Gloria Reuben is one of those actresses who is everywhere. She’s been in some of the most famous shows on television – the most famous of an entire generation, we might add. She spent years starring as the lovely Jeanie Boulet on the hit show ER alongside some of Hollywood’s most famous faces. She spent years appearing on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as not one, but two, characters, and those who have the pleasure of working with her do call her a pleasure to work with. She’s one of the best, and she’s someone who is worth getting to know a little better.
1. She is Canadian
Gloria Reuben was born and raised in Toronto. Growing up in Ontario, she was educated here, she played with her friends here, and she made all of her early childhood memories here. Her mother was a classical singer. Her father an engineer. She was born on June 9, 1964.
2. Her Parents are Jamaican
Both of her parents were born in Jamaica and later came to Canada. However, her father was Jewish with some African roots. Her mother is African. Sadly, she lost her father when she was a very young girl.
3. She Comes From a Large Family
She is one of six kids. She lost her father as a child, and she later lost two of her brothers in a very untimely and unexpected fashion. Her brother Denis Simpson (half-brother) died in 2010. Her brother David died in 1988. She struggled through the loss of these men in her life.
4. She Wrote a Book
It was 2019 when she wrote her memoir. It’s called, “My Brother’s Keeper,” and in the book she details what it was like growing up without her father, what it was like growing up in such a large family, and what it was like for her to lose her brothers at such young ages. It was difficult, but she touches on it in her book.
5. She Plays Piano
In addition to being a talented actress and producer and writer, she is also a woman who can play the piano. It’s something she decided to learn as a child. We are unsure just how good she is, but the fact that she studied at all is something that we do assume makes her better than most of us at playing. She also studied music technique and theory.
6. She Dances
Dancing is something else she studied growing up. Gloria Reuben studied at the Royal Conservatory of Music. She learned ballet and jazz while she was there, but we don’t know if she continues to dance or if it is merely something she did while she was studying in school.
7. She’s an Activist
She spends a great deal of her time working on causes that are meaningful to her. Her character in ER was an HIV-positive patient, and she’s used her time as a voice for those who live with the same condition to educate and raise awareness about HIV and AIDs. She also spends time on global issues such as climate change and human rights.
8. She’s Headed Back to ER
It seems that she is on her way back to the famous show, but not for long. She and a number of people who once starred on the show with her or throughout the years are on their way back to the emergency room alongside both George Clooney and Noah Wyle in an effort to raise awareness for Earth Day and to raise money for the Waterkeeper Alliance (she is president).
9. Telling Stories is What She Loves Most
There is not a person in the world who does not have a favorite thing to do. Gloria Reuben’s favorite thing to do is to tell stories, and she gets to do this every single day of her life when she goes to work. The story might change from time to time depending on the work she is doing, but she is not someone who is unaware of just how fortunate she is to get to do what she loves the most. She takes great care in doing things she loves, and she makes sure she is able to do it as long as she can.
10. She Keeps to Herself
Despite being so busy saving the world and acting out the lives of characters the world loves, Reuben is a woman who has done a lot in her life to maintain her own level of personal privacy. She’s good at it, too, and we appreciate that she is able to keep her life as private as possible.
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