by Scott Hylands
Alan Scarfe's illustrious career began with his performance as Glendower in Henry 4, (1) at UBC when he was still attending Lord Byng high school. Even at a young age he had a virile, powerful voice. He studied acting at LAMDA. Many productions followed, both in Europe and Canada (Stratford and Shaw) King Lear, Othello, Hamlet, Iago, Brutus, Cassius, Petruchio, Prospero, Cyrano de Bergerac, Doctor Faustus. Luther, Uncle Vanya, Verlaine, John Barrymore in Sheldon Rosen's Ned and Jack. He was also a stage director whose productions have ranged from the works of Shakespeare to Albee, Brecht, Beckett, Arthur Miller, and Pinter. He earned a Jessie award for Trying and a Gemini for The Bay Boy.
To many, certainly me, he was a good and loyal friend, with a remarkable flair for theatre, plus a wide range of interests that reflected a prodigious intellect and an inquiring mind. I salute him. And I will miss him.
by Jane Heyman
Patrick Rose passed away peacefully at Michael Garron Hospital in Toronto on July 1, 2023 at the age of 79 after a short battle with cancer.
He was born on February 1, 1944 in Dauphin, Manitoba to Betty and Frank Rose who were both accomplished musicians. While pursuing his BA at the University of British Columbia, he was cast as the lead in the musical Bye Bye Birdie and knew he had found his calling! While at University he was already wooing his future wife of fifty-five years, Susan. In 1968 he set out for London, England where he landed the juvenile lead in George Gershwin’s Lady, Be Good! and finally convinced Susan to marry him a year later.
In 1972, back in Vancouver Patrick starred in the original Arts Club Theatre production of Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living In Paris. In 2022 he had the opportunity to reunite with the surviving members of that influential cast for a 50th anniversary concert.
A composer as well as a performer, Patrick was a great collaborator. He created The Soundstealer (with Jane Heyman) for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra as well as the musical theatre Jubalay (with Merv Campone) for the Arts Club Theatre. Olympiad, toured Canada and a later revue, A Bistro Car played a run off-Broadway in 1978 and later toured extensively. Both were co-created with Richard Ouzounian.
In 1977 with Susan and baby Jordan, he moved to Toronto to further his career. Daughter Mary was born in 1981 and Pat helped change diapers while working in variety television and especially on the then-popular cabaret scene, where his shows included Equal Time and Madeira M’Dear. Together with Susan and collaborator Zoey Adams, he created a Murder Mystery Franchise popular across North America. One of his main joys was leading a weekly musical-theatre sing-along at The Avenue Road Arts School. Shortly before his death, Patrick celebrated the 30th anniversary alongside participants and friends. Always in love with live musical performance, in his later years he delighted audiences across Toronto by creating The Retro Ramblers.
“As long as I can get up in front of people with my guitar, I’ll just keep going,” he said in an interview five years ago⎯and he did. He was beloved everywhere, but especially in the Beaches community, where he lived most of his life, for his infectious charm, his virtuoso music-making and his generosity of spirit.
It was his love of family that was truly the beacon which lit his way through his 79 years. Patrick loved nothing more than travelling the world with Susan to visit Mary or Jordan and his wife Magda and their beloved grandchildren, Della and Oskar.
Celebrations of Pat’s life will be held in
- Vancouver on Sunday, September 17, 2.00 pm at the Backstage Lounge, Arts Club, Granville Island,
- Toronto on Sunday, October 22, 3.00 pm at Beach United Church, 140 Wineva Avenue
in lieu of flowers please give someone you love a hug in Patrick's memory
by Richard "Bugs" Burnett
A veteran of stage and screen, London-born Louis was a wonderful actor, human being and raconteur. We chatted a few times over the years, usually over a cappuccino, and I interviewed him three times for profile stories.
About the time he appeared nude in John Herbert’s Fortune and Men’s Eyes in London’s West End in 1967, he recounted the opening night incident that made sensational headlines:
“There I am in the nude onstage and my mom stands up in the audience and says, ‘Louis, put your pants back on!’ I thought I would faint on the spot. The story ran in newspapers around the world. My mom did interviews and there were paparazzi camped outside the house!”
Louis also knew a thing or two about making an entrance. Take the time Joan Collins arrived at his birthday party in Toronto where Collins was starring in the play Legends! at the Royal Alexandra Theatre in the autumn of 2006.
“Joan’s an old, old friend and she was in Toronto with her husband – he’s very nice and very young, he’s like 12 years old,” Louis said mischievously. “But I didn’t tell anyone at the party that she was coming because if she doesn’t come, then everybody’s disappointed. But there were lots of people there she knew and, of course, the doors open, every head turns and she’s Joan Collins.”
Louis also knew glamour: over the decades he met many movie stars, from Marilyn Monroe (“I wanted to protect her, she was very vulnerable”) to Marlene Dietrich. When he met my mom Diamond Lil at the premiere of Schwartz’s The Musical at the Centaur Theatre Company in March 2011, Louis pulled me aside and said, “Oh my God your mother is so glamourous!”
I once asked Louis who was the most glamourous actress he had ever worked with.
“I’ve worked with a lot of very famous stars, and I think one woman who had the glamour of another time was English actress Margaret Leighton,” he replied. “At the time we were doing the play Much Ado About Nothing on Broadway (in 1959) with John Gielgud. I was cast because I had good legs and looked good in pink tights! Maggie always had 1920s-style make-up and hair and looked impeccable at all times. She was so together, beautiful and charming. Maggie always was a lady, just perfect.”
Negin first moved to Montreal during its golden Sin-City era. “Though I lived in Toronto for 40 years, I always kept a tiny pied-a-terre in Montreal, at Carré St-Louis. Every time I felt the pressure was too much, I would run away back to Montreal and be very happy, go to a good restaurant, make love, drink wine. I’ve always had great affection for Montreal ever since I first came here when I was very young and dreaming of Hollywood. I arrived in Montreal and, my god, I was suddenly in nightclubs with showgirls, going out with gangsters, and I must have been about 15 years old!”
His favourite Montreal memory, he told me, “was my introduction to all the nightclubs. It was like being in a Jimmy Cagney movie, then suddenly it was all for real.”
The longtime muse of filmmaker Guy Maddin, Louis stripped naked one more time for his role in Maddin’s 2011 film Keyhole which starred Jason Patric, Isabella Rossellini and Udo Kier.
“I think all actors are exhibitionist, to be honest,” Louis told me. “Everybody does the same number: ‘Oh, I have to think about it.’ But really they’re overjoyed! The thing that would kill you is if someone snickered or laughed at your body. Then I think I would just die a million deaths. But it doesn’t happen.”
A true Montreal original, Louis passed away early Friday morning. He was 93. My heartfelt sympathies to his husband Charles Dunlop, their friends and loved ones. Sleep well, Louis.
by Paula Wolfson, Bruce McGregor, Susan Goddard
Murray Ellis was an avid theatre-goer and supporter with multiple subscriptions to various Toronto theatres. I got to know him when he accompanied his beloved wife Fran to our weekly Singing With Parkinson’s sessions and we became the best of friends. He was very, very proud to be a member of Canadian Actors Equity. ~ PW
Murray and I were friends for over 35 years and had worked closely together in the musical theatre community in Toronto - mainly with Scarborough Music Theatre and Etobicoke Musical Productions where Murray directed many smash hit musical productions. I was honoured to work with him as Musical Director on many of those shows - including 42nd Street, Applause, Damn Yankees and Mack and Mabel. Murray was just an amazing source of information & knowledge regarding Broadway shows - Plays & Musicals - and a tremendous person who loved life. ~ BM
I remember him so fondly from our theatre days, both as a great Director and for the many stories he could recount about plays, musicals in particular, and personalities. It was always a delight to see him at various cast parties, when the years would melt away and we would get to catch up and hear more stories. He was witty, kind and charming. ~ SG
Patricia Joan Ludwick | 1945-2021
by Jane Heyman, Nicola Lipman and Judith Penner
~ actress, poet, teacher, librarian, sister, aunt, friend, inveterate bubble blower ~
Patsy died peacefully on Gabriola Island in what she called the “home that friends built’ because so many had helped to raise a roof, paint a wall, or hang a door.
Patsy was born in Vancouver, grew up on Vancouver Island, attended UBC, then LAMDA, before returning to Canada in the late 60s to begin her acting career. In 1969, an offer from Neptune Theatre took her to Halifax, where she fell in love with the East Coast and Jerry Franken. For several years their rustic Dead Man’s Island home became the heart of much social and creative foment.
Neptune‘s 2nd Stage was a hotbed of new and/or experimental work. Two of Patsy‘s many standout performances were as Carmen in Forever Yours Mary Lou, and Pirate Jenny in Threepenny Opera. A visit from playwright James Reaney with his briefcase full of the incubating Donnelly Trilogy resulted in the initial workshops which included Patsy. Eventually NDWT produced and toured the trilogy across Canada. No one will forget the force of nature Patsy became as Mrs. Donnelly.
In 1978 she inched her way back to BC, and in 1989 settled on Gabriola Island where she found her real home. Friends had long cherished Patsy’s poems and letters. Now she emerged as a poet, playwright, screenwriter as well as script editor, teacher, and librarian. She gave herself wholeheartedly to island life. Visiting friends found her a generous host and island friends came to know her as a passionate lover of nature in all its forms, keen swimmer, beachcomber, committed Sangha member, and Dharma practitioner. She sent unique handmade cards to friends, fostered many cats, volunteered at the local hospice, was active in Amnesty, and instrumental in creating the Gabriola Tool Library.
When diagnosed with ALS in 2018, Patsy responded in her usual brave, informed, passionate way. Despite Covid, friends and neighbours gathered around her in those last months and weeks. With Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) she chose to die as fearlessly and gracefully as she had lived—in her own bed looking out at her beloved garden.
Patsy was the eldest of seven siblings, all of whom are grateful to have had her in their lives and so proud of her achievements. Her family thanks the wonderful committed caregivers, healthcare team, and amazing circle of friends who supported her.
In lieu of flowers or donations, Patsy asked that people plant a tree in her memory, one native to the place in which it grows.
In July a gathering of her friends and family came together over Zoom to share memories, sip wine, and blow bubbles in Patsy’s honour. Patsy asked that people plant a tree in her memory, one native to the place in which it grows.
Marguerite "Dee Dee" McNeil | 1935-2021
by Bryden MacDonald
Marguerite McNeil—DeeDee to family and friends—was a remarkable woman, invaluable to the arts community here in Atlantic Canada and beyond. Like so many, I loved and admired her. She became my mentor and muse. I wrote for her specifically—BETINA in The Weekend Healer, and directed her many times, most memorably as BIG MAMA in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
I first encountered DeeDee as a closeted 14 year old kid, languishing dramatically on Cape Breton Island. DeeDee was 42 and had just returned to Glace Bay from New York City where she had been a working actress, and secretary extraordinaire, since she left home at 17. She was offering acting classes. I took the bus from Sydney, unaware that my young mind was about to be blown by a flamboyant, chain-smoking free spirit.
DeeDee introduced me to books and music that expanded my mind. I began to see things in a clearer, sharper light. I confided in DeeDee that I thought I was gay. She said, of course you are dear and that’s just fine.
Years later we reconnected in Toronto. We were a strange duo, often mistaken for mother and son. In many ways she was another mother. DeeDee lived across from the Rondun Tavern on Roncesvalles, a spot we frequented for boozy lunches and her endless stories: a yet to be discovered Robert Redford painted her first New York apartment; James Earl Jones ate everything on the buffet table at a lunch she hosted; she never thought anything would come of the sweet kid with the scratchy voice who busked in the village — the kid was Bob Dylan. We compiled these stories to create her successful one woman show, An Island Woman.
I can’t quite believe DeeDee is gone. And though her passing was sad, it was not tragic — she lived a full life, and made many other lives better. Her wisdom will continue to inspire.
I’ll say goodbye with one of her much quoted lines: “More wine for the Contessa!”
Cheers, DeeDee.
You are missed.
by Deb Allen
I can’t remember a time when I didn’t know Jenny, although we only met in the mid-80s. We have had numerous adventures...many of which involved house-swapping. On various occasions I would need actors’ digs in Sackville or Guysborough...coincidentally she needed a spot in Halifax. There was complicity in the arrangement and sometimes we found a chance to be working and sharing the same space.
We played the same roles in several shows and had great discussions about our approaches. My most cherished memory is getting to play Shirley in the world premiere of her play The Americans are Coming at Theatre New Brunswick. It also marked my 50th birthday. Jenny arrived at our Saint John show with a box for me...it contained a bizarre array of 50 items she had thoughtfully collected over the past year.
This type of kindness and caring were a big part of the Jenny we all knew. She marked our birthdays and milestones. While clearing out her desk drawers I found an eclectic collection of cards, ready to go, and many she had received from theatre colleagues and acquaintances.
At this bittersweet time I think back on all the extraordinary dinners; road trips and lively debates. I will miss it all - most especially, being rewarded with that wonderful laugh! Be at rest my friend and thank you for all you gave us.
by Jan Alexandra Smith
I grew up watching my Mum on the small but mighty stage of St. Timothy’s Anglican Church auditorium. My wee brain couldn’t yet comprehend the level of talent she possessed, whether starring in amateur Gilbert & Sullivan productions, or leading the choir with her powerful and unapologetic soprano. What I did understand at that age, though, was that my Mum was a woman of taste and culture. We two went on so many dates to the National Ballet and to the Stratford Festival. It was her singular influence that inspired my dream of becoming an actor, and it was her unequivocal support that brought that dream to fruition. More, it was her selflessness as a mother that encouraged my artistic goals while her own lay unrealized for decades.
Once her children were grown and her husband had passed, however, Mum dusted off her dreams and with typical courage, entered the profession to become an award winning actor. I can remember sitting in the audience of Philadelphia, Here I Come!, eyes popping and jaw agape, watching her steal every scene with a talent bigger than the theatre could possibly hold. After decades in the business myself, I finally understood that my dear Mum, Isobel Smith, was not only an astonishing talent, she was the best actress I’ve ever known. It’s a sad task to write her Memoriam, but damn I’m proud to do it.
Please consider donating to the Alzheimer’s Society of Canada in her name.
John Keith Gilbert | 1934-2021
by Kathleen Gallagher
My remarkable friend John died on Apr. 22, 2021.
He did not die, directly at least, of COVID-19, though he was undoubtedly a casualty of its conditions. At the age of 86, and newly living in a retirement home, the loneliness of no visitors for a man who thrived on intellectual stimulation was a very heavy load to bear. His glaucoma had advanced to such a point that his passion for reading had been replaced by the frustration of failing eyesight and the loss of beloved books.
A fall landed John in Bridgepoint for several months prior to his death and though it is a wonderful place for rehabilitation, it could not provide what John really desired: the company of friends, a visit from his beloved children and grandchildren, a glass of red, the mental challenge of a good debate, collective exasperation at the political state of the world, or simply a conversation about a great work of dramatic literature.
Even live theatre had disappeared from view in his final months.
To say John was a man of extraordinary accomplishments is an understatement. Born into a working-class London family, he earned a full scholarship to Oxford University. From Oxford, he earned a scholarship to complete his doctoral studies at Harvard University in French Literature.
Read more here.
by David Ferry
Peter was one of the generation of Canadian stage and film artists who was born just before the Baby Boom. He had a very good career, but like many Canadian artists, his name was never a household one.
Peter was born in Montreal to Paul and Dorothy Jobin and studied theatre at George Williams University. After two seasons at Stratford in 1966 and ‘67, Peter moved to London. In his first week there he was offered a small role in “Zigger-Zagger.” It opened at the Strand Theatre in March, 1968. It was a great introduction to the late 60’s London scene.
On the recommendation of William Hutt, Peter was cast in the NYC production of “Hadrian VII” opposite Alec McCowan. He went from NYC to lead roles at Birmingham Rep and to London (where he shared a flat with Richard Monette) and then into a BBC film about the Chicago Seven. In 1971 he had a fateful dinner with Timothy Bond, who asked Peter to write screenplays with him (Peter went on to write 20 films/TV series.) Peter was cast in “Charles Manson: AKA Jesus Christ” for Theatre Passe Muraille. Theatres doing new Canadian work were opening up and Peter became a founding company member at Toronto Free Theatre. Prior to his death Peter had completed work on his historical account of the early days at Theatre Passe Muraille (“Beyond Walls”) which will be published in November by The Porcupine’s Quill. He leaves his siblings Mark Jobin and Cathy Dunfield.
David Petersen | 1947-2018
by Jeremy Long and Nick Hutchinson
Here comes the roller coaster. Put on your clown nose and sniff out the new normal. Find more in each current moment. Submit to the Deities of Circumstance. Give thanks for the goo twixt your ears. Breathe. (Message from David - June 7, 2018)
David and I first met in the late sixties during our years at the University of B.C. We spent the early years of our post-university careers with Tamahnous Theatre (originally the Vancouver Theatre Workshop). Tamahnous was a collective theatre company in which members participated in all aspects of production. In the early 70s the company performed in numerous venues and on tour throughout the province. In 1975 we became resident company at the Vancouver East Cultural Centre.
Of particular note to me were David’s outstanding performances as the Count in Dracula and as Jim Dandy, the heroic Muscovy Duck in Eighty-Four Acres.
Bruce Ruddell remembers David as a Qing Dynasty Prince in the Theatre of the Ridiculous play titled Eunuchs of the Forbidden City, the perfect Prince in the finest blue silk gown and tall silk hat. Late in the play he was castrated, offstage of course. Just as David’s last scream ended two tiny white ping-pong balls tied together with a bit of string rolled and hopped across the stage.
Stephen Miller and Suzie Payne remembered David writing the children’s piece Forest with Feet which the company toured to schools throughout the province, as well as his film work on Zale Dalen’s Skip Tracer and numerous other major films.
In all David worked in more than 20 Tamahnous productions up until the mid-seventies when he redirected his boundless energy towards raising a family and working with Caravan Farm Theatre.
David joined the Caravan Stage Company in 1978 but found it overwhelmingly exhausting though it was there he met Gillian Cran who was to become mother of his two children, Nadja and Wyatt. From then on he became a much loved fixture at the Caravan Farm Theatre. The part that fitted David perfectly was Jacques in As You Like It, twiddling his bushy eyebrow, gently, quizzically, humorously pondering the world and all the players in it.
by Gordon Thorne
~ Acclaimed Actor, Director, and Playwright, Social Innovator, Educator, and much loved Mother and Friend ~
Joy Coghill-Thorne, a woman honoured many times by the performing arts communities she nurtured, passed away Jan. 20th 2017, at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver.
Joy was an elected member of Equity Council in the 1990's and, in 1995, was awarded Equity's Life Membership, awarded to a member of Canadian Actors' Equity Association who has made an outstanding contribution to the performing arts within Equity's jurisdiction. Her extensive career and trail-blazing energy also led to lifetime achievement honours by the UBCP/ACTRA in November 2016, and by the City of Vancouver in November 2015.
In 1991, she was inducted as a member of the Order of Canada and was a recipient of the Governor General’s Award for the Performing Arts in 2002. Joy received honourary doctorates from the University of British Columbia (1995) and Simon Fraser University (1994) and in the early 1970s she was head of the English section of the National Theatre School of Canada.
The first woman to hold the position of artistic director at the Vancouver Playhouse from 1967-1969, Joy founded Canada’s first professional children’s theater, Holiday Theatre in 1953. Over 40 years later, in 1994, she founded Western Gold, a company highlighting the talent of senior Canadian actors. One of her best-known works as a playwright is Song of This Place about artist Emily Carr, while viewers of CBC’s dramatic series DaVinci’s Inquest will remember her as Davinci’s mother, Portia.
Beyond her work on stage and in film and television, Joy dedicated herself to working on behalf of members of the performing arts community, many of whom have modest incomes and few benefits. In 2001, she co-founded the Performing Arts Lodge Vancouver with Jane Heyman, which provides affordable housing and a vibrant network of support for veterans of the city’s performing arts communities.
Joy believed in the arts – and made good use of the special power they hold. In her own words:
“Because we are privileged to be artists, we do not measure time in the accepted way. We know that one can live a lifetime in the last five minutes before we ‘go on’ and that on the occasion when the play is ‘blessed’, there is no time at all; the play is over even as it began.”
Joy is predeceased by her husband of fifty-five years, John G. Thorne. She is survived by her three children, Debra (Theo Boere), Gordon (Michelle Lalonde) and David. And by her grandchildren Casey and Lucy. Her memorial service was held on a Monday at Christ Church Cathedral in Vancouver and she sold out the house.
Dwight Griffin | 1945-2017
by Pam Chappell
Dwight died peacefully on August 22, but his spirit will live on in his family, friends, those he worked with, and those he taught. What a truly wonderful, witty, intelligent and caring man. His slightly warped humour and his interest in everyone and everything will be missed by pretty much everyone with whom he came in contact.
Dwight started in theatre in 1968 as a stage manager. He later moved into production management, then company management working at the Manitoba Theatre Centre, the Stratford Festival, fitting in summer stock, a season in Banff and the Toronto productions of Phantom, Lion King and The Producers. He spent 10 years teaching at Dalhousie University mentoring and training the next generation of stage managers and technicians. Although semi-retired to look after his health, he still did the occasional new play workshop and worked with me at Sugar's Mascots.
Dwight was a fantastic dad, grandpa and husband. He had so much more life to share, travels to take and books to read. The world has been a better and kinder place with him in it.
George Willson Merner | 1939-2017
by Alexandra Merner
Born in Kitchener, Ontario, George was going to study law after he graduated from Wilfrid Laurier University, but fate intervened with an audition arranged by his music teacher, Edwin Fergusson, with George Lambert of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto.
His award-winning performance as Best Actor for Cyrano prompted his study with Gladys Shibley Mitchell. In 1970, George received his A.T.C.L. in speech and drama from Trinity College, University of London, in England.
George then embarked on an illustrious 44-year career as an actor, singer and "Entertainer Extraordinaire." As a multifaceted international artist, he displayed his versatility in over 150 stage performances, featured films, television sitcoms, radio and television dramas, voice for animations, film dubbing, and on-camera and voice-overs for commercials. Known for his mellifluous bass dramatic vocals, he entertained audiences across Canada and the United States. He also appeared before royalty and heads of state, including Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip. His portrayal of Don Quixote in Man of La Mancha prompted a critic to say, "If there ever was a category of voice called dramatic baritone, this man embodies it!"
Marilyn Boyle | 1930-2016
by Brian Richardson
There are certain people who make an immediate impression upon you, not only with their talent, but with their offstage persona as well. Such a one was Marilyn Boyle. Marilyn left us in March 2016 in Winnipeg, taken by a bout of pneumonia at 87. She leaves a lot of friends and colleagues much saddened by her departure. But then, Marilyn made several departures in her career - albeit not of the same finality as this last one.
Marilyn started out in her home province with the Regina Little Theatre. Marilyn's singing and dancing and ability as a gifted comic actress served her well. She then departed for Winnipeg where she headlined at Rainbow Stage. Other theatre work in the 'Peg was sparse, and so, already in her 40s, she set out for the "Big Orange" - Brendan Behan's description of "The Good City."
Once she found her footing in Toronto, Marilyn worked all over the place. From the Citadel to Kawartha and many more grand theatres - as well as down the Road To Avonlea with the Wind At My Back.
Marilyn eventually retired to Winnipeg (who in this business ever fully retires?) In recognition for her dedication to her craft, ACTRA Winnipeg presented her with the Victor Cowie Lifetime Achievement Award, and Rainbow Stage ensured her place on its Wall of Fame. Though she is gone, her rich, full and reverberant laugh will linger on in the hearts of all who knew her. Raise a glass of scotch in her honour.
by Allen MacInnis
An artist so complex, energizing and exasperating as Susan Cox is hard to capture in a few paragraphs. She didn't spend many years teaching actors, but her commitment to live performance was enormous. Don`t do onstage what works better on film was her mantra.
A performer, director, and writer, Susan created successes with all the big names in television, commercial theatre, the big festivals, alternative theatre - the whole gamut. But the central project in her creative life was a show she wrote and re-wrote and could never let go - Valentine Browne, A Tribute to a Superstar. This strange satire about a faux-star in our celebrity-obsessed world was wickedly funny and desperately touching. It revealed Susan's difficult relationship with her own sense of self-worth. She could careen about like a superstar on a mission, yet she often hid from the world, exiled by self-doubt and soul-wounds that wouldn't heal. She struggled with some things that other people handle easily, though she was often generous and loving.
I want to remember Susan as a mother, a role about which she was often conflicted. Yet, she did something right in that capacity. I witnessed the extraordinary compassion of her son, Simon, during Sue's final days. Everything between them was on the table: abandonment, differences, grief, pride, admiration and immense love. I watched Simon hold frightened Sue's hand, helping his mother break free of the many sorrows that often held her back. I shall never forget it.
by Dan MacDonald
Our multi-talented friend quietly exited the scene in October following a lifetime of major contributions to professional theatre in Canada. Ted Follows enjoyed a very successful career as actor, producer and director of theatre, film and television. He was also known as one of the nicest persons in the biz and a man one was proud and privileged to call friend.
Born in Ottawa, Ted began his career with the Sidney Risk-founded Everyman Theatre in Vancouver in 1945. He then expanded his acting talents into film and television and spread his theatre work into producing and directing. He also assisted in the founding of several companies, such as Muskoka's Straw Hat Players, and Halifax's Neptune Theatre, where he and his first wife, Dawn Greenhalgh, helped establish it as a major East Coast company. While both pursued non-stop work throughout Canada and elsewhere, Ted and Dawn raised a theatre family of four children, Edwina, Laurence, Samantha and Megan.
Ted's legacy lives on in those he assisted, inspired and mentored in his 70-year career. Many of his productions remain highpoints of achievement for many of us - and his ever-ready smile, as he imparted his quiet words of encouragement during rehearsals, is still helping others to achieve their best.
He was a joy to work with and his contribution to cultural development in this country is immense. He died in Kitchener, just short of his 90th birthday, with his second wife, musician Susan Trethewey, at his side. He exits to much applause.
Jerry Franken | 1946-2016
by David Ferry
"An actor's actor has left the Green Room."
That was the reaction from actors, directors, designers, writers, artistic directors, board members, crew and audience members when word spread of Jerry's untimely demise from frontal temporal lobe dementia and ALS.
He was so loved and respected by many. And many of those many were fellow foot soldiers in the trenches of theatres from Regina to Montreal, Halifax to Blyth, Thunder Bay to Toronto, Stratford to Calgary, and the farthest reaches of Northern Ontario.
Michael Healey spoke of how Jerry was instrumental in The Drawer Boy's success and in saving Michael from a career in Law. Ruth Smillie, of Jerry slipping on ice in Regina after a Christmas Carol performance, breaking a leg and a local woman pulling her car over and shouting "Don't worry Mr. Scrooge, I've called an ambulance." When the chair of the Blyth Festival saw Jerry's picture in the local paper on January 16th, his first thought was "Oh good! Jerry must be coming back to the festival this season."
Most importantly, he is remembered as father of Eli, Miranda and Katelynd, in whom he, with partner Dorothy Chamberlain, instilled a very real sense of resonant humanity. His work as actor, director, mentor will be missed... but his children, and his grandsons Jakobi and Damian, are his true legacy.
In Stratford, at a small wake for Jerry, we all sang Good Night Irene. Good Night Jerry. You stay with us like the echoes of a dear old song.