Karen Robinson facts for kids

Karen Robinson (born February 29, 1968) is a Canadian actress known for her award-winning roles in theater, television, and film.

She won a Canadian Screen Award in 2019 for a guest role on the TV show Mary Kills People. In 2021, she also won a Screen Actors Guild Award as a member of the cast of the popular comedy series Schitt's Creek.

From England to the Stage

Karen Robinson was born in London, England, and grew up in Jamaica. When she was a teenager, her family moved to Drumheller, Alberta, in Canada.

Even as a child, she loved the arts. She sang in choirs, acted in school plays, and performed poetry. She later studied communication and theater at Mount Royal College in Calgary. In the early 1990s, she began her career as a professional actress.

Career in Theater

Robinson has a long and successful history in theater. She has performed in many famous plays and earned several awards for her work on stage.

Early Stage Roles

In 1998, she played the lead role of Marie-Joseph Angélique in the play Angélique. Her performance earned her a nomination for a Betty Mitchell Award for Best Actress.

In 2003, she performed at the famous Stratford Festival in the play Shadows. The next year, she played the character Clytemnestra in three different plays at the same time. In 2006, she was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her role in the play Two Can Play.

Later Stage Success

In 2009, Robinson played Prospera in a version of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. In this production, the main character's gender was changed from male to female. That same year, she won an Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the play Doubt.

She has also appeared in many other plays, including Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream and Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest.

Film and Television Roles

Besides her work in theater, Karen Robinson has appeared in many movies and television shows.

Movie Appearances

Her film roles include movies like Against the Ropes, Love, ..., and Eating the Bones, Lars and the Real Girl, and Owning Mahowny.

Television Shows

On television, Robinson is well-known for playing Ronnie Lee in the comedy series Schitt's Creek. She also played Mildred Clarke in Frankie Drake Mysteries and Hani Suleman in Shoot the Messenger.

She has appeared in many other popular shows. She was a nurse in an episode of The Handmaid's Tale and had a role in Star Trek: Discovery. She also played Margarita Vee in the superhero series Titans and appeared in A Million Little Things.

In 2024, she appeared as a police inspector in the series Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent.

Awards and Nominations