Jayne Eastwood: Born and raised in Toronto. It was in Toronto that she became a member of the cast of the musical Godspell, which played at the ROYAL ALEXANDRA THEATRE. The show ran from 1972-73 and Eastwood worked with cast members Martin SHORT, Andrea MARTIN, Gilda Radner, and Eugene LEVY, and joined several of them in founding the Second City Theatre Troupe. Eastwood often appeared on Second City’s creative offspring, SCTV, most memorably in the famous parody of GOIN’ DOWN THE ROAD (her recurring line of dialogue is “I’m bummed out”) with John CANDY and Joe FLAHERTY. Though Eastwood moves effortlessly from comedy to drama, comedy remains her magnetic north, drawing her to work with Women Fully Clothed, a group of performers nominated in 2005 for a CANADIAN COMEDY AWARD for best sketch troupe.
Eastwood has had parts in everything from stage productions of Marat/Sade to TV shows such as King of Kensington, Anne of Green Gables, and Riverdale, and in radio plays like CBC’s Steve the Second. She is best known for her role as Betty, the pregnant wife abandoned by Joey in the canonical English-Canadian film Goin’ down the Road (1970). Many viewers will recall her as the character Ronnie Sacks in the Canadian television series This Is Wonderland or as one of the occasional characters in the partly improvised Train 48. She appears as Maxine Bingley in the series Billable Hours and plays a teacher in the movie Hairspray (2007), which was shot in Toronto. She had a recurring character part in the popular series LITTLE MOSQUE ON THE PRAIRIE, and reprised her Goin’ down the Road role in the sequel, Down the Road Again (2011). Recently work on, WORKING THE ENGLES (2014) with her old friend Andrea MARTIN and can be seen as the regular character of Gloria on HAVEN (2013-2014).In 1999 Jayne Eastwood received the EARLE GREY AWARD for lifetime achievement and the recipient of the 2011 DAVE BROADFOOT AWARD at the CANADIAN COMEDY AWARDS.
Eastwood is a talented and reliable actor who decided early on to remain in Toronto rather than leave for the limelight of the US. Her career is curiously and satisfyingly CANADIAN in that she has crafted a successful working life as an ensemble player in a variety of media while remaining in her own home town.