Patricia Ruth Hamilton (27 April 1937 – 30 April 2023)^[1] was a Canadian actress who had an active career on stage, television, and film from the 1960s through the 2010s.^[1] She had a lengthy association as a stage actress with the Tarragon Theatre with whom she appeared in multiple world premieres of works by Canadian playwrights; including Judith Thompson's I Am Yours (1987) for which she won a Dora Mavor Moore Award in 1988. She also appeared as a guest actress at other theaters in Canada and internationally including the American Shakespeare Theatre, the Stratford Festival, the Edinburgh International Festival, and The Old Vic.^[2]

Hamilton was best known for her portrayal of Rachel Lynde in several screen adaptations of works by Lucy Maud Montgomery. These include the television mini-series Anne of Green Gables, its sequels: as Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel, Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story, and Anne of Green Gables: A New Beginning. She also portrayed Lynde in the television series Road to Avonlea; a performance for which she was nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series three times, winning in 1996. She also was the voice of Rachel Lynde in the PBS animated series Anne of Green Gables.^[2]

In addition to her work as an actress, Hamilton taught on the faculties of the University of Calgary's Banff Centre for the Arts and George Brown College.^[1][2]

Life and career

Patricia Hamilton was born on 27 April 1937 in Regina, Saskatchewan.^[1] Her father, James Hamilton, was a lawyer, and her mother, Florence Hamilton (née Stuart), was a nurse.^[1] She was trained as an actor at Pittsburgh's Carnegie Institute of Technology (now Carnegie Mellon University),^[3] and began her career as a stage actress in the United States.^[1] She later went to London to pursue further studies in drama at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.^[2]

While working as an actress in the United States in the 1960s, Hamilton began a romantic relationship with the actor Les Carlson. In 1966 the couple moved to Toronto, and they were married in 1967. Their marriage ended in divorce when their son, the actor Ben Carlson, was two years old.^[1]

In 1971 Hamilton performed in the inaugural season of the Tarragon Theatre.^[3] She maintained a long association with that theatre that lasted for decades. She appeared in several world premieres at the Tarragon Theatre, including Judith Thompson's I Am Yours (1987), Joan MacLeod's Amigo's Blue Guitar (1990), Michel Tremblay's Impromptu on Nun's Island (2002) and David Gow's Bea's Niece (2005).^[2] Some of the other highlights of her work at that theatre include performances in Jack Cunningham's See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1972), Tremblay's Forever Yours, Marie-Lou (1972]), David Freeman's Battering Ram (1973), Joanna Glass's Artichoke (1976), Lillian Hellman's Toys in the Attic (1978), Margaret Hollingsworth's Mother County (1980), and Tremblay's Albertine in Five Times (1985) among other works.^[2]

In November 2008, Hamilton starred in the Harold Green Jewish Theatre production of Kindertransport in Toronto.^[4]

Death

Hamilton died of undisclosed causes at a nursing home in Stratford, Ontario at the age of 86, 3 days after her birthday.

Filmography