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Nerene Virgin plays the role of Jodie in the Today's Special episode "Live on Stage".

Nerene Virgin is a Canadian journalist^[1], actress^[2] and television host^[3], best known for her role on the children's television series Today's Special.

[edit] Background

After growing up in Toronto, Ontario, she attended Toronto Teacher's College. Virgin was also certified as a Special Education teacher at Brock University focussing on intellectually gifted children and holds special qualifications in teaching Integrated Arts. Virgin began her career as a teacher, working for the Toronto Board of Education. She later moved into children's programming with Ontario's public broadcaster TV Ontario, playing "Jodie" on Today's Special. This internationally acclaimed series was in production for seven years. Virgin also had recurring roles on other television programs, including The Littlest Hobo, Night Heat and Ramona. She appeared in numerous film roles such as Gotti, The Undergrads, Murder in Space, and Right of the People.

Virgin worked as the weather and community reporter for CBOT the local Ottawa CBC affiliate in the late 80's. She then worked at CTV station CFTO in Toronto as the host of Eye on Toronto, co-host for the entertainment show Showbuz, and a host on CTV's annual Miracle Network Telethon for the Hospital for Sick Children.

In 1996, Virgin became the host for the daily national current affairs show Coast to Coast for CBC Newsworld in Calgary, Alberta. She returned to Toronto as the anchor to launch the national weekend newscast Saturday Report for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She then moved to the anchor chair at Newsworld International until it was dismantled and taken over by Al Gore's Current TV in July 2005. Virgin then chose to leave CBC to complete further studies gaining certification in teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) and taught students in Linhe, Inner Mongolia, China. She later taught French in Stoney Creek.

She currently serves on the board of directors for Phoenix Place, a second stage home for women and children who have survived domestic violence.^[4] She is also a member of the council for the College of Early Childhood Educators, the first such college in North America.^[5]

[edit] Family

In the summer of 1860 Virgin's great-grandfather Thomas Howard escaped slavery from a plantation in Maryland using the Underground Railroad. He swam across the Niagara River to freedom in Canada West. Due to the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, in order to remain safe from slave bounty hunters, Thomas changed his last name to Holland. In spite of possible capture, he courageously returned to serve in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Upon the war's conclusion he traveled back to Canada to open a hay and feed business in Hamilton, Ontario. Virgin has attended numerous ceremonies honouring the contributions of escaped slaves during the U.S. Civil War. She recently accepted a Civil War Campaign Medal from Acting U.S. Consul-General Nicholas Giacobbe on behalf of the family of Nelson Stevens, a civil war veteran.^[6] Virgin's great uncle, John Christie Holland, was the first black in Canada to be honored by a city as the "Distinguished Citizen." In 1953 he was named Citizen of the Year in Hamilton, Ontario. Her father, Stanley G. Grizzle, is a distinguished recipient of the Order of Canada. Virgin's sister, Dr. Patricia Grizzle-Huling, is the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies and is currently a professor at California State University.^[7]

[edit] Political career

Virgin first sought political office in 2007 in the federal riding of Hamilton Mountain but she later withdrew from the race. ^[8] She then decided to seek political office in Hamilton East—Stoney Creek, even though she resides outside the riding boundaries. ^[8]

On July 31, 2007, after using a three member panel interview process, the Ontario Liberal Party announced that Virgin had been acclaimed as the candidate in Hamilton East—Stoney Creek for the 2007 provincial election. The panel consisted of incumbent MPP Jennifer Mossop (who did not seek reelection), a party organizer, and the riding president. ^[9] The decision to appoint Virgin upset some local Liberal party members but Virgin expressed optimism in being able to reach out to the grassroots ^[10] ,^[11] Jennifer Mossop, the Stoney Creek incumbent MPP, is also a former television journalist.^[12]

On election day, Virgin finished second to New Democrat candidate Paul Miller.^[13]

[edit] Legal dispute

In the aftermath of Virgin's acclamation as a candidate for the Ontario Liberal Party, she was racially slurred and allegedly misrepresented in the media.^[14] While the paper issued an apology for its use of the pejorative term,^[15] Virgin indicated that the paper should do more than just apologize, suggesting setting up a scholarship, or a program designed to address racism and discrimination.^[10] Virgin is now involved in a libel lawsuit against Metroland Media Group Ltd. and a local newspaper reporter.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Electoral record

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Nerene Virgin at the Internet Movie Database