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Heath Lamberts
Canadian actor From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Heath Lamberts, CM (December 15, 1941 – February 22, 2005) was a Canadian dramatic and comedic actor of stage, film, and television.[1][2]
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Early life and education
Lamberts was born James Lancaster in Toronto, Ontario, the eldest son of Cyril and Patricia Langcaster, a factor worker and retail clerk (respectively).[1]
As a boy, he and his brothers John and Raymond performed pantomime shows for senior citizens and Kiwanis groups.[1] Heath won singing contests at school, allowing him to perform with Toronto's Opera Festival Association.[2][3] In high school, he took a two-year course in art before leaving to study acting.[1]
Lamberts took an apprenticeship at Vineyard Theatre near Niagara Falls, learning his craft from stars such as Tallulah Bankhead and Jack Carter.[1][specify] In 1960 he was admitted into the National Theatre School of Canada in Montreal and graduated in 1963.[1][2][4]
He also studied mime in Paris, France, at Le Coq d'Or.[3][specify]
He pursued the arts as a career, changing his name to Heath Lamberts.[3]
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Career
Lamberts worked extensively in theaters across Canada, especially at the Shaw Festival and the Stratford Festival,[3] where he grew into a great comedic actor, starring in popular farces such as Rookery Nook and One for the Pot.[1] From 1982 to 1983 he played the demanding title role of Cyrano de Bergerac.[1][3] On Broadway his longest role was in the original cast of Beauty and the Beast as Cogsworth.[3] In later years, he performed numerous roles in Pittsburgh theatre.[1]
Although most prominently a stage actor, he also had more than twenty roles in theatrical and made-for-television films including A Great Big Thing (1968), Where's Pete (1986), and Sam & Me (1991), as well as appearances on television series such as Counterstrike (1991), Law & Order (1996), and Remember WENN (1998).[3][1]
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Awards and honors
Lamberts was inducted as a Member of the Order of Canada in 1987 by Queen Elizabeth II and the Governor General of Canada to recognize his distinction as an actor.[1][5]
He won a Dora Mavor Moore Award (the "Toronto Tony") for his role in the 1996 Toronto rivival of One for the Pot.[1]
The Pittsburgh Post Gazette named Lamberts, "Performer of the Year" (2000) for his central role in Quills at the Pittsburgh Playhouse.[1]
Personal life
Lamberts was married to Carole Macomber, stage manager for the Shaw Festival, for a brief period in the 1980s. He later had an eight year relationship with Louise Silk, a Pittsburgh artist. Lamberts was a recovering alcoholic with a twenty-three year membership in Alcoholics Anonymous, in which he was an inspiration to his friends.[1]
Death
Lamberts died at UPMC Shadyside in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, on February 22, 2005, from cancer.[1][6][dead link]
Theatre
Some of Lamberts' many stage roles include the following.[1]
- 1982–1983: Cyrano de Bergerac as Cyrano de Bergerac – Shaw Festival, Niagra-on-the-Lake[3]
- 1994–[when?]: Beauty and the Beast as Cogsworth
- 1996: One for the Pot – Toronto revival
- 1997: Once Upon a Mattress as King Sextimus – Broadway's Broadhurst Theatre
- 1998: A Midsummer Night's Dream as Bottom – Pittsburgh Public Theater
- 1999: Gross Indecency as Marquis of Queensbury – City Theatre
- 2000: Quills – Pittsburgh Playhouse
- 2000: La Bête – Pittsburgh Playhouse
- 2001: By Jeeves as Sir Watkyn Basset – Pittsburgh Public Theater
- 2002: La Bête as Title role – Playhouse Rep
- 2003: Hamlet as Gravedigger – Pittsburgh Playhouse
- 2003: Macbeth as Porter
- 2003: Uncle Vanya as Telegin – Pittsburgh Irish & Classical Theatre
- 2004: e-lectricity – Pittsburgh Playhouse
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Filmography
 | This list related to film, television, or video is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (May 2025) |
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References
External links
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