Tony Nardi

Tony Nardi (born 1958) is an Italian-Canadian actor,[1] playwright,[2] and theatre director based in Toronto, who has performed on stage and in film and television.[3]

Tony Nardi
Born	21 June 1958 Carolei, Calabria, Italy
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation	Actor, playwright, stage director
Years active	1978–present
Awards	Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role 1993 La Sarrasine 2000 My Father's Angel
Honours	125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal

Scholastically-versed and fluent in four languages; he has appeared in French, Italian, and English-language productions, including over 60 plays and 70 films and television series. He won the Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role twice, for La Sarrasine (which he co-wrote)[4] and My Father's Angel, with three additional nominations.[5]

His series of monologues, Two Letters...And Counting!, was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding New Play and earned Nardi a nomination for the Siminovitch Prize in Theatre–– long list.[6] He has worked with Théâtre français de Toronto, Persephone Theatre, Great Canadian Theatre Company, and the Stratford Festival.[7] He has also taught Acting and Directing courses at the University of Toronto and York University.[8]

Career

Acting

Nardi made his stage debut in a 1978 production of Solzhenitsyn, directed by Alexander Hausvater. Since then, he has performed in over 60 plays including For Those in the Peril on the Sea, Sandinista, Nineteen Eighty-Four, La Storia Calvino, A Flea in Her Ear and The Lesson.

He received a Montreal Gazette Critic's Award in 1979 for his role in an adaptation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four, a Dora Mavor Moore Award for Artistic Excellence – Collective – in 1985 for La Storia Calvino, garnered a Dora Award nomination in 2001 for his role in A Flea in Her Ear, and a Dora Award in 2002 for Outstanding Performance for his role in The Lesson. In 2007 he received a Best Actor Thespis Award for Two Letters.

His movie roles include Caffè Italia, Montréal, Concrete Angels, Cruising Bar, La Sarrasine, An Imaginary Tale, Mr. Aiello (La Déroute), My Father's Angel, Almost America, Corbo and Kiss Me Like a Lover (Embrasse-moi comme tu m'aimes), and his TV credits include Rossini's Ghost, Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants, Bonanno: A Godfather's Story, Almost America, Il Duce Canadese and Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis.

A four-time Genie Award nominee, he has won twice for Best Actor for roles in La Sarrasine (1992)[9] and My Father's Angel (2001), for which he had also received a Best Actor award at the Sonoma Wine and Country Film Festival in 2000. He received the Guy L’Écuyer Award for his role in La Déroute in 1998. In 2010, the year marking the 30th Genie Awards, he made the Academy's 30th Anniversary Top 10 list in the Lead Actor category in Canadian cinema – a ranking based on the number of wins and nominations over the 30-year period.

In television, he received a Gemini Award nomination in 2006 for his role in Il Duce Canadese and a Best Actor Award at the Geneva International Film Festival, Tous Écrans/All Screens, in 1999, for his role in Ken Finkleman's Foolish Heart.

Writing

Nardi is co-author with Vincent Ierfino of the play La Storia dell'Emigrante. Written in Calabrian, English and French, the play was the first in Canada (on record) written by an Italian-Canadian and addressing an Italian-Canadian reality. In 1982 La Storia dell'Emigrante received the first James Bullet Award for Best Original Canadian play at the Ontario Multicultural Theatre Festival.

A Modo Suo: A Fable, written in Calabrian in 1990, received a Dora Award nomination for Best Play. An English translation was published in its entirety in the Canadian Theatre Review in 2000.

He collaborated on the screenplays for La Sarrasine and La Déroute.

Two Letters (2006), two theatrical monologues based on two actual letters sent to a film/television producer and two theatre critics,[10][11][12] received a 2007 Dora Award Nomination for Outstanding New Play. "...And Counting!" - a postmortem of "Two Letters" and journey into the state of culture and funding in Canada[13] was presented in 2008 in Toronto and Montreal, at Factory Theatre and McGill University, respectively and in 2010 at the Festival TransAmeriques in Montreal. In 2008 he was nominated for a Siminovitch Prize in Theatre for playwriting.[14]

"Letter One", "Letter Two", and "...And Counting!" were filmed in front of a live audience and released respectively in 2011, 2013 and 2014.[15] "Letter One" was screened at Les Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois in Montreal in 2011,[16] at Hot Docs in Toronto in 2012 and the Italian Contemporary Film Festival at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2012.[17] "Letter Two" was screened at the Italian Contemporary Film Festival at TIFF in 2013.[18] "...And Counting!" was screened at the 2014 Italian Contemporary Italian Film Festival at TIFF.[19]

Academia

Nardi began teaching acting and directing courses in Autumn of 2016. He has instructed courses at the University of Toronto and University of Toronto Scarborough, and directed courses at York University.[8] He is a PhD candidate in Performance at the University of Toronto,[20] specializing in “the impact of cultural background and first language on performance in Canadian theatre, film and TV."

Honors

In 1992, Nardi received the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal, awarded to Canadians for significant contribution to their fellow citizens, to their community, or to Canada.

Personal life

Nardi is multilingual. His primary languages are French and English, but he is also fluent in both Standard Italian and Calabrian.[21] Nardi lived in Montreal with Janne Mortil,[22] his former partner, since 1995.[23]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1981	Gas	Plant Manager	Les Rose
1982	Deux super-dingues	Toto	Claudio Castravelli
1983	Videodrome	Man at Conference	David Cronenberg	Uncredited
1985	Caffè Italia, Montréal		Paul Tana
1987	Concrete Angels	Sal	Carlo Liconti	Nominated- Genie Award for Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
1988	Kalamazoo	Pasquale Globenski	André Forcier
	Dreams Beyond Memory	Commercial Director	Andrzej Markiewicz
1989	Cruising Bar	Marcello	Robert Ménard
1989	Speaking Parts	Eddy	Atom Egoyan
1989	Brown Bread Sandwiches	Rogero	Carlo Liconti
1990	An Imaginary Tale	Toni	André Forcier
1991	The Adjuster	Motel Manager	Atom Egoyan
1992	La Sarrasine	Giuseppe Moschella	Paul Tana	Also writer Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1993	Les Amoureuses	Nino	Johanne Prégent
1994	Operation Golden Phoenix	Saul “The Lawyer” Silverstein	Jalal Merhi
1996	La bruttina stagionata	Ian	Anna Di Francisca
1998	La déroute	Joe Aiello	Paul Tana	Also writer Nominated- Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
1999	My Father's Angel	Ahmed	Davor Marjanovic	Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
2000	Cold Blooded	Vidal	Randy Bradshaw
2001	Almost America	Vincenzo De Vito	Antonio Frazzi Andrea Frazzi
2008	Adoration	Principal Rollis	Atom Egoyan
2011	Another Silence	Tony	Santiago Amigorena
	Man on the Train	Loco	Mary McGuckian
2012	Havana 57	Capt. Calzado	Jim Purdy
2013	The Resurrection of Tony Gitone	Mario	Jerry Ciccoritti
2014	Corbo	Nicola Corbo	Mathieu Denis	Nominated- Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated- Jutra Award for Best Supporting Actor
	The Big Fat Stone	Victor Rossi	Frank D'Angelo
2015	No Deposit	Det. Vincent Scartelli
	Sicilian Vampire	Little Anthony
	Born to Be Blue	Nicholas	Robert Budreau
2016	Kiss Me Like a Lover	Élio	André Forcier
2017	The Neighborhood	Shorty	Frank D'Angelo
	Hochelaga, Land of Souls	Mario Ricci	François Girard
2018	The Joke Thief	Francis Sellano	Frank D'Angelo
	Bella Ciao!	Arnaldo	Carolyn Combs
2019	The Last Big Save	Guy Bouche	Frank D'Angelo
	Making a Deal with the Devil	Merant
	From the Vine	Marcello	Sean Cisterna
	Mafia Inc.	Zizi “Z” Zippo	Daniel Grou

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987-93	Street Legal	Schultz / Phil Carrera	2 episodes
1990-93	E.N.G.	Regossi / Frank Berman	2 episodes
1993	Embrasse-moi, c'est pour la vie	Jean-René	Television film
	Armen and Bullik	Spicuzza
1994	Side Effects	Peter	Episode: “The Great Chendini”
1996	Rossini's Ghost	Duke Cesarini	Television film
1997	Kung Fu: The Legend Continues	Alvin Barnes	Episode: “May I Talk With You”
	Viper	Pete	Episode: “Manhunt”
	In the Presence of Mine Enemies	Emmanuel	Television film
1998	Da Vinci's Inquest	François	4 episodes
	Loss of Faith	Victor	Television film
1999	Foolish Heart	Judge James Schneller	2 episodes
	Bonanno: A Godfather's Story	Joseph Bonanno (Ages 35–61)	Television film
2001	Foreign Objects	Bureaucrat	Episode: “The Award”
2002	Escape from the Newsroom	Producer	Television film
2003	Platinum	Nick Tashijan	Main cast; Season 1
2004	The Newsroom	Patrick	Episode: “Slow Burn”
	Il Duce Canadese	Angelo Alvaro	Miniseries; 2 episodes Nominated- Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
2006	Indian Summer: The Oka Crisis		Miniseries; 4 episodes
2007	Intelligence	Nick Jordan	7 episodes
2009-10	Cra$h & Burn	Lindo	Recurring role; Season 1
2011	Galileo: On the Shoulders of Giants	Michelangelo	Television film
	Flashpoint	Cary McCarty	Episode: “A Day in the Life”
2011-12	King	Chief Paul Graci	Main role; Seasons 1-2
2013	Motive	Father Noel Barnett	Episode: “Fallen Angel”
	Played	Chief Inspector	Episode: “Cops”
2015	Pirate's Passage	Immigration Officer (voice)	Television film
	The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe	Johnny Hyde

Awards and nominations

Year	Award/Association	Category	Work	Result
1988	Genie Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role	Concrete Angels	Nominated
1992	Genie Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role	La Sarrasine	Won
1999	Genie Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role	La Déroute	Nominated
2001	Genie Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role	My Father's Angel	Won
2006	Gemini Award	Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program	Il Duce Canadese	Nominated
2016	Jutra Award	Best Supporting Actor	Corbo	Nominated
	Canadian Screen Award	Best Supporting Actor	Corbo	Nominated

| Prix Iris, 19e gala Québec Cinéma, |Best Supporting Actor |"Embrasse-moi comme tu m'aimes" style="background: #FDD; color: black; vertical-align: middle; text-align: center; " class="no table-no2"|Nominated |-

References

1. "Tony Nardi - Premier Rôle Agency". premierrole.com. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
2. "Profile | Playwrights Guild of Canada". Retrieved March 4, 2020.
3. "Bio |". May 8, 2014. Archived from the original on May 8, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
4. "Interview with Paul Tana". offscreen.com. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
5. http://premierrole.com/en/download/?id=2059
6. "26 playwrights on 2008 Siminovitch long list". Retrieved March 5, 2020.
7. "Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia - Nardi, Tony". www.canadiantheatre.com. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
8. "Security Verification | LinkedIn". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
9. "Sarrasine, La – Film de Paul Tana". Films du Québec (in French). Retrieved March 4, 2020.
10. "Mavor's torch still burns". rabble.ca. October 9, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
11. Fiorito, Joe (February 21, 2007). "Nardi's aim: Art with a point". Toronto Star. p. D2. ProQuest 1349016608. Retrieved July 11, 2020.
12. "The gutsiest role this actor will ever play". Retrieved March 5, 2020.
13. "Tony Nardi: Lonely Voice in Canada's Cultural Wilderness. - Free Online Library". www.thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
14. "TWO LETTERS... And Counting! - Guernica Editions". www.guernicaeditions.com. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
15. "Istituto Italiano di Cultura in Toronto". March 3, 2016. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
16. Couture, Philippe. "FTA-OFFTA: Colère noire et mix-off". Voir.ca (in French). Retrieved March 5, 2020.
17. "Letter One | ICFF – Italian Contemporary Film Festival". archive.is. June 25, 2014. Archived from the original on June 25, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
18. "Letter Two | ICFF – Italian Contemporary Film Festival". archive.is. June 25, 2014. Archived from the original on June 25, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
19. "Letter Three | ICFF – Italian Contemporary Film Festival". archive.is. June 25, 2014. Archived from the original on June 25, 2014. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
20. "Tony Nardi | University of Toronto - Academia.edu". utoronto.academia.edu. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
21. "e-TALENTA". www.e-talenta.eu. Retrieved March 5, 2020.
22. Lamey, Mary (November 5, 1999). "The little condos that couldn't: Buyer fights developers of Darcy McGee project over defects". The Gazette. Montreal. p. C1. ProQuest 433540723.
23. Michael, Posner (March 19, 2001). "Acting, Italian-Canadian Style". The Globe and Mail. Toronto. p. R3. ProQuest 1125667655.

External links

• Tony Nardi at IMDb
• Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia Entry
• Full text of "Two Letters ...And Counting!"