Donald Sutherland

"In 1977, I had the privilege of hosting the hospitality suite at the TIFF. Among the many famous faces that graced the event, I had the pleasure of meeting Donald Sutherland. Although we had crossed paths at the club 22 in the Windsor Arms, we had never really had a chance to converse. That all changed when he arrived at the hospitality suite accompanied by the legendary Peter O'Toole. In need of a private space, they approached me and I quickly showed them to one of the bedrooms, fully stocked with a bar. They were grateful and thanked me profusely.

With almost 200 credits to his name and 6ft 3in to his frame, the late Donald Sutherland cast a literal and figurative shadow over his industry for almost 50 years.

Born in July 1935 in Saint John, New Brunswick, he was a radio news reporter in his youth and graduated from the University of Toronto with a degree in engineering.

But it was not long before the acting bug took hold, prompting him to leave his native Canada and travel to London in 1957.

After an unrewarding stint studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (Lamda), he spent 18 months at Perth Repertory Theatre in Scotland.

Comments

Patrick McGoohan

I met Patrick in The 22 and asked him what he was doing? This was his answer. We chatted for a couple of hours. I think he had just finished Scanners. The Club 22 at the Windsor Arms was an amazing place in 70's & 80's. It was like the hub of movie business in Toronto. Every day there was an adventure of some kind. Robert Miller was a writer for McLean's Magazine and CTV and had recently turned to novels like Dreadlock and some movie biz with Bill Marshall. I had bravely written my first screenplay and had given a copy to Bill Marshall. So we are sitting at the producers table with a few cronies at the mostly empty Club 22 and Bobby says come here I want to talk to you. he leads me to the empty piano bar. He tells me he picked up my script at Bill's office and read it. He than told me I shouldn't be in the movie business and picked my script apart line by line. He was good, he had a photographic memory and a grounding in writing and English and literature that w...

Elway Yost

My sister Gaille was Elway Yost's secretary for a few years at TV Ontario. "I had the incredible opportunity to meet and engage in conversation with the talented Elwy on multiple occasions. On two separate occasions, I was even asked to be a stand-by guest for his show, Magic Shadows. Though I never had the chance to step in, just being considered by Elwy himself was an honor I will never forget. As a devoted fan of Magic Shadows from the very start, these moments were truly unforgettable.

FARLEY MOWATT

I met Farley in the 60's we had the same Hair Stylist (Chris Beacom) and we had a few drinks at the Pilot and talked of Newfoundland. i remember one of his lines. I would like to go back to Newfoundland, maybe when Joey dies.

Gary'sGlimpses

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