Canadian actress Michelle Thrush paid tribute to her late Blackstone co-star Gordon Tootoosis as she picked up a trophy at the Gemini Awards on Wednesday (07Sep11).
Thrush won the Best Actress in a Drama prize for her role as an alcoholic mother living on the fictional Blackstone Indian reserve, and the star used her acceptance speech to remember Tootoosis, who died in July (11).
She told the audience at the ceremony in Toronto, Canada, "About 23 years ago when I began acting, there weren't a lot of brown faces on television and Gordon was one of a handful. He urged me as a teenager to get into acting."
Other winners at the annual TV awards included Tracy Dawson, who was named Best Actress in a Comedy, for Call Me Fitz, Callum Keith Rennie (Best Actor in a Drama, for Shattered) and Peter Keleghan (Best Actor in a Comedy, for 18 to Life).
Call Me Fitz was a big winner at the awards ceremony - it landed six other honours including Best Director and Best Writing. The Borgias landed the Best Drama Series prize, while the Rick Mercer Report was named Best Comedy Series.