Alberta Watson

'Alberta Watson' (qv), well known to television audiences for her Gemini award-nominated role as Madeline on _La Femme Nikita (1997)_ (qv), enjoys a long and diverse career in television and film.A native of Toronto, Watson began performing with a local theater group as a teenager. She received a Genie nomination for Best Supporting Actress for one of her first movie roles, Mitzi in 'George Kaczender' (qv)'s _In Praise of Older Women (1978)_ (qv). Just a year later, she took home the Best Actress award at the Yorkton Film Festival for the short film "Exposure". Watson then headed to the United States, where she studied with 'Gene Lasko' (qv), made several films (including 'Michael Mann' (qv)'s stylish horror classic _The Keep (1983)_ (qv), with 'Scott Glenn' (qv), 'Ian McKellen' (qv) and 'Gabriel Byrne' (qv)) and the TV movie _Women of Valor (1986)_ (qv), with 'Susan Sarandon' (qv).After returning to the East Coast, Watson took a chance on a low-budget independent film with then-novice director 'David O. Russell' (qv): the black comedy _Spanking the Monkey (1994)_ (qv), which received the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and multiple Independent Spirit 'Awards' (qv). Watson won rave critical acclaim for her memorable performance as a depressed, deeply-disturbed mother who has an incestuous relationship with her son, played by 'Jeremy Davies' (qv).The next year Watson went on to play the far more stable mother to a teenage computer genius in the box-office smash _Hackers (1995)_ (qv), along with 'Angelina Jolie' (qv), and then the wife of mobster John Gotti in the Emmy-nominated _Gotti (1996)_ (qv). She returned to Toronto and continued to seek out interesting roles in independent film, which led her to star in _Schuster (1996)_ (qv), directed by 'Colleen Murphy' (qv). While the film was not widely released in the United States, Watson's performance did not go unnoticed -she received a second Genie nomination, this time in the Lead Actress category.The following year she won critical praise for another independent film, 'Atom Egoyan' (qv)'s haunting _The Sweet Hereafter (1997)_ (qv), in which she delivered a nuanced performance of an adulterous wife and mourning mother. For this film, she shared the award for Best Acting by an Ensemble (National Board of Review) with 'Ian Holm' (qv), 'Sarah Polley' (qv) and the other members of an exceptional cast. The film received the Grand Prize of the Jury at the Cannes Film Festival and went on to earn both Academy Award and Genie nominations.Meanwhile, Watson had begun filming the TV series _La Femme Nikita (1997)_ (qv), which ran for four years, where she played a character that has become iconic, the tough anti-terrorist strategist Madeline. The cult series earned her a 1998 Gemini nomination and marked the start of an ever-growing fan base, with its main online presence at an unofficial site dedicated to her.Although she has appeared in numerous major commercial releases and hit television shows, during the last ten years Watson has preferred independent (and especially Canadian) productions.She added another prize-winning movie to her credits with the rock musical _Hedwig and the Angry Inch (2001)_ (qv) by 'John Cameron Mitchell' (qv) and 'Stephen Trask' (qv), where she played Hedwig's twisted mom. The film won the Audience Award and Best Director Award at Sundance.Watson starred later in _The Wild Dogs (2002)_ (qv) with director 'Thom Fitzgerald' (qv), which took home top honors at the Atlantic Film Festival. She also appeared as Dr. Fischer in 'Sarah Polley' (qv)'s feature film directorial debut, the prize-winning _Away from Her (2006)_ (qv), with 'Julie Christie' (qv). In addition, she starred opposite 'Colm Meaney' (qv) in the feature film _A Lobster Tale (2006)_ (qv), a quiet, low-key story which also won several awards.Meanwhile, in television, Watson scored a second Gemini Award nomination for her performance in _After the Harvest (2001)_ (qv), co-starring 'Sam Shepard' (qv). The second installment of _Chasing Cain II: Face (2002)_ (qv), garnered her another Gemini nomination as Best Actress in a Leading Role (2003). After that, Watson filmed _Choice: The Henry Morgentaler Story (2005)_ (qv), the story of controversial Canadian physician Dr. Henry Morgentaler, for which she was nominated for yet another Gemini Award in 2005.While she had recurring roles in numerous television shows (The 'News' (qv)room (1996), _Show Me Yours (2004)_ (qv), _At the Hotel (2006)_ (qv), _Angela's Eyes (2006)_ (qv)), she reached again more international TV audiences when she starred in the fourth season (2004-2005) of the hit Fox series _24 (2001)_ (qv), opposite 'Kiefer Sutherland' (qv) and 'William Devane' (qv), playing the role of Erin Driscoll, the head of a counter-terrorist unit. She had the chance to play a different boss-woman (a Minister, and recovering alcoholic) when she joined the cast of other popular prime-time drama, CBC's _The Border (2008)_ (qv), as a recurring guest star.Most recently Watson was cast as the voice of 350-pound Mary Rutherford in the animated film _Das Geschenk (2009)_ (qv) (produced and directed by Academy Award-winning animator 'Chris Landreth' (qv)), which took home the Best Film Award at the 2009 Melbourne International Animation Festival. In 2008, 'Alberta Watson' (qv) received a Career Achievement Award from the Boston-based Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film.Watson died on March 21, 2015 due to complications from cancer at Kensington Hospice in Toronto; she was 60 years old.::KrystalT