Walter Marven Borden (born July 20, 1942) is a Canadian actor, poet, and playwright. He is originally from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia. His film and television credits include Nurse.Fighter.Boy, The Event, Gerontophilia, Lexx and Platinum.
Most prominent as a stage actor, he joined Halifax's Neptune Theatre company in 1972.Dawn Williams, Who's Who in Black Canada, Volume 2, p. 73. 2006. . He has since appeared in stage productions across Canada, including William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Richard III, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice and Henry VIII, Aeschylus' Agamemnon, Jean-Paul Sartre's The Flies, James Weldon Johnson's God's Trombones: Seven Negro Sermons in Verse, Tennessee Williams' Orpheus Descending and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, and Djanet Sears' Harlem Duet and The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God. Since 2003, he has been a member of the Stratford Festival of Canada.
He has also recorded and released an album, Walter Borden Reads Shakespeare's Sonnets to the Music of Fernando Sor, in collaboration with classical guitarist Paul Martell.
Personal life Openly gay, he also wrote and performed his own autobiographical play Tightrope Time: Ain't Nuthin' More Than Some Itty Bitty Madness Between Twilight and Dawn, one of the first plays in the history of Black Canadian literature to directly present themes of male homosexuality.
In 2023, the "tour de force" work The Last Epistle of Tightrope Time had a cross-provincial showing from Halifax, Toronto to Ottawa directed by virtuoso director Peter Hinton-Davis It was later published by Nimbus Publishing
His later writing credits include Testifyin''' and Tellin' It Like It Is''.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1998 One Heart Broken Into Song Reverend Skinner 2000 Our Daily Bread Sam Downey(TV Movie) Blessed Stranger: After Flight 111 Grieving Father(TV Movie)2001 The Feast of All Saints Grampere Lermontant(TV Movie) Passion and Prejudice Mr. Peterson(TV Movie)2003 The Event Fred 2008 Nurse.Fighter.Boy Horace2012 100 Musicians Narration (voice)(Short film)2013 Gerontophilia Melvyn Peabodydirected by Bruce LaBruce A Dark Matter The Demon2015 Grandpa Was Here Grandpa(Short film) The Hexecutioners Mr. Poolewritten by Tony Burgess, directed by Milos Somborac2012 GUION John Brice(Short film)
Television YearTitleRole Notes1996-1997Lexx: The Dark Zone StoriesHis Divine Shadow2 episodes1997-2002LexxHis Divine Shadow / Dr. Ernst Longbore / Dr. Ernst W. Longbore9 episodes, part of main cast2003PlatinumAlderman Ray1 episode, aired on UPN2004-2005Da Boom CrewAdditional voices13 episodes, Canadian/American children's television animated series2020CoronerHarold Carruthers1 episode
Awards Borden was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal, the African Nova Scotian Music Association (ANSMA) Music Heritage Award, and the Portia White Prize, which is awarded annually by the Nova Scotia Arts Council to someone who has made a significant contribution to culture and the arts in Nova Scotia.Premier Presents Portia White Prize to Walter Borden. Government of Nova Scotia, March 1, 2006. He was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2006. In 2007, Borden was awarded the Martin Luther King Jr. Achievement Award for his prominence as a theater actor.
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