John Dunsworth was born in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, not far from the sea where he would spend much of his time on his yacht when not working. John was one of Halifax's most venerable and revered actors, appearing in countless CBC radio dramas and held leading roles in over 25 Neptune Theatre productions. In 1970, long before the days of waterfront renewal, John convinced the city of Halifax to lease to him a run-down old building by the shipyards which he turned into Pier One Theatre - Halifax's first and arguably its most successful alternative theatre company.

John first met Mike Clattenburg in the mid-1990s when he auditioned for a small role in Mike's short, One Last Shot. Halfway through shooting, John's small role blossomed into a leading part - a part that garnered him a Best Performance award from the Atlantic Film Festival. From there, John developed that role into the character Jim Lahey, the trailer park supervisor on the series Trailer Park Boys.

John's final acting credits include "Trailer Park Boys" (2001-2018), short film George (2018), and "Sir John A. And the Curse of the Anti-Quenched" (2017)

Beyond acting, John was an avid bridge player, holding master points. He also holds, until somebody proves otherwise, the Internet Scrabble record for having three 7-letter words in a row. Around town, John was easy to spot. He drove an old truck with a thousand pound winch that he would use to hauling granite. In 1987, John founded Filmworks Casting where he worked as Halifax's most successful casting director. Prior to that, John worked in the transportation industry, driving a cab for three years and working the CNR trains from Halifax and Sydney.