15th ACTRA Awards

Date

April 2, 1986

Hosted by

Don Harron, Pierre Berton, Barbara Frum, Gordon Pinsent, Dave Broadfoot, Ann Mortifee

Highlights

Best TV Program

Charlie Grant's War

Best Radio Program

Glenn Gould: The Well-Tempered Polymath

Television/radio coverage

Network

CBC Television

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ACTRA Awards

· 1st Gemini →

The 15th ACTRA Awards were presented on April 2, 1986 to honour achievements in Canadian television production in 1985.^[1] They were the final ACTRA Awards presented before the responsibility for organizing and presenting Canadian television awards was transferred from ACTRA to the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television;^[2] after this, ACTRA only presented awards in radio categories, until relaunching the ACTRA Awards program in the early 2000s as a series of regional production awards in various Canadian film and television production markets.

The ceremony was hosted by Don Harron, Pierre Berton, Barbara Frum, Gordon Pinsent, Dave Broadfoot and Ann Mortifee.^[3]

Due to overlapping eligibility periods, some of the nominees or winners at the 15th ACTRA Awards were also nominees or winners at the 1st Gemini Awards, which were presented in December 1986.^[4]

Television

Best Television Program	Best Direction in a Television Program
Charlie Grant's War^[5] Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks^[6] Final Offer^[6]	Donald Brittain, Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks^[5] Allan Kroeker, Tramp at the Door^[6] Martin Lavut, Charlie Grant's War^[6]
Best Television Actor	Best Television Actress
Maury Chaykin, Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks^[5] Douglas Campbell, Tartuffe^[6] Albert Millaire, The Celestial Bicycle^[6] R. H. Thomson, Charlie Grant's War^[6]	Leueen Willoughby, The Other Kingdom^[5] Megan Follows, Hockey Night^[6] Patricia Phillips, Bayo^[6]
Best Continuing TV Performance	Best Supporting TV Performance
Martha Gibson, Seeing Things^[5] Dinah Christie, Check It Out!^[6] Louis Del Grande, Seeing Things^[6]	Douglas Rain, Love and Larceny^[5] Peter Boretski, Charlie Grant's War^[6] Jan Rubeš, Charlie Grant's War^[6]
Best TV Variety Performance	Best Television Host
Anne Murray, Sounds of London^[5] Dave Broadfoot, Royal Canadian Air Farce^[6] Murray McLauchlan, Floating Over Canada^[6]	Eric Malling, The Fifth Estate^[5] Hana Gartner, The Fifth Estate^[6] David Suzuki, A Planet for the Taking^[6]
Best Children's Television Program	Best Television Score
A Good Tree^[5] The Cap^[6] Hockey Night^[6]	Michael Conway Baker, A Planet for the Taking^[5] Bruce Lee, Marionettes Inc.^[6] Alex Pauk, Blackberry Subway Jam^[6]
Best Writing, Original Television Drama	Best Writing, Adapted Television Drama
Anna Sandor, Charlie Grant's War^[5] Douglas Bowie, Love and Larceny^[6] Donald Brittain and Richard Nielsen, Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks^[6]	Ed Thomason, Gentle Sinners^[5] John MacLachlan Gray, The King of Friday Night^[6] Allan Kroeker, Tramp at the Door^[6]
Best Writing, Television Comedy/Variety	Best Writing, Television Public Affairs
Peter Thurling, Floating Over Canada^[5] Rod Coneybeare and Wilson Coneybeare, Check It Out!^[6] Suzette Couture and Chas Lawther, Joined at the Hip^[6]	Eric Malling and Brian McKenna, The Fifth Estate^[5] Terence McKenna, The Journal^[6] Vincent Tovell and Eric Till, Glenn Gould: A Portrait^[6]

Radio

Best Radio Program	Best Radio Host
Glenn Gould: The Well-Tempered Polymath^[5] A Celebration of Genius: The 300th Anniversary of Johann Sebastian Bach^[6] Ideas: "Journey Through the Volcano"^[6] Scales of Justice: "I'm Not Living Like This Anymore"^[6]	*Vicki Gabereau, Gabereau: "Interview with Margaret Atwood"^[5] Elizabeth Gray, As It Happens^[6] Peter Gzowski, Morningside*^[6]
Best Radio Actor	Best Radio Actress
Bill Meilen, The Legend of Old Charlie^[5] John Colicos, Hanging Judge^[6] Sean Mulcahy, Philadelphia Here I Come^[6]	Lenore Zann, Salt-Water Moon^[5] Jackie Burroughs, Miranda^[6] Nicky Guadagni, Scales of Justice: "I'm Not Living Like This Anymore"^[6]
Best Radio Variety Performance	Best Writing, Original Radio Drama
Édith Butler, Arts National^[5] Len Carlson, Gay Claitman, Frank Daley, Cathy Gallant, Tim Hoey, Ray Landry and Paul K. Willis, If You Love This Government^[6] Ann Mortifee, Arts National^[6]	Linda Zwicker, Grey Pearls^[5] John Douglas, Attack of the Killer Mouse^[6] Michael Tait, The Victims^[6]
Best Writing, Adapted Radio Drama	Best Writing, Radio Variety
Sean Mulcahy, Philadelphia Here I Come^[5] Urjo Kareda, Salt-Water Moon^[6] Bill Williams, Dragonwings^[6]	Roger Abbott, Dave Broadfoot, Don Ferguson, Gord Holtam, John Morgan and Rick Olsen, Royal Canadian Air Farce^[5] Michael Boncoeur and Paul K. Willis, The Year of Living Obnoxiously^[6] Andy Jones, Greg Malone, Tommy Sexton and Mary Walsh, Concepts^[6]
Best Writing, Radio Public Affairs
*David Gollob, Ideas: "Journey Through the Volcano"^[5] Fiona McHugh, One Mortal Woman^[6] Christopher Thomas, This England*^[6]

Journalism and special awards

Gordon Sinclair Award	Best Live Television Reporting
Roy Bonisteel, Man Alive^[5] Peter Gzowski and Stuart McLean, Morningside^[6] Eric Malling, The Fifth Estate^[6]	Mike Duffy, 1985 Turkish embassy attack in Ottawa^[5] Ruth Anderson and Dick Gordon, 1985 Alberta Progressive Conservative leadership convention^[6] Peter Miller, 1985 Newfoundland general election^[6]
Foster Hewitt Award	John Drainie Award
Ernie Nairn^[5] Rae Hull^[6] Mark Lee^[6]	Bernard Cowan

References

^ Jim Bawden, "Old familiar faces clean up at final ACTRA ceremony". Toronto Star, April 3, 1986.
^ Sid Adilman, "Canada's new TV award makes debut". Toronto Star, April 22, 1986.
^ "ACTRA co-hosts announced". Toronto Star, March 6, 1986.
^ Bill Taylor, "Producer may boycott Geminis". Toronto Star, June 17, 1986.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z Adele Freedman, "Charlie Grant's War is ACTRA's top show of the year: Nellie makes last stand brisk but chummy". The Globe and Mail, April 4, 1986.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^u ^v ^w ^x ^y ^z ^aa ^ab ^ac ^ad ^ae ^af ^ag ^ah ^ai ^aj ^ak ^al ^am ^an ^ao ^ap ^aq ^ar ^as ^at ^au ^av ^aw ^ax ^ay ^az ^ba ^bb "ACTRA nominations for 15th annual Nellie Awards on April 2". Montreal Gazette, March 18, 1986.

Canadian Screen Awards

By year

Canadian Film Awards
(film, 1949–1978)

Genie Awards
(film, 1979–2012)

ACTRA Awards
(television, 1972–1986)

Gemini Awards
(television, 1986–2012)

Film awards
by category

Television awards
by category

Discontinued awards

Bijou Awards (1981)
Actor (1968-2022)
Actor - Non-Feature (1969–81)
Actress (1968-2022)
Actress - Non-Feature (1969–81)
Lead Performance in a Film (2022)
Lead Actor, Comedy Series (1986-2022)
Lead Actor, Drama Series (1986-2022)
Lead Actress, Comedy Series (1986-2022)
Lead Actress, Drama Series (1986-2022)
Supporting Actor, Comedy Series (1986-2022)
Supporting Actor, Drama Series (1986-2022)
Supporting Actress, Comedy Series (1986-2022)
Supporting Actress, Drama Series (1986-2022)
Foreign Actor (1980–83)
Foreign Actress (1980–83)
Supporting Actor (1968-2022)
Supporting Actress (1968-2022)
Supporting Performance in a Film (2022)
Theatrical Short (1949–96)
Children's or Youth Program (1986-2002)
Host, Children's or Youth Program (2008-2016)
Individual or Ensemble Performance in a Comedy (1992-2000)
Ensemble Performance in a Comedy (2001-2011)
Individual Performance in a Comedy (2001-2010)
John Drainie Award (1968-2000)
Special Achievement
Foster Hewitt Award (1975-1986)
Wendy Michener Award (1969-1978)
Diversity Award (1992-2016)

Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television
Note: Awards by year articles are listed here by the year of eligibility for nomination; due to variable scheduling of the ceremonies, this is not always the same year in which the awards were presented.