Carla Collins | |
|---|---|
 Collins in 1999 | |
| Born | (1965-04-30)April 30, 1965 (age 59) Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada |
| Education | University of Western Ontario |
| Occupation(s) | Comedian, actress, television host, writer |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Spouse | |
| Website | http://www.carlacollins.com/ |
Carla Collins (born April 30, 1965) is a Canadian comedian, actress, television host, and writer.
Collins performs across North America. She has been a regular at theLaugh Factory[1] in Los Angeles and toured with the renowned "Hot Tamales".[2] In January 2015, Collins was awarded with Comedian Of The Year by the Southern California Motion Picture Council, an inaugural honour created to recognize Collins' talent.[3]
Collins was born and raised inSault Ste. Marie, Ontario,[4] until moving toGuelph, Ontario and attendingGuelph Collegiate Vocational Institute where she was Prom Queen and Valedictorian, Collins pursued her education at theUniversité de Franche-Comté in France and theUniversity of Western Ontario.
She joinedThe Weather Network in 1990 as an on-air host, and subsequently moved toCFTO to hostEye on Toronto. In 1995, she began hosting Baton Broadcastings's Entertainment Now,[5] which she cohosted withDan Duran. She also hosted the Canadian variety seriesSonic Temple and thesketch comedy seriesChez Carla.[5] In 1998, Collins played an anchorwoman inUniversal Soldier II: Brothers in Arms and Donna Jean inWhen Husbands Cheat.
Earlier in her career, she was a morning radio personality on Toronto'sMix 99.9 from 1992 to 1994, co-hosting with Tom Rivers along with Larry Fedoruk. Rivers left in 1993 and Fedoruk and Collins continued as a duo. She returned from 2001 to 2003. For the latter stint, following a short period co-hosting withSteve Anthony who then moved to afternoondrive time, Collins became the first woman in Canada to be billed as the sole regular host of a morning radio show on a commercial station in a majormedia market, as opposed to co-hosting with one or more men.[5]
Collins had her first solo stand-up special,The Wonder Bra Years, onThe Comedy Network in 2001.[6] It was one of the highest rated in the Comedy Now series.[5]
Collins starred in 50 episodes ofParadise Falls a soap opera onShowcase Television as Rusty Sinclair (2001). She also appeared in:Deep in the City as a Sex-Shop Owner (2000),The Caveman's Valentine (2001),Degrassi: The Next Generation as herself (2002), two episodes ofDoc as Felicia Brand (2002–2003),Recipe for Murder as a Glam Reporter (2002),Tracker as Dr. Janet Sullivann (2002), andShow Me Yours as Tammy (2005).
In 2003, she began to lend her voice to the PBS animated showCyberchase as Erica Ram, a reporter who reports on events in Cyberspace.[5]
Collins was a writer, star and host ofChez Carla (2000),Sonic Temple (2001),2 Smart Blondes (2003) andE-Now (1995).
In 2006 Carla teamed up with producerFrank Sicoli for an unscripted television sitcom titledThe Visionary Position.[7] This series (released on DVD) is described asCurb Your Enthusiasm meetsSex and the City meetsBewitched. Collins says, "I prefer to think of it asThe Ghost Whisperer on crack."[8]
In 2006, she workshopped a one-woman show calledThe Visionary Position in Toronto and Los Angeles.[9]
She is also a freelance writer forInside Entertainment.[citation needed]
In 2007, Collins marriedTyrone Power Jr., an actor from the United States.[9]
Collins' reality showCarlawood debuted onTVtropolis in April 2009.[10] The show follows her attempt to find work after her move to Hollywood, and satirizes reality shows.[4]
Collins' filmed season two of her docu-soap/comedyCarlawood, and is working on the movieThe Hack, a comedy/horror film in which she stars as a comedian who kills other performers for their material.[11]
She also completed her first book "Angels, Vampires and Douche Bags"[12] published by Burman Books.
She also lent her voice to a special from the hit Canadian animated series,Total Drama, in its second season,Total Drama Action‘s special, "Celebrity Manhunt's Total Drama Action Reunion Special", as the host of the show-within-a-show, Celebrity Manhunt, Blaineley.[13] Then she lent her voice for the next season inTotal Drama World Tour, once again playing Blaineley, the co-host of Total Drama Aftermath, and then she became a late-coming contestant that same season and ending in either seventh or sixth place. This was her first voice acting role, a role which also required her to sing.
After performing at various locations doing standup comedy, Collins found that many venues were closed due to theCOVID-19 pandemic.[14] During that time, she performed some "Quarantine Queen" comedy programs on Facebook[15] and began streaming "Comedic Meditation" from Los Angeles, at no charge to the public; she also offered private sessions. By autumn 2020 some venues were open and she performed at the El Mocambo in Toronto and began streaming her Meditation program in Canada, again free of charge.[16]
A September 2020 article added that Collins's program "Carlawood" was streaming onAmazon Prime and she also performed onSiriusXM. She was waiting to film a comedy special produced byDavid Steinberg and she was also producing "Hump Day Howl" a monthly streaming program from the Whitefire Theatre.[17]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)