Babz Chula and Donnelly Rhodes receive Sam Payne Awards

by Craig Takeuchi on February 27th, 2009 at 4:18 PM

Two well-known local talents with an extensive body of work were named the recipients of the 2008 Sam Payne Awards.

At the 25th annual Sam Payne Award Ceremony at Sun Sui Wah restaurant, Babz Chula and Donnelly Rhodes were honoured for their work and contributions to the entertainment industries. The awards were created in 1984 two years after the death of Canadian theatre, film, radio, and TV actor and director Sam Payne.

Veteran actor Babz Chula received the Sam Payne Award, which recognizes performers for their humanity, artistic integrity, and development of new talent. Chula has won numerous awards, including Jessie Theatre Awards, a Genie, a Leo, a Vancouver Film Critics Circle Award, and more. She has been a longtime supporter of the independent film scene.

Most recently, she starred in Carl Bessai's Mothers&Daughters and Georgia Straight contributor Mark Leiren-Young's The Green Chain (which is set for a Vancouver release on March 6).

At the closing ceremony of Vancouver's Women in Film Festival on March 7, Chula will receive the woman of the year award.

The entertainment communities rallied around her to help her raise funds for her medical bills when she discovered that her cancer recurred and has spread to her liver. The Babz Chula Lifeline for Artists Society was formed.

Last years, stars such as actor David Duchonvy, musician Matthew Good, Corner Gas's Gabrielle Miller, The X-Files's Chris Carter, and more donated their time and efforts for a charity auction to raise funds for Chula.

Winnipeg-born actor Donnelly Rhodes, stars of Vancouver-based series such as Danger Bay, Da Vinci's Inquest, and Battlestar Galactica, was named the Sam Payne Lifetime Achievement Award recipient. His long-running career, which began in the 1960s, includes roles on shows such as Street Legal, Soap, The Golden Girls, The Heights, The X-Files, and Murder She Wrote.

He has been nominated for four Gemini awards and won one for his role on Da Vinci's Inquest in 2002.