Winners of the Sam Payne Awards for 2017 announced by UBCP/ACTRA

Thirty-six years after his death, the legacy left by Sam Payne continues to be applauded by the British Columbia acting community. One of Canada’s well loved and respected professional actors, Sam Payne is remembered not only for his contribution to Canadian theatre, film, radio and television, but also for his personal attributes, which included humanity, artistic integrity and encouragement of new talent.

Each year UBCP/ACTRA presents two Sam Payne Awards to BC based performers. The Sam Payne Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes a person with an outstanding body of work in the performing arts industry. The Sam Payne Award recognized a performer who personal characteristic mirror those of Sam Payne.

2017 Sam Payne Lifetime Achievement Award- Garry Chalk

Inductee of the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame in 2013, Garry Chalk is one of the truly recognizable and successful Canadian Film & Television personalities. Only a portion of his notoriety comes from his appearances in many Television Series, such as The Killing, Eureka, Painkiller Jane, Stargate and Cold Squad; for which he was a two-time Gemini Award winner and Leo Award nominee, for Best Supporting Actor in a Dramatic Series. His nearly 400 hundred working titles include many TV Movies and Films, like The Fly II, Freddy vs, Jason and Godzilla which had him working alongside Brian Cranston.

Undoubtedly, Garry is one of the most successful voice performers in Canada, voicing an astonishing 1,500 animated productions, video games and advertising campaigns. During a period of ten years, he voiced the roles of “Optimus Primal” and “Optimus Prime” on the hugely popular Transformers franchise, in its various incarnations; in addition to playing other iconic roles such as “He-Man” and “Dr. Robotnik,” and on numerous popular series, including The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, Sonic Underground, ReBoot, The New Adventures of He-Man, G.I. Joe and Care Bears.

The Sam Payne Committee is so very proud to be honouring such a remarkably talented individual as Garry Chalk.

2017 Sam Payne Award – Christiane Hirt

Christiane is an accomplished Canadian Performer who has dedicated over 25 years of her life sharing her craft and passion. She is Co-Founder of Company of Rogues Actors’ Studio in Calgary and founder of Rogues West in Vancouver. Being an alumna of Women In the Directors Chair Program, she is often invited to fulfill the role as Mentor Actor- empowering the Actor/Director relationship. Her students have gone on to successful careers both in Canada and internationally. Many of her students have won Gemini, Leo and AMPIA (Alberta Media Production Industry Association) awards.

Her actor credits include over 60 lead roles in Film & Television, garnering her a AMPIA Award win for Best Actress, for her role of “Jennie”, in the feature film, Heart of the Sun and a Gemini Nomination for Best Dramatic Actress, for the lead female role of Hannah Peale, in Lonesome Dove the Series. She is an award-winning Screenwriter and has several original screenplays in development, through her company Philosophia Films.

The Sam Payne Committee is thrilled to celebrate and acknowledge the inspirational success of such a strong female in the Canadian Entertainment Industry.

The Union of British Columbia Performers (UBCP/ACTRA) is an autonomous branch of ACTRA (Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists), the national organization of professional performers working in the English-language recorded media in Canada. ACTRA represents the interests of 23,000 members across Canada – the foundation of Canada’s highly acclaimed professional performing community.