B: in Romania
D: August 9, 2009 in Toronto, Ontario
Henry Ramer was born in Romania and came to Canada, specifically to Montréal in 1928. When he was young he became interested in acting and worked with the Montreal Repertory Theatre. He moved to Toronto in 1960, but returned to Montréal to work on The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, which brought him an ACTRA Award nomination for his role in the film. Back in Toronto he starred alongside Eli Wallach and Kate Reid in the Young People Theatre’s acclaimed production of The Diary of Anne Frank in 1977. In 1983, he starred alongside Elizabeth Taylor, Carol Burnett and a long list of Canadian actors in the made-for-TV production, Between Friends. Sometimes referred to as “the Voice of Canadian broadcasting,” Ramer was one of the many Canadian character actors who turned up to fill the benches and backrooms of politics in the TV series, Quentin Durgens, MP, which starred Gordon Pinsent. Often heard on CBC radio, Ramer was the voice of “the mysterious Luther Kranst” who served as host of the excellent late night series, Nightfall, which featured science-fiction, mystery, fantasy, and human drama themes, in addition to the staple of supernatural and horror plays. Adaptations of stories such as The Monkey’s Paw and The Tell-Tale Heart, as well as original plays like Welcome to Homerville and Wind Chill, kept many Canadian writers, actors and producers busy eventually producing 100 episodes between 1980 and 1983. In 2002, when Telefilm Canada commissioned a biography of Christopher Plummer, the internationally renowned stage and screen actor insisted that Ramer do the narration. |
