atherton, for which she received a Gemini Award nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role at the 8th Gemini Awards in 1993.[6]
Still the Night, a musical play which combined Jewish music, including vaudeville and klezmer, with the story of two young girls surviving the Holocaust in the forests of Poland, was staged in 1996 by Theatre Passe Muraille.[4] It won four Dora Awards in the Mid-Sized Theatre division in 1997, for outstanding new play or musical, outstanding production, outstanding music (John Alcorn) and outstanding female performance in a musical (Liza Balkan).[2]
Tova has continued to act on stage, including productions of They're Playing Our Song, Fiddler on the Roof and The Diary of Anne Frank,[1] as well as in supporting television, film and web series roles. In 2017, she was elected president of the Toronto chapter of ACTRA.[7]
She was a Canadian Screen Award nominee for Best Lead Performance in a Web Program or Series at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022 for the web series For the Record.[8]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980 | Deadline | Honey | |
| 1983 | Curtains | Inmate | |
| 1984 | Unfinished Business | Sally | |
| 1985 | Eleni | Katis' Daughter | |
| 1985 | Head Office | Woman Protestor | |
| 1985 | Big Deal | Iris Leach | |
| 1986 | Dancing in the Dark | Nosey Neighbor | |
| 1990 | Love & Murder | Evelyn | |
| 1992 | This Is My Life | Rochelle | |
| 2005 | Lie with Me | Wedding Singer | |
| 2012 | In Return | Sandy | |
| 2013 | It Was You Charlie | Sandra | |
| 2019 | Mistletoe & Menorahs | Tovah | |
| 2020 | Akilla's Escape | Athena | |
| 2022 | Christmas Lucky Charm | Mrs. Barnett | |
| TBA | Meet Me Next Christmas | Debra |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Hangin' In | Denise | Episode: "Make Room for Mommy" |
| 1985 | Seeing Things | Gloria | Episode: "Defective Vision" |
| 1989–1994 | E.N.G. | Marge Atherton | 96 episodes |
| 1993 | Taking the Heat | Mary | Television film |
| 1994 | Against Their Will | Captain Cooney | |
| 1994 | Forever Knight | Ms. Sheppard | Episode: "Undue Process" |
| 1995 | Degree of Guilt | Dr. Shelton | Television film |
| 1997 | Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Women | The Abbess | |
| 2005 | G-Spot | Mickey | Episode: "Stalker" |
| 2007 | ReGenesis | Dr. Lang | Episode: "I Dream of Genomes" |
| 2009 | Producing Parker | Jack Cartwright / Jackie | Episode: "Eat, Pray, Parker" |
| 2010–2011 | Bolts and Blip | Olga | 26 episodes |
| 2014 | The Strain | Beverly | Episode: "Loved Ones" |
| 2014 | Meet the Family | Mom | 3 episodes |
| 2016 | Group Home | Dr. Ginsberg | Television film |
| 2018 | ClaireVoyant | Madame Sonnom | 9 episodes |
| 2019 | Anne with an E | Madam Lyudmila | Episode: "The Summit of My Desires" |
| 2020 | For the Record | Fiona | 2 episodes |
| 2022 | Good Sam | Anna | Episode: "Truce" |
| 2022 | Pretty Hard Cases | Zorka | Episode: "Crystal Ball" |
| 2022 | Workin' Moms | ER Doctor | Episode: "The Break" |
| 2023 | Shelved | Michaela Ramos | Episode: "Moby Dick FICTION MEL" |
| 2023 | The Wedding Rule | Faye | Television film |
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