'He was the man on the moon': Gordon Pinsent remembered as trailblazer for N.L. artists

Artists throughout Newfoundland and Labrador are remembering Gordon Pinsent as a pioneering actor who paved the way for those who followed.

Pinsent died Saturday, surrounded by family. He was 92.

He was born in Grand Falls and began acting in the 1940s at the age of 17. Pinsent's prolific career would go on to include more than 150 different film and television roles, earning him every major acting award in Canada.

Actor and comedian Mark Critch says Pinsent remained young at heart despite his age.

"I got the call yesterday that he was quite ill and that this would happen, and I was shocked, you know, I'm like, 'Gordon, what happened?'

"He was that youthful, always a twinkle in the eye…. To me, he was eternally 12 years old. He always had that twinkle and he always had that excitement for what's next."

The two actors met in 2010 through a sketch Critch was working on for This Hour has 22 Minutes. 

"A young man by the name of Justin Bieber brought us together, really," he said.

The pop singer had just put out a memoir, and Critch says he thought it'd be funny to have Pinsent do a dramatic reading for the show.

"And [since] then, we've just been very, very close friends. I'm a bit of an old soul and he's a bit of a young one, so we met perfectly in the middle," he said.

The pair also starred in the 2013 film The Grand Seduction together, which was shot around Newfoundland.

"Being with Gordon Pinsent in rural Newfoundland is a bit, what I would expect, like what being with Jesus in Bethlehem is like," Critch said.

"People were just coming out of the woodwork."

Pinsent was a loving and giving actor, Critch said, who was a trailblazer for all Newfoundland and Labrador artists who would follow.