For years now I’ve been known as a writer, both of TV and middle-grade/YA novels. But some of you may also remember me fondly from my days as a famous Canadian actor.
Okay, that was a joke. I was never famous. Nor was I an actor. But that didn’t stop the folks at Degrassi Junior High from casting me as their beloved (okay, I’m the only one who’s used that word to describe my character), straight-talking janitor. (In fact they used various members of their crew to play bit parts on the show. Keep in mind, in the beginning the show was non-union, so they could do this stuff, and we happily played along).
My character name was Louella Hawkins.
They put the grease on my face. I have no one to blame but myself for the hair.
I had lines in a couple of episodes. You can watch those episodes on YouTube. Here’s a link to one of them, Season’s Greetings. You first see me around 2:30. I got to call Joey Jeremiah a goofball. Personally I thought I was the best thing about the show, but the producers clearly didn’t think so, because at the end of Degrassi Junior High (before Degrassi High) the school burns down, and they told me my character burned in the fire. !!!! Nasty.
Heh. Truthfully, as you’ll see if you watch the clip, I was rather terrible. But boy – it was fun.
I haven’t given Louella a whole lot of thought recently, but while I was in Paris, my French editor actually found this link to everything you need to know about Louella Hawkins, School Janitor. I had no idea this was out there! Someone put a LOT of work into this site. And my character got a total of six comments, too. Which makes me think the producers made a mistake, killing off my character. Clearly I was beloved. 🙂
I love this! So touching to be remembered by all those rabid fans! Puff out your feathers with pride, Susin.
Well it’s all due to the world wide web, isn’t it, the things that live on!
Thank u for this. .. I luved ur character tha first time around… and i just saw tha Seasons Greetings episode again today (25+ yearz later)… luved ur banter with “Joey” and ur high waisted work pants 😊
Yes those high waisted work pants were truly astonishingly cool!
Loved reading this! You weren’t terrible. A janitor isn’t meant to like kids, our old HS janitor use to curse out loud when fixing stuff! So you did the frustrated, ‘so over this job’ cranky look perfectly! And when Joey said’ not bad for a woman’, the look you gave him was priceless!. Susin,thanks for giving us fans, a cool character like Louella🙂
So glad you enjoyed it! And so sorry it took me this long to see your comment. As you can see, I don’t do much blogging anymore!
So I came because I was looking to see if Louella really died on Degrassi or if fans just made that up since she’s never seen after the fire. (I’m in a Degrassi group chat and we have tournaments and we’re about to do a favorite faculty and I suggested Louella) I am so bummed that it’s confirmed she died. Louella saves the school and the school kills her. But anyway, we love Louella!!
Well I think you can choose your own ending, if you like. The head writer used to joke that I’d died in the fire, but honestly I think they probably just had no material for the character once Degrassi High started. You can start the new rumour that Louella is alive and well and living in Paris! (or wherever you choose). Thanks for reaching out.