Actor John Dunsworth, who will be remembered as a trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey on Trailer Park Boys, has passed away at the age of 71. Besides his role as Lahey, you could have watched Dunsworth as Dave Teagues in the series called Haven.
His daughter, Sarah Dunsworth wrote a statement to CBC News which said: “With heavy and broken hearts the family of John F. Dunsworth would like to let people know that our amazing husband, father and grandfather John Dunsworth has passed away. John left this world peacefully after a short and unexpected illness.”
Dunsworth was born in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, and he contributed significantly to the Nova Scotia theatre and acting community. As he once told CBC, growing up in Halifax, he had no idea that he would be an actor one day. When he relocated to Toronto, he started with stage performances during his college days at the University of Guelph.
In 2010 interview with CBC, he said: “I decided then and there that I don’t care if I go broke in my life, I am going to be an actor, because I love to live in other people’s shoes and learn other [existences].”
In the 1980s, Dunsworth had the idea to improve the movie culture in Nova Scotia, so he established a casting agency because he believed there are so few film opportunities in the area at that time. According to him, that opened so many doors, and he went to numerous auditions, eventually helping Ellen Page, who is also from Halifax, find work. Popular Mr. Lahey agreed to every job that was offered to him, but he had never given up on developing the Nova Scotia movie industry.
He stated: “We’d be way better off if we nurtured our own talent and allowed it to flourish here.” He appeared in various TV series and movies, but his most famous role is of Mr. Lahey. He and Patrick Roach, who was the trailer park’s assistant manager, were supposed to perform in Florida, unfortunately, the tour got canceled.
