Born in Lancashire, England, Burroughs acted in live theatre at Ontario’s Stratford Festival. Her film credits included The Dead Zone (1983), The Grey Fox (1982), and a voice-over stint in the legendary animated anthology Heavy Metal (1981), while her TV-series résumé includes the roles of Mrs. Amelia Evans in Anne of Green Gables (1985) and Hetty King in Road to Avonlea (1990). In 1987, Jackie Burroughs produced, directed, co-wrote, and starred in A Winter Tan, a film based on the letters of Maryse Holder, published in 1979 as the book Give Sorrow Words – Maryse Holder’s Letters from Mexico. She won a Genie award for best performance by an actress in a leading role for the film. She won several Genies and Geminis during her career. Her first award was the 1969 Canadian Film Award for best actress, for starring in the non-feature short film Duclima. In 2005, Burroughs received a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, Canada’s highest honour in the performing arts. Burroughs played the voice of The Spirit in 1985’s The Care Bears Movie. She also played teacher Nancy Galik in The Undergrads (1985) opposite Art Carney. She was perhaps best known to American audiences for her portrayal of the fictional character, Hetty King, in the CBC Television series Road to Avonlea from 1990 to 1996. The series was based on the works of Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery and produced by Sullivan Entertainment. She also played Mother Mucca in the television adaptations of Armistead Maupin’s More Tales of the City and Further Tales of the City. Burroughs again played a mother role in 2003’s Willard. She appeared in the 2006 film The Sentinel. She also appeared in the Smallville season one episode “Hourglass” as the elderly prophetess Cassandra Carver. Burroughs was married to Zalman Yanovsky, co-founder (with John Sebastian) of The Lovin’ Spoonful; they separated in 1968. They had one daughter, Zoe (a restaurant owner and author in Kingston). Burroughs died at her home in Toronto on 22 September 2010, aged 71, after suffering from stomach cancer.