Tina Louise Bomberry, who played the memorable role of Rosie Deela on the 1990s Canadian drama North of 60, has died. She was 52.
Her agent, Penny Noble of Noble Caplan Abrams in Toronto, confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that Bomberry died Saturday at her home on the Six Nations reserve near Brantford, Ontario. The cause of death was not immediately available.
A member of the Mohawk Nation, Bomberry starred in all six seasons of North of 60 from 1992-1997. She also played Rosie Deela in three North of 60 spinoff TV movies, which were also set in the fictional native Canadian community of Lynx River, Northwest Territories.
Bomberry’s role as the feisty yet compassionate Rosie Deela is credited with opening the way for a host of Indigenous Canadian actors in film and TV roles, such as Suicide Squad actor Adam Beach and Arctic Air and Blackstone star Michelle Thrush.
Bomberry trained to be an actor at the Center for Indigenous Theatre in 1986 and Ryerson University in Toronto in 1988. Her film career began in 1989 with a walk-on role in the movie Where the Spirit Lives.
Bomberry’s other screen credits included the 1993 TV movie Medicine River, Song of Hiawatha, the crime drama Blue Murder and the 2005 TV movie Shania, A Life in Eight Albums, about country music superstar Shania Twain.