Biographie
Lucy Warner is a former Canadian actress. She was born on June 7, 1943 to American parents, William Martin and Elizabeth "Betsy" Warner. She was the second child and eldest of three daughters. Originally from Kentucky, W. M. Warner graduated from Princeton before World War Two and worked for General Motors. During the war, he assisted the U.S. Navy in designing sub-chasers. In 1949, Warner's job took him to Canada, where he supervised a GM diesel plant in Ontario, Canada for over a decade.
Lucy Warner's professional acting career began at age 16, after she was discovered at the Little Theatre in London, Ontario. She was invited to join the Stratford Shakespeare Festival as one of their youngest understudies. Lucy's parents were quite supportive toward her stage ambitions and at one point, she expressed an interest in studying abroad in England. Lucy played ensemble cast members in several Stratford Festival productions before making the transition to Canadian television in 1962.
At the time, Canada's television industry was embryonic, relying a lot upon both British and American programming. Lucy Warner arrived in time to participate in Canadian TV history. In 1962, she played the rebellious teenage daughter, Ginny Russell, on Canada's first soap opera, "Scarlett Hill." Lucy also obtained guest spots in a 1963 special, "Stand By For Life" and an episode of the exported CBC drama, "The Moment of Truth" (1964) starring Douglass Watson as a clinical psychiatrist. This show would be shown on NBC in 1965, but later replaced with the venerable U.S. soap The Days of Our Lives.
Reminiscent of a youthful Lois Maxwell, Lucy Warner received more "girl next-door" roles, including a memorable turn in 1965 as Gina in the episode "Billy the Kid," from the CBC's action series "Seaway." Gina goes in search of her missing brother, the titular Billy who witnesses a murder on the St. Lawrence docks. Trapped with Billy inside a flooding derelict vessel, Gina requires saving by the hero, Nicholas King (Stephen Young). In keeping with the show's premise, King seldom appeared with the same girl.
In 1967, Lucy landed the co-starring role of Carrie in Timothy Findley's 'The Paper People.' This color TV film was the first one produced completely in-house by the CBC. First aired on December 13 as part of Channel 2's Festival anthology, the story's disturbing themes of auto-destruction and pyromania raised eyebrows. However, this film's controversy did not seem to affect Lucy's career. She would reappear in a 1968 episode of the well-liked political drama "Quentin Durgens, MP" which featured Gordon Pinsent, one of Canada's best-known actors.
In 1969, Lucy Warner was cast for her most-remembered character, researcher Emily Blair on "Strange Paradise," Canada's supernatural answer to "Dark Shadows." Introduced during the show's second arc, Emily becomes drawn romantically to the cursed main character, Jean-Paul Desmond (Colin Fox). She soon becomes part of a witches' coven led by Irene Hatter (Pat Moffatt) and under its baneful influence, professes hatred for the Desmond family. This subplot showed Warner's breadth of emotional range.
After her release from the coven, Emily Blair works with Jean-Paul's enigmatic cousin, Philip Desmond (Neil Dainard), to end the curse over Desmond Hall. During this final arc, Philip confesses his unrequited love for Emily. However, after expunging the family curse in the series finale, Philip returns alone to his unnamed Indian tribe. This leaves Emily free to pursue her romantic yearnings for Jean-Paul. During the final episode, Jean-Paul and Emily are seen to depart Desmond Hall to begin their new life together.
When "Strange Paradise" folded in 1970, Lucy Warner was just 27. She had appeared with nearly all of Canada's finest stage and television actors. But shortly afterward, she elected to leave both Canada and the acting profession. Her father had relocated and established new roots in the U.K. At one point, Lucy attended Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers, New York. She later relocated with her family to the South, where she worked for the University of Florida.
After working for a number of years in Florida real estate, Lucy Warner married N. Richard Nelson, a property developer and entrepreneur. In 2011, they retired to Delta, Colorado. Today, Lucy operates a botanical firm begun by her late husband. Sadly, very little remains of Warner's acting portfolio, apart from reruns of "Strange Paradise." But she will always be remembered as courageous Emily Blair by fans of this unusual TV series.
