Jonathan Crombie

Jonathan Crombie was a Canadian actor, best known for his role as Gilbert Blythe in Anne of Green Gables (1985), Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (1987), Road to Avonlea (1990–1996) and Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000).

Biography[]

Early life[]

Jonathan David Crombie was born on October 12, 1966, in Toronto, Ontario, to David Crombie, the former mayor of Toronto, and his wife Shirley Ann. Jonathan was the baby of family - he had two older sisters, Robin and Carrie. He was raised along with them in Toronto.

Anne of Green Gables[]

Crombie never intended to become an actor. However, he was spotted in a high school production of The Wizard of Oz by casting director Diane Polley, who recommended him to be cast in Anne of Green Gables (1985). The role of Gilbert Blythe won him recognition and was the role for which he was best loved. Crombie returned to role of Gilbert in two sequels: Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel (1987) and Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story (2000). He also played the part in "Old Friends, Old Wounds", the last episode of Season 3 of Road to Avonlea (1990–1996).

Career[]

The role of Gilbert Blythe brought Crombie recognition. Subsequently, he appeared in a number of TV films and series and continued his career in theatre. Crombie was nominated for a Dora Mavor Moore Award for his role in the Canadian Stage Company's 1997 production of Arcadia.

Death[]

Jonathan Crombie died on April 15, 2015 of a brain hemorrhage in New York City, New York, USA at the age of 48. His organs were donated.

Filmography[]

Year	Title	Role
1985	Anne of Green Gables	Gilbert Blythe
1986	A Judgment in Stone	Bobby Coverdale
1986	Bullies	Matt Morris
1987	Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel	Gilbert Blythe
1987	CBS Schoolbreak Special	Barney Roth
1988	Mount Royal	Rob Valeur
1988	Alfred Hitchcock Presents	Rick Garrison
1989	The Jeweller's Shop	Christophe
	The Teddy Bears' Picnic	Benjamin Bear
	The Hitchhiker	Kenny
1990	The Campbells	Kevin Horatio Sims
1991	21 Jump Street	Bill Howard
1992	Road to Avonlea	Gilbert Blythe
	Cafe Romeo	Bennie
	The Teddy Bears' Christmas	Benjamin Bear
	The Good Fight	Sam Cragin
1993	Class of '96	Sam Clive
1993	Matrix	Cumberland
1998	Comedy Now!	Various Characters
	SketchCom	Various Characters
	The Teddy Bears' Scare	Benjamin Bear
1999 - 2000	Power Play	Hudson James
2000	Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story	Gilbert Blythe
2001	The Waiting Game	Matt
2002	Earth: Final Conflict	Dr. Field
2003 - 2005	Slings and Arrows	Lionel Train
2004	The Jane Show	Dave
2004 - 2010	The Secret World of Benjamin Bear	Benjamin Bear
2006	Empty Room
2013	Cottage Country	Dan Mushin
2014	Russian Broadway Shut Down	Villager

Behind the scenes[]

Jonathan was first discovered for Anne of Green Gables by casting director Diane Polley, the mother of Sarah Polley, who portrayed Sara Stanley in Road to Avonlea (1990–1996).
When Jonathan and Megan Follows visited Schuyler Grant at college, they invited her roommate out for dinner. The roommate declined the invite as she had never seen either of the Anne of Green Gables movies and therefore had no idea who her roommate's famous friends were.
Jonathan hated having to wear the straw hat in the Lily Maid scene because he thought he looked like Frank Sinatra.
A stunt double was used in Anne of Green Gables: The Sequel for the scenes when Gilbert drove his bike into the lake and when he mounted the horse after Anne whipped him with her basket of flowers
Jonathan only appeared in the three films for a total of 1 hour and 11 minutes. That is only 1/10 of the total running time of the three movies.
He would often bring treats, such as candy and popcorn, to set for his fellow workers.

Gallery[]

Anne of Green Gables Wiki has 5 images of Jonathan Crombie (view category).

External links[]

Jonathan Crombie at the Internet Movie Database
Jonathan Crombie (@JDCrombie) on Twitter
Jonathan Crombie on Wikipedia