Mag Ruffman

Ruffman, Mag

 Margaret Jan Ruffman, television producer, actor, writer (b at Richmond Hill, Ont 28 Feb 1957). Mag Ruffman studied physical education at the University of Toronto before beginning her acting career in musical theatre. At only 22 she starred in a one-woman show at the Charlottetown Festival, and in 1980 she won the DU MAURIER Search for Stars. While her career has spanned television, theatre, carpentry, construction and writing, it was her role as an earnest Prince Edward Islander married to a shy inventor, played by R.H. THOMSON, that endeared her to viewers across the country.

In 1987 Ruffman began to appear in the Canadian television comedy series The Comedy Mill, honing her creative and comedic skills with Morag and Steve SMITH. Her acting career gathered momentum with her role as Alice Lawson in the television movies Anne of Green Gables (1985) and the sequel Anne of Avonlea (1987), both adapted from the books of Lucy Maud MONTGOMERY. Ruffman went on to play the role of Olivia Dale in the series Road to Avonlea (1990-96).

While filming Road to Avonlea in Canada, Ruffman travelled back and forth to San Francisco to work in the construction trade with her husband. She got her contractor's licence and created, produced and hosted 2 home improvement programs for television. Her humour and wit enlightened A Repair to Remember (1998-2000), made for the Women's Television Network, and she launched Anything I Can Do (2001-03), a lighthearted workshop series.

Ruffman produced and hosted the relationship series Men on Women (2000-02), a call-in discussion show that posed questions from women to a panel of male guests. She was also narrator of My Grandmother Ironed the King's Shirts (1999), an animated short film that was nominated for both a JUTRA AWARD and an Oscar.

Ruffman's syndicated weekly column, Toolgirl, ran in the Toronto Star for 3 years, culminating in her do-it-yourself book How Hard Can It Be? (2003). She collaborated with long-time friend Steve Smith to write and publish We're All In This Together: Red Green - The Man Behind the Character and Vice Versa (2008).

Mag Ruffman has been nominated for 4 GEMINI AWARDS: best supporting actress in Road to Avonlea and Happy Christmas, Miss King, and best practical information series and best series host for Anything I Can Do.

She is a national spokesperson for the Canadian division of Habitat for Humanity and also works with One Change, an Ottawa-based charitable organization that works worldwide to educate consumers on how they can improve the environment.