Mary Walsh

Walsh worked across actor, comedian, screenwriter, film actor and television actor and 3 further recorded occupations. This article rests on 50 published texts and 28 scholarly references drawn from named institutional registers. Every statement below returns to a source shown in the evidence panel; where the record is silent or divided, the article says so instead of resolving it.

• Name — Mary Walsh • Honorific Suffix — CM • Birth Name — Mary Cynthia Walsh • Born — 13 May 1952 • Birthplace — St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada • Occupation — Actress, comedian, writer • Years Active — 1973–present • Awards — Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress (2021)

Walsh was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, the daughter of Mary and Leo Walsh. Leo was a merchant marine turned firefighter on commercial vessels. She is the seventh of eight children, and is of Irish ancestry. She is a past member of Girl Guides of Canada.

Walsh studied theatre in Toronto at Ryerson University but dropped out to work with the CODCO comedy troupe on a series of stage shows, which eventually evolved into a sketch comedy series. The CODCO series ran from 1988 to 1993 on CBC Television.

In 1992, she began to work with former co-star Rick Mercer and former CODCO co-stars Cathy Jones and Greg Thomey to create a new television series called This Hour Has 22 Minutes. The show was a parody of the nightly news, and poked fun at Canadian and international politics. 22 Minutes received strong ratings during its earlier seasons and Walsh's character Marg Delahunty became famous for buttonholing politicians and submitting them to satirical interviews. Usually Marg Delahunty would recite a scripted piece intended to humiliate the politician, often by providing criticism and "grandmotherly" advice. Sometimes Marg appeared as "Marg, Princess Warrior", a parody of the title character of Xena: Warrior Princess portrayed by Lucy Lawless. Walsh is also noted for her comical segment chronicling the Canadian Auto Workers Union's tense blockade of the Volvo Halifax Assembly plant in 1998. In 2007, she revived Marg Delahunty for the Royal Canadian Air Farce's 300th episode. On October 24, 2011, Walsh was once again in the spotlight as she reprised the role of Marg Delahunty conducting an ambush interview of Toronto Mayor Rob Ford at his home. Ford's reaction and alleged verbal abuse directed at a 911 operator made national headlines. She also reprised Marg, Princess Warrior for an episode of the 25th season of 22 Minutes in December 2017. Marg was reprised again for National Canadian Film Day on April 16, 2025 to "Fight in the 2025 Trade War" In 2020, Walsh reprised her longtime 22 Minutes character of Miss Eulalia in the CBC Gem web series Broad Appeal: Living with E's, for which she received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Lead Performance in a Web Program or Series at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.

Walsh's other television work included the short-run sitcoms Dooley Gardens (1999); Hatching, Matching and Dispatching (2006); and a guest starring role as Miranda Cahill on the CBC television series Republic of Doyle. She currently has a recurring role on CBC's Little Dog. She created the CBC program Mary Walsh: Open Book, a talk show about books and literature, in 2003. Walsh revived the Fury family from Hatching, Matching, and Dispatching by writing and starring in A Christmas Fury in 2017. Besides TV acting, she has worked on movies such as Mambo Italiano, Geraldine's Fortune, Rain, Drizzle and Fog, Buried on Sunday, The Divine Ryans, Young Triffie, Violet, and The Grand Seduction. 2004 saw Walsh host a segment on the CBC documentary series The Greatest Canadian, in which she championed the case for Sir Frederick Banting (the Nobel prize-winning discoverer of insulin) as the greatest Canadian who ever lived. In June 2007, she hosted the Pride Toronto Gala & Awards ceremony. On December 15, 2007, Walsh made national news with a story about her upcoming special, Nudity, Sexuality, Violence and Coarse Language, in which a large group of people who went and stripped naked standing next to St. John's Harbour in −11 °C (12 °F) weather to be filmed as a part of the show's closing. Walsh herself did not go nude. In 2017, Walsh published her debut novel, Crying for the Moon. In 2026, Walsh published Brassy Bit of Aging Crumpet: A Memoir in Pieces, a collection of essays that detail her time growing up, her relationship with her family, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of her CBC shows, including This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

Walsh made her feature directorial debut with the 2007 movie Young Triffie. She was the first Newfoundlander in six years to have a film in general release across Canada.

Walsh has battled alcoholism. The Toronto Star reported that the end of CODCO coincided with the end of Walsh's active alcoholism, with Walsh stating "which was a damn good thing because I could have never done This Hour Has 22 Minutes if I'd been drinking."

She won Best Supporting Actress at the Atlantic Film Festival in 1992 for her performance in Mike Jones' Secret Nation. On November 4, 2006, Walsh and Ed MacDonald picked up a Gemini Award for the best writing in a comedy or variety program for their work in Hatching, Matching and Dispatching. She has won 18 Gemini Awards. She won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Supporting Actress at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, for the film Happy Place. Walsh received a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, in 2012. At the 2025 Atlantic International Film Festival, she won the Joan Orenstein & David Renton Award for Outstanding Performance in Acting, for her performance in Dancing on the Elephant.

A sufferer of macular degeneration, she has served from time to time as a spokesperson for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind (CNIB). In 1993, Walsh was chosen to deliver the prestigious Graham Spry lecture which was broadcast nationally on CBC Radio. In 1994, Walsh addressed the United Nations Global Conference on Development in New York. She has also served as a spokesperson for Oxfam, Canada's human rights campaign, and in 2010 received Oxfam's Spirit of Change Award, in recognition of her years of dedication to eradicating poverty and ensuring public services for all. On May 29, 1998, Mary Walsh received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from Trent University. McGill University honoured Walsh with an honorary doctorate during the November 2008 convocation ceremony. Her speech to the class of 2008 focused on political satire.

• Television • Year — Title — Role — Notes • 1974 — Cod on a Stick — Various • 1975 — Peep Show — Various — Part of CODCO • 1978 — data-sort-value="Root Seller, The" | The Root Seller — Various — 6 episodes Writer - 6 episodes • 1980 — Up at Ours — Verna Ball — Miniseries • 1980-1983 — Wonderful Grand Band — Various • 1986–1989 — CODCO — Various — 35 episodes Writer - 35 episodes Producer - 21 episodes • 1992 — data-sort-value="Boys of St. Vincent: 15 Years Later, The" | The Boys of St. Vincent: 15 Years Later — Lenora Pardy — Miniseries • 1993–2013 — This Hour Has 22 Minutes — Various — 122 Episodes • 1995-1997 — data-sort-value="Adventures of Dudley the Dragon, The" | The Adventures of Dudley the Dragon — Willomena / Princess — 3 episodes • 1996 — Genie Awards — Herself/host — TV special • 1997 — data-sort-value="New Adventures of Robin Hood, The" | The New Adventures of Robin Hood — Police Guard #1 — Season 2 episode 9: "Outlaw Express" • Major Crime — Patty Reckles — TV movie • 1998 — Emily of New Moon — Miss Pick — Season 2 episode 6: "By the Rivers of Babylon" • 1998–1999 — data-sort-value="Rosie O'Donnell Show, The" | The Rosie O'Donnell Show — N/A — Writer - 193 Episodes • 1999 — Lexx — Heedia — Season 2 episode 13: "Twilight" • Dooley Gardens — Marilyn Benoit — 7 Episodes • Life and Times — Herself — Season 4 episode 1: "Mary Walsh: Princess Warrior • 2000 — Our Daily Bread — Edna Barkhouse — TV movie • 2002 — data-sort-value="Joke's on Us: 50 Years of CBC Satire, The" | The Joke's on Us: 50 Years of CBC Satire — Herself — Documentary • Bleacher Bums — Rose — TV movie • Random Passage — Mrs. Armstrong — Miniseries • 2003 — data-sort-value="Strategic Humour Initiative, The" | The Strategic Humour Initiative — Herself/co-host • 2003-2004 — Mary Walsh: Open Book — Host — Writer Producer • 2004 — data-sort-value="Greatest Canadian, The" | The Greatest Canadian — Herself — Advocate for Sir Frederick Banting • 2005–2006 — Hatching, Matching and Dispatching — Mamie Lou Furey — Writer Producer • 2006 — data-sort-value="Wind in the Willows, The" | The Wind in the Willows — Washerwoman — TV movie • 2007 — Who Do you Think You Are? — Herself — Episode 7: "Mary Walsh" • 2008 — Sophie — Sarah Sloane — Season 1 episode 12: "Read the Signs" • Gossip — Carolyn Johnson Wright — TV movie • data-sort-value="Quality of Life, The" | The Quality of Life — Katherine Greenborne — TV movie • 2009 — Murdoch Mysteries — Sally Smoot — Season 2 episode 6: "Shades of Grey" • 2010 — Great Canadian Books — Herself — 2 episodes • 2010–2014 — Republic of Doyle — Miranda Cahill — 2 episodes • 2012 — Little Mosque on the Prairie — Mayor Glenda Beckford — Season 6 episode 8: "Finders Weepers" • 2014–2016 — | Sensitive Skin — Sarah Thorn — 2 episodes • 2015 — Rookie Blue — Odelle — Season 6 episode 3: "Uprising" • 2016 — Slasher — Verna McBride — Season 1: The Executioner Episode 1: "An Eye for an Eye" • 2017 — data-sort-value="Christmas Fury, A" | A Christmas Fury — Mamie Lou Fur — TV movie Writer • 2018 — Little Dog — Tucker — 12 episodes • 2020 — Hudson & Rex — Vicky Gumble — Season 2 episode 13: "In Pod We Trust" • Canada's Drag Race — Herself/Guest Host — Season 1 episode 5: "Snatch Game" • 2020–2021 — Broad Appeal: Living with E's — Miss Eulalia • 2021–present — data-sort-value="Missus Downstairs, The" | The Missus Downstairs — The Missus — Writer Producer Director • 2024 — Resident Alien — Patty Baker — 2 episodes

Walsh worked as actor, comedian, screenwriter and film actor, and the authority record catalogues a further 4 occupations under the same name, among them television actor, film director, film producer and writer. Walsh was active from 1986. Walsh worked in English.

Walsh worked for the screen, as screenwriter, film director and film producer. 3 films survive in the institutional catalogues, the earliest of 2006. They are This Hour Has 22 Minutes, Hatching, Matching and Dispatching and Young Triffie (2006).

Mary Walsh was appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada on 27 April 2000. This gave her the Post Nominal Letters "CM" for Life. She was awarded the Canadian Version of the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002. She was awarded the Canadian Version of the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.