The Earle Grey Award is the lifetime achievement award for television acting of the Canadian Screen Awards, and its predecessor the Gemini Awards. It can be presented to an individual or collaborative team (such as SCTV or Royal Canadian Air Farce). The award was named in honour of Earle Grey, an actor and theatre director who founded the Earle Grey Players theatre troupe and had served as the first president of ACTRA's local chapter in Toronto. The award was first presented by the ACTRA Awards in 1972, as the award for best performance in a television film within the annual eligibility period. In the earliest years it was the only acting award presented by the ACTRA Awards, although it was later supplemented with an award for best performance in a television series. Beginning in 1983, separate categories were introduced for performances by actors and actresses in television films; when the ACTRA Awards were taken over by the Gemini Awards beginning in 1986, the Earle Grey Award name was then transitioned into the Geminis' lifetime achievement award instead of being retained as the name for the primary annual acting awards. Nominations for the award are presented by professionals within the Canadian television community and the decision of who will win the award is made by a special committee. Recipients ACTRA Awards 1972 - Geneviève Bujold 1973 - Gordon Pinsent, The Rowdyman 1974 - Jackie Burroughs, Vicky 1975 - William Hutt, The National Dream 1976 - Jayne Eastwood, The Last of the Four Letter Words 1977 - Sean Sullivan, Of the Fields, Lately 1978 - Donald Sutherland, Bethune 1979 - Helen Burns, Catsplay 1980 - Don Francks, Drying Up the Streets 1981 - Al Waxman, The Winnings of Frankie Walls 1982 - Lally Cadeau, You've Come a Long Way, Katie 1983 - Rosemary Dunsmore, Blind Faith 1984 - Kenneth Welsh, Empire, Inc. (actor); Linda Griffiths, Empire, Inc. (actress) 1985 - Douglas Rain, A Flush of Tories (actor); Susan Wright, Slim Obsession (actress) 1986 - Maury Chaykin, Canada's Sweetheart: The Saga of Hal C. Banks (actor); Leueen Willoughby, The Other Kingdom (actress) Gemini Awards 1986 - Ed McNamara 1987 - Lorne Greene 1988 - Kate Reid 1989 - Sean McCann 1990 - Jan Rubeš 1992 - Colleen Dewhurst (posthumous award) 1993 - Barbara Hamilton 1994 - Ernie Coombs (Mr. Dressup) 1995 - Cast of SCTV: Rick Moranis, Eugene Levy, Andrea Martin, Martin Short,