I can’t fathom it.
Jonathan Crombie, the stage and screen actor who brought Gilbert Blythe to life in the near-flawless “Anne of Green Gables” miniseries, is dead at age 48.
A brain hemorrhage, they say. And just like that, about forty years too young, the world loses a gifted actor, and a humble man who didn’t mind answering to the name “Gil” while out and about.
I don’t just speak for myself when I say I feel as if someone I know and care about is gone.
I know. I KNOW. He was an actor.
He wasn’t really Gilbert Blythe, “winker of inexpressible drollery, foeman worthy of Anne’s steel, and prompter of quick, queer little beats in the hearts of us all” (a quote from my forthcoming, Anne-related memoir).
He just played him on TV.
So why does it feel as if Gilbert Blythe himself has died?
Interestingly, the fictional Gilbert Blythe would have died in the 1920’s or 1930’s, at a ripe old age, as far as we know. We part with Gilbert and Anne at the end of “Rilla of Ingleside,” when Anne is 53 and Gilbert is 55 or 56, fully expecting them to grow old together under a PEI sunset. This makes Crombie’s death seem even more appallingly premature.
Yes, this feels like a personal loss, not just to me but to thousands upon thousands of girls of all ages who went weak in the knees (and still do) over Crombie’s portrayal of Gilbert.
He feels like an old friend, and somehow, like a first love.
My friend Laura and her friends, circa in the 1990’s, drove to Stratford to see Jonathan C in a play, only to find out he had dropped out to film another Anne sequel. They had to make do with having a photo taken of their feet upon his star stone. This makes me laugh, even today.
Crombie brought one of literature’s most swoon-worthy leading men to vivid, yearning life. He made manifest the Gilbert of our imaginations in such a way that it was impossible to read the books again (and again) without picturing him as Anne’s one and only.
I love that Crombie didn’t resent Gilbert, like so many actors do of their best-known characters. He was an accomplished actor on the stage as well, appearing under the kliegs in Stratford, Toronto and Broadway. Yet his sister said he was so proud of being Gilbert.
Gilbert is worthy of that.
What is it about Gilbert Blythe? He may seem like a mild-mannered boy-next-door, without a lot of flash and drama, but it’s his stoic devotion that makes him complex and intriguing.
Don’t. Say. It.
Sure, he’s plenty cute and flirty (“Hey Carrots, Carrots!”). But there’s so much more.
Gilbert notices Anne for who she is: blazingly bright (never a popular trait for girls in Victorian times), fearsomely clever and decidedly other.
Somehow, he actually likes these idiosyncratic qualities about this freak orphan girl. He likes that she’s not like the other girls (sigh). He sees her vegetable-hued braids, her absurd vocabulary, her dreaminess and featherbrained ways, and he adores her for them.
Who among us doesn’t want to be noticed and adored for exactly who we are—pungent hair color, quirks, flaws and all?
Anne never had to hide her brokenness in front of Gilbert.
Once he has fallen for our Anne, there was no turning back. Gil dug in his heels and vowed to be for Anne, no matter what, no matter her mulish refusal to see the knight before her.
Mulish, wet, and drabbled though she was, Gil still fancied her.
One of my chief pleasures in reentering Anne’s story for my book was to experience again the story of Gilbert. As a grown woman, I had a whole new appreciation for his constancy and sacrificial love.
He’s gallant (his first display was throwing himself under the bus when she whacked him over the head with a slate).
He’s steadfast, waiting at least five years for Anne to return his feelings. (In book form, he pines for three books–that’s over 1,000 pages of yearning, folks. I believe the movie featured The Kiss after just eight hours, so the payoff was a little more prompt onscreen.)
Gilbert’s finest trait? Hands down, his willingness to put her needs before his, even when it appears Anne will never love him back.
(Remember how he asked the school board to place him in the far-away, inconvenient Carmody school so Anne could teach in Avonlea and stay on at Green Gables with Marilla after Matthew’s death?)
Knightly, devoted, un-selfish and droll? Okay, and really, really cute? No wonder we all lost our hearts.
Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne’s author, never found her own Gilbert—not by a long shot.
I believe in writing him she created her ideal, and ours too. She gave Gilbert all those stellar qualities, and Jonathan Crombie lived into them and up to them–indelibly.
In watching his portrayal, we realized that we shared Gil’s unpretentious dream of a home with a hearth fire, a cat, a dog, and the footsteps of friends. We realized, like Anne, that our happiness was not to be found in diamonds and sunburst marble halls, but in true, abiding love. That became our dream, too. We wanted to find our own Gilbert Blythe.
Jonathan Crombie, 1966-2015
So rest in peace, dear old friend. We’ve never met, but you mean more to us than we knew.
Thank you for bringing Anne’s kindred mate to life with sparks, grace and depth. Thank you for being Gilbert in a way we will never forget.
You captured all we feel about this loss beautifully. Gil, sigh…:(
Thanks, Chandy. He was one of a kind.
This is so beautiful. Thank you for this. I have felt silly for feeling so sad about his death but your words capture it so well.
Jenna, I get that. I too felt silly crying over a man I never met. Thanks for confessing that! I think many of us felt that way. Obviously, it’s not silly at all. He meant so much.
yes, sigh, Glibert/Jonathan was my first big screen crush. I got giddy when I purchased the AoGG novel series for my daughter knowing full well that once she read the books she would be discovering Gilbert via the CBC as did I at her age. Thank you for summing up the feelings so well!
It’s an incredible thing to pass on an AOGG love to one’s daughter! My girl loves Gilbert, too. Who wouldn’t?
Beautifully written.
Thanks, Karin. It just poured out of me like love.
Yes, yes, a thousand times, yes. I am so thankful you wrote this; it’s everything I could have wanted to say and more.
Thanks, Rachel. It’s a great honour (CDN spelling!) to help people say goodbye.
Perfectly written! Oh dear Gilbert, how you’ll be missed!
So. missed.
Thank you for expressing what so many of us feel. The character of Gilbert could have only been played by someone of like admirable qualities.
Joy, you are onto something. Jonthan Crombie’s qualities in real life made him perfect to play our Gil. Lovely.
Lorilee, Gilbert taught me how love felt. As I watched him on screen and read ALL of the books over and over as a girl, I wanted what he and Anne had: chemistry, devotion and mutual respect. Thanks for loving Gilbert like I do.
Alex, I know how you feel about Gilbert, because I feel that way too. It’s a terrible tragedy that he died, but comforting to know how JC and his portrayal of Gilbert have shaped people’s very lives. I love your insight and comment: “chemistry, devotion, and mutual respect.” YES.
How beautiful!!! Gilbert was totally my first movie crush. I love the movie series and books, I’m hoping to turn my boys into book fans as well. 🙂 My four year old thinks the movies are great.
Sharing!!
He was my first movie crush too. I saw AOGG on Pbs Wonderworks, fell in love with Gilbert immediately. Had to rush as fast as I could to my nearest library to find out how his story would continue! I have been fortunate to find my own Gil…(he’s absolutely amazing,although blond)! I love him so. I didn’t realize until now how J’s portrayal had stayed with me all these years, and how sad I am at his passing.
I think many of us blogged about how much Jonathan meant to us. I wonder if it was a subconscious reaching out to Gilbert when I chose the name Jonathan for my youngest (who is now 21)? Thank you for your absolutely perfect eulogy.
Well said. My wife and I are both very sad about his passing. He is her “beloved Gilbert”. For men who are fans – who wouldn’t have wanted a best friend like him? Someone who encourages, has integrity, and doesn’t resort to making others look bad to feel better about himself.
I posted several time yesterday about Gil. I said, the reason everyone loved him so much was his undying devotion to Anne. Through it all, his eyes always longed for Anne and only Anne. This is the type of love we all dream about.
Thank you for putting all of our feelings into one article. This is wonderful.
Oh Gilbert…my first real crush. I had no idea. I don’t know what moved me more: your tribute to Gil or your writing. What a master of words and rhythm you are my friend, as I read from a distance in true admiration. Much love Lorilee!
I just saw this eulogy and I wanna say thank you for your beautiful words.As an 19-year-old girl I also have a crush on Gilbert/Jonathan cuz I watched the AOGG films and I’ve been crushing on him ever since.He was the perfect Gilbert and he’ll always have a special place in my heart.