Biography

Raised with 7 siblings, Engineer Father and stay at home Mother, Darlene was born in Sudbury, Ontario and grew up on a Canadian Armed Forces Base. From the age of eight to her early teens, the family lived in a small town outside of Base Borden where her love of horses, dogs and country life was developed. During her junior high school years, the family moved to East York in Toronto. She worked part time as a hostess and waitress around her academic classes, cheerleading, gymnastics and track field interests. In later years, she studied modern jazz dance and ballet with Lenny Gibson studios and began vocal training with Amanda Ambrose. In addition she trained as a model with Judy Welch Modeling Agency.

Darlene created a life that would open the doors to include all of her interests. After graduation, Darlene began travelling the globe as a Flight Attendant with Wardair Canada. Her career gave her an exceptional opportunity to continue her Equestrian training in Great Britain, Europe, North Africa and the United States. Diverse cultures, unique people, new traditions and her growing independence became her everyday life. Years later, while still flying around the world, Darlene began volunteering for The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. This amazing opportunity changed her life forever and she became a Surrogate Parent at the hospital and that relationship opened her heart and life to begin the ever challenging role of actual parenthood. She retired from flying and was successful in adopting a healthy and joyful baby boy as a single parent. Her life would never be the same again!

Several years later Darlene began her career as a Union actor after an unexpected introduction to Second City and stand up comedy. Her life was blessed again with the birth of her second son. Her new priority was to be the best parent possible for her growing sons and she was challenged by the constant balancing act of learning new parenting skills, running an organized home, keeping the refrigerator full, the mortgage paid and the laundry done. In between auditions and bookings, she worked part time as a Private Investigator, Drive Test Examiner and Catering Supervisor. She brings all of her life skills with her to each and every audition and challenges herself to give authenticity and life to every character placed in her hands.

Now that her sons are adults and living independent lives she has since moved out of the city and closer to her beloved horses. She keeps fit, healthy and balanced with her Cairn Terrier, her 800 c.c. Suzuki Boulevard motorcycle and on the backs of the finest horses she can find. Darlene is fulfilled by her solid commitment to her craft and being the strong passionate actor of 30 years that she has become. She remains grateful and humble for the many different projects and offers that have come her way and those that are yet to be revealed.
- IMDb mini biography by: Darlene Cooke

Raised with 7 siblings, Engineer Father and stay at home Mother, Darlene was born in Sudbury, Ontario and grew up on a Canadian Armed Forces Base, during her toddler and early primary years. From the age of 8 until her early teens, the family lived in a small town outside of the Base where her love of horses, dogs and country life took root. In her early teens, the family moved to Toronto where she quickly became a high school cheerleader. While she worked part time as a hostess and waitress around her academic classes, gymnastics and track took up a lot of her spare time. In later years she studied modern dance and ballet and participated in vocal training with a singing coach. As a young woman, Darlene created a life that would allow her to open the necessary doors to allow her interests to blossom. After graduating from high school, Darlene began travelling the globe as a Flight Attendant, with continuous Equestrian training in various countries. Diverse cultures, unique people, newly learned traditions and deeper independence became her everyday life. Years later, while still flying the world, she began volunteering for The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. This amazing opportunity changed her life forever. Darlene became a Surrogate Parent at Sick Kids and that relationship opened her heart and life to begin the ever challenging role of actual parenthood. After selling her motorcycle and sports car and purchasing her first home, she retired from flying as a Flight Attendant and was successful in adopting a healthy and joyful baby boy! Her life was never going to be the same. Several years later Darlene began her career as a Union actor after an unexpected introduction to Second City and stand up comedy. Her life was blessed again with the birth of her second son. She quickly learned that building a healthy financial foundation as an actor required constant flexibility. Becoming the best parent she could be to her growing sons was a constant balancing act of learning new parenting techniques and studying film/TV craft development. As her acting career slowly took form she worked as a Private Investigator, Catering Supervisor and Drive Test Examiner. Now that her sons are adults she has since moved out of the city and closer to her beloved horses. She keeps fit, healthy and balanced with her Cairn Terrier, her 800 cc Suzuki Boulevard motorcycle and on the backs of the finest horses she can find. Darlene is fulfilled by her solid commitment to her craft and being the strong passionate actor of 30 years that she has become. She remains grateful and humble for the many opportunities that have come her way and those that are yet to be revealed.
- IMDb mini biography by: Darlene Cooke