Janet Wright, who played ‘Emma Leroy’ on the Canadian television series Corner Gas has died at the age of 71.

Wright starred on the hit series from 2004 to 2009 and also reprised her role in the 2014 movie.

Creator, executive producer and star Brent Butt released a statement regarding Wright’s death, saying,

“Janet was like no other person I’ve ever met. She had a giant wit, a giant heart, and was one of the strongest human beings to ever stride around this planet. She was so great to work with. When you looked at the call sheet in the morning, and saw you were doing scenes with Janet, you knew you’d be laughing that day, and probably at something terribly inappropriate. We had this running thing, where if there was a scene with just our characters, I’d write it at the kitchen table, with our characters eating macaroni and cheese. We were both trying to watch our weight, but she said if ‘our characters’ were eating the stuff, it wasn’t really us. I truly, honestly loved her. We all did.”

Wright also appeared alongside George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg in the movie The Perfect Storm.

CTV will re-air the Corner Gas movie on November 26th as a tribute to the late actress.

Filed under: Corner Gas