Karen LeBlanc explained

Karen LeBlanc
Nationality:Canadian
Occupation:Actress, singer
Years Active:1992–present

Karen LeBlanc is a Canadian musical theatre actress and singer.

Early life

LeBlanc grew up in Tottenham, Ontario to family from Nova Scotia. She attended the musical theatre program at Sheridan College.[1] [2]

Career

Starting with a minor role in the 1992 television movie Split Images, LeBlanc's credits include guest appearances in television series includingTrailer Park Boys, Producing Parker, Soul Food, Mutant X, and most notable The Playboy Club (2011) playing Tina Turner and singing two of Turner's signature songs, "Shake a Tail Feather" and "I Want to Be Made Over". As regular, she first starred in the final season of the CBC sitcom Material World from 1992 to 1993. She appeared in 2000 fantasy-comedy film Santa Who? starring Leslie Nielsen. She co-starred in a number of made-for-television movies, including Snap Decision (2001), Guilt by Association (2002), Lucky Day (2002), (2005), Knights of the South Bronx (2005), and (2012). On stage, she has appeared in productions of Outrageous!,[3] Rent. and Cinderella. She has also performed as a backing vocalist for Chaka Khan, Rik Emmett and Glass Tiger.

LeBlanc starred in the short-lived the CW drama series Runaway in 2006. For her recurring role in ReGenesis, she was nominated for Gemini Awards for Best Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic Series in 2008.[4] In 2009, LeBlanc received positive reviews and Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress nomination for her performance in the drama film Nurse.Fighter.Boy. Her other film credits include Make It Happen (2008) and Dolan's Cadillac (2009). Also that year, she starred in the ABC drama series, Defying Gravity. Her other series regular credits including Soul (2009), Shattered (2010–11), Cracked (2013), Insomnia (2018), Frontier (2017–18), and Ransom (2018-19). She also had a recurring roles in Motive, Trailer Park Boys and Killjoys. As regular, LeBlanc starred on the second season of Peacock series Departure in 2021, and in 2022 starred in the Oprah Winfrey Network prime time soap opera The Kings of Napa.[5] Also in 2022 had the role of as Dr. Lilly Crawford, in CBS's Fire Country.[6]

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.[7]

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNominated workResultRef.
2008Gemini AwardsBest Performance by an Actress in a Guest Role, Dramatic SeriesReGenesis [8]
2009ACTRA AwardOutstanding Performance - FemaleNurse.Fighter.Boy [9] [10]
Atlantic Film FestivalBest Actress[11]
Canadian Screen AwardsBest Actress[12]
2022Canadian Screen AwardsBest Supporting Performance, Web Program or SeriesFor the Record
2023Canadian Screen AwardsBest Supporting Performance in a Drama Program or SeriesDeparture[13]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.straight.com/article-199715/nurse-karen-leblanc-wore-many-hats Before Nurse.Fighter.Boy, Karen LeBlanc wore many hats
  2. https://www.karenleblanc.com/about Biography
  3. http://www.playbill.com/news/article/55489-New-Musical-Outrageous-Has-World-Premiere-in-Toronto-Sept-19-Oct-21 "New Musical, Outrageous, Has World Premiere in Toronto Sept. 19-Oct. 21"
  4. Web site: Karen LeBlanc. IMDb.
  5. Web site: ‘The Kings Of Napa’: Ebonee Noel, Rance Nix, Karen LeBlanc, Yaani King Mondschein To Star In OWN Drama. Denise. Petski. April 8, 2021.
  6. Web site: Coffman . Taylor . 2023-01-17 . Amazon Adds Sharon Taylor to 'Cross' for Re-Casting . 2024-01-11 . The Nerd Stash . en-US.
  7. Brent Furdyk, "2022 Canadian Screen Award Nominees Announced, ‘Sort Of’ & ‘Scarborough’ Lead The Pack". ET Canada, February 15, 2022.
  8. "The Gemini nominees are..." at Playback: Canada's Broadcast and Production Journal (29 Sept, 2008) Retrieved from
  9. "Dreamer. Director. Acting Coach" by Jennie Punter, The Globe and Mail (9 Feb, 2009) Retrieved from
  10. https://playbackonline.ca/2009/01/27/actra-20090127/ "Actors nominate Baby, Nurse"
  11. "Quebec tale of 10-year-old boy wins prizes at Atlantic film fest". Canadian Press, September 19, 2008.
  12. Cassandra Szklarski, "Denis Villeneuve's 'Polytechnique' lands leading 11 Genie nominations". Canadian Press, March 1, 2010.
  13. Web site: Canadian Screen Awards: TV Drama ‘The Porter’ Leads With 19 Nominations. Etan. Vlessing. February 22, 2023.