Mavor Moore
Mavor Moore | |
---|---|
Born | James Mavor Moore March 8, 1919 |
Died | December 18, 2006 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada | (aged 87)
Occupations |
|
Spouses |
|
Awards | Governor General's Performing Arts Award |
James Mavor Moore CC OBC (March 8, 1919 – December 18, 2006) was a Canadian writer, producer, actor, public servant, critic, and educator. He notably appeared as Nero Wolfe in the CBC radio production in 1982.
Life and work
Moore was born in Toronto, Ontario, to Francis John Moore, an Anglican theologian, and Dora Mavor Moore, who helped establish Canadian professional theatre in the 1930s and 1940s. His mother was born in Glasgow, the daughter of economist James Mavor.
Moore began acting at the age of six on the Hart House Stage, and continued throughout his high school career at the University of Toronto Schools.[1] Subsequently, he took up radio acting to pay his way through college.[2] He received a BA degree from the University of Toronto in 1941. Moore served in the Canadian military as an Intelligence officer during World War II. Following the War, he was employed by CBC Radio, becoming its producer for International Service (based in Montreal). He transferred to CBC Television in 1950, serving as its first chief producer.
He was among the pioneers of Canadian television in the 1950s, and was the creator of the CBC National News, later known as
Moore is well known for his contributions to drama, having created more than 100 plays, documentaries, musicals, and
Moore was the founding chair of the British Columbia Arts Council (1996-1998). He sat on the first Board of Governors of the Stratford Festival. He was the founding chair of the Canadian Theatre Centre, the Guild of Canadian Playwrights, and was a founding director of the Charlottetown Festival.
In 1973 Moore was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1988. In 1999 he was appointed to the Order of British Columbia. He received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, in November 1999. He received a total of seven honorary degrees during his lifetime.
Publications and notable works
- Reinventing Myself (1994), Moore's autobiography
- Sunshine Town (1954), a musical retelling of the Stephen Leacock biography
- The Ottawa Man (1958), a musical drama[3]
- Louis Riel (1967), an opera composed by Harry Somers for which Moore wrote the libretto
- Johnny Belinda, musical play by Mavor Moore and John Fenwick, Charlottetown Festival, 1968
- Belinda, CBC Television adaptation of the musical, telecast March 9, 1977
- Fauntleroy (1980)
Other artistic activities
Moore and his mother worked together to found the New Play Society, for which he served as producer/director of Spring Thaw, the society's annual comedy revue (1948-1965). He wrote a theatre critic section for the Toronto Telegram (1958-1960), and was arts critic for the Maclean's magazine (1968-1969).
Family
Moore married Darwina Faessler in 1943. They had four daughters, including
His grandson is actor and music producer 40.
Filmography
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1979 | City on Fire | John O'Brien | |
1979 | Fish Hawk | Joke Bryan | |
1981 | Scanners | Trevellyan | |
1981 | Dirty Tricks | Mr. Underhill | |
1981 | Heavy Metal | Elder | (segment "Taarna"), Voice |
1981 | Threshold | Ethics Committee Chairman | |
1981 | A Choice of Two | ||
1986 | Hot Money | Bartholomew | |
1987 | Malone | Hausmann |
References
- ^ Sandra Martin. "Mavor Moore, Actor, Producer and Writer: 1919-2006". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved August 29, 2020.
- ^ [1] Archived 2018-03-04 at the Wayback Machine, "Moore, Mavor. Legend Library Interview."
- ^ [2] The Ottawa Man IMDB
External links
- Mavor Moore fonds
- Mavor Moore at IMDb
- Mavor Moore Interview, Legend Library, TheatreMuseumCanada
- Canadian Communications Foundation biography
- CBC obituary
- Identifying Mavor Moore by Allan Boss, Ph.D.[3]
- Discovering Mavor Moore by Allan Boss, Ph.D.[4]