Pinsent's professional acting career began in 1957 at Winnipeg's Theatre 77 (later known as the
Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre) under the direction of
John Hirsch. In the years that followed, he performed in many theatrical productions in Winnipeg, in Toronto at the
Crest Theatre and at the
Stratford Festival. In the early 1960s, he appeared in
Festival,
Scarlett Hill and
The Forest Rangers. He later became a staple of Canadian television with roles including the series
Quentin Durgens, M.P.,
A Gift to Last (which he created),
The Red Green Show,
Due South,
Wind at My Back, and
Power Play. His other plays include
Easy Down Easy (1987) and
Brass Rubbings (1989). One of Pinsent's largest roles was playing the character of Hap Shaughnessy on
The Red Green Show from 1991 to 2006. Hap was notorious for telling largely exaggerated stories about his past. He was frequently called out on his fabrications by his friend Red Green (played by Canadian comedian and show co-creator
Steve Smith) or others. His first memoir,
By the Way, was published in 1992 by Stoddart Publishing. His second,
Next (with
George Anthony), was published in 2012 by
McClelland and Stewart. On March 8, 2007, it was publicly announced in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that Pinsent had accepted the appointment of honorary chairman of the "Building for the Future" fundraising campaign for
The Royal Canadian Regiment Museum. During the 2008, 2010, and 2011 summer periods of
CBC Radio One, Pinsent presented a radio documentary series called
The Late Show featuring extended obituaries of notable Canadians whom the producers believed deserved attention. Pinsent appeared in one of Canadian director
Stephen Dunn's early short films titled ''Life Doesn't Frighten Me'', which won various awards, including the CBC Short Film Face-Off, with a cash prize of C$30,000. The film also won awards at the Toronto Student Film Festival and the
Tribeca Film Festival in 2013. He had a guest starring role as Maurice Becker on the February 3, 2010, episode of Canadian television series
Republic of Doyle. He was also a featured guest reader on
Bookaboo. He attained notoriety when a comedic segment of him reading dramatically from
Justin Bieber's autobiography on
This Hour Has 22 Minutes went viral on October 20, 2010. == Personal life and death ==