Alberta Watson

One of Canada's most prolific character actresses with over 100 film and TV credits to her name, Alberta Watson was best-known for her performances in "Spanking The Monkey" (1994), "La Femme Nikita" (USA Network, 1997-2001) and "24" (Fox, 2001-2010). Born in Toronto, Ontario in 1955, Watson first began performing at her hometown's theater group aged 15 before landing her first on screen role in the Bonanno crime family biopic "Honor Thy Father" (CBC, 1973). Watson garnered awards attention five years later when she played Mitzi in post-WWII drama "In Praise of Older Women" (1978), and went onto star as a covert operations directive in "The Soldier" (1982), crew member Dominica in sci-fi whodunit "Murder in Space" (1985) and Lt. Helen Prescott in prisoner of war drama "Women of Valor" (1986). Watson then landed two recurring small screen roles, firstly as district attorney Amy Steiner in legal miniseries "Fortune Dane" (ABC, 1986), and secondly as Dr. Rebecca Meyer in medical drama "Buck James" (ABC, 1987-88), and added the likes of TV movie "Red Earth, White Earth" (1989), Chuck Norris vehicle "The Hitman" (1991) and interracial love story "Zebrahead" (1992) to her filmography. Cast by David O. Russell in his directorial debut, "Spanking The Monkey" (1994), Watson delivered one of her most memorable performances as a bed-ridden mother, and continued to impress as mobster's daughter Victoria in crime epic "Gotti" (HBO, 1996), love interest Anna in romantic drama "Shoemaker" (1996) and grief-stricken adulterer Risa in Oscar-nominated "The Sweet Hereafter" (1997). Following a four season stint as anti-terrorist strategist Madeline in action series "La Femme Nikita" (USA Network, 1997-2001), Watson appeared as Hansel's mother in cult classic "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" (2001), a homicide detective in murder mystery "Chasing Cain" (2001), and its 2002 TV movie spin-off, and diplomat's wife Natalie in interweaving drama "The Wild Dogs" (2002). Watson also shone as a regular on TV news satire "The Newsroom" (CBC, 2003-04) and romantic comedy "Show Me Yours" (Showcase, 2004-05) before landing arguably the most high-profile role of her career, CTU director Erin Driscoll, in the fourth season of small screen phenomenon "24" (Fox, 2001-10). Watson then returned to Canadian cinema with parts in comedy "Citizen Duane" (2006), and Sarah Polley's touching directorial debut "Away From Her" (2006), but also kept one foot in Hollywood with appearances in fable "A Lobster Tale" (2006), heist movie "The Lookout" (2007) and emotional drama "Helen" (2009). Following an eight-episode stint on immigration and customs drama "The Border" (CBS, 2008-2010), Watson reprised her role of Madeline, now a Senator, in the reboot, "Nikita" (The CW, 2010-13), but sadly it proved to be her final screen appearance, as after a long battle with cancer, Watson died in her Toronto hometown in 2015, aged 60.