Fans of the Trailer Park Boys will know that aside from the three “Boys” Mr. Lahey was perhaps the series’ most important character. Lahey and his sidekick Randy played foils to the three central characters always looking to catch them in the act of breaking one of the many rules at Sunnyvale Trailer Park.
Sadly, actor John Dunsworth who portrayed Mr. Lahey in the television show and films since 2001 has passed away at the age of 71 after a brief illness. Word of Dunsworth’s death came via his daughter Sarah.
“With heavy and broken hearts the family of John F. Dunsworth would like to let people know that our amazing husband, father and grandfather John Dunsworth has passed away. John left this world peacefully after a short and unexpected illness. The family would like to request that our privacy is respected during this time of grief.”
Dunsworth was born in Bridgewater Nova Scotia Canada. He got the acting bug early and convinced the city of Halifax to lease him a building in the shipyards which he turned into Pier One Theatre in 1970.
His acting career took another turn towards success in the late 1970s as he appeared on numerous radio and television productions for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Other than his work on Trailer Park Boys, Dunsworth may be best known for his work on Haven which ran from 2010 – 2015.
Dunsworth’s most popular character had to be Mr. Lahey in Trailer Park Boys though. Lahey was a former police officer who lost that job due to a prank conducted by Ricky, Julian, and Bubbles that made police officials believe his patrol car was destroyed due to his drinking. He falls on hard times and ends up as the trailer park supervisor where the three culprits reside.
His fall from grace also resulted in an actual drinking problem patrolling the trailer park while inebriated on a regular basis. As Mr. Lahey once said, “Randy, I’ve decided to lay off the food for a bit, and go on the booze”.