Toronto-born actress Alberta Watson has passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer. She was 60.
Watson’s passing was confirmed by her agent Pam Winter, who told ET Canada, “It is the case, sadly. Alberta passed away on Saturday evening at Kensington Hospice in Toronto. Her husband Ken was by her side. We await details of a memorial service for her.”;
Watson had an acting career that spanned five decades, and was a familiar face in Canadian and U.S. film and TV. On the big screen, she played memorable roles in such films as In Praise of Older Women, David O. Russell’s Spanking the Monkey and Atom Egoyan’s The Sweet Hereafter.
It was on television, however, that Watson made her biggest impact, appearing in series ranging from Hill Street Blues and Law & Order to The Outer Limits and The Border. Her longest-running and most memorable role was as Madeline Pierce in La Femme Nikita, which ran from 1997-2001.
More recently, she was seen in recurring roles in 24, as CTU head Erin Driscoll in season four, and as Senator Madeline Pierce in The CW’s reboot Nikita, reprising her role from La Femme Nikita.
Watson was diagnosed with lymphoma in 1998, while starring on La Femme Nikita, and producers adapted her role as she underwent chemotherapy and surgery to combat the disease.
