Martha Burns

Martha Burns (born 1958) is a Canadian actress known for her stage work and youth outreach in Ontario and her leading role as Ellen Fanshaw in the TV dramedy series Slings and Arrows.

Burns was born in Chicago, Illinois, USA, but was raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. She studied at the University of Alberta and the Vancouver Playhouse’s Acting School.

Burns has had a long career as a character and supporting actress. Her most notable television roles being Shakespearean diva Ellen Fanshaw in Slings and Arrows, for which she won two Gemini Awards, Jasmina Hart on Michael, Tuesdays and Thursdays and Rebecca Baker on Remedy.

Some of her notable film work includes Long Day's Journey into Night and for Love and Savagery, both resulting in Genie Awards for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role.

Theatre

Burns is a founding member and a former associate director of Toronto's Soulpepper Theatre Company., Burns headed up Soulpepper's extensive youth outreach program. She founded the Toronto Arts for Youth Award, and has worked as an instructor for the theatre program at George Brown College.

She has performed leading roles at Stratford, the Shaw Festival, the National Arts Centre and The Company Theatre. She was nominated five times for a Dora Award and won twice: in 1986 for The Miracle Worker and in 1984 for Trafford Tanzi.

In 2005 she was honoured for her career in the theatre with the Barbara Hamilton Award.

In 2016 Burns was awarded ACTRA’s Leslie Yeo Award, an award honouring actors for their volunteer work. She donated her cash prize to the Qaggiq Performing Arts Teacher Training Workshop, a program that works on developing Inuit-specific performing arts programming for children and youth.

Burns is married to director, actor Paul Gross, and they have two children, Hannah and Jack.

Film

Television