Dora Mavor Moore
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dora Mavor Moore (8 April 1888 – 15 May 1979) was a Canadian actor, teacher and director who was a pioneer of Canadian theater.
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, she moved with her family to Toronto in 1894, when her father James Mavor (1854-1925) became a professor of political economy at the University of Toronto. [1] In 1915 she married Francis Moore, an Army Chaplain, but separated from him in 1928. She had three sons: Francis, Mavor Moore, and James. [2]
She was the first Canadian student ever to be accepted at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and graduated in 1912.
In 1938, she helped found an amateur theater group called the Village Players which performed Shakespeare plays in high schools of Ontario. After World War II, in 1946, she help found the New Play Society which was the first professional theatre company in Toronto founded after the war. In 1949, the company presented the play To Tell the Truth by Morley Callaghan, the first Canadian play ever to be shown at the Royal Alexandra Theatre. The Sociery also assisted in creating the Stratford Shakespearean Festival of Canada. As well she helped to bring Tyrone Guthrie, the Tony Award-winning British theatrical director, to Canada. [3]
In 1970, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for her contributions to theatre in Canada". [4] The Dora Mavor Moore Award is named in her honour.
She is buried in Mount Pleasant Cemetery.
[edit] Further reading
- Paula Sperdakos (1995). Dora Mavor Moore: Pioneer of the Canadian Theatre. ECW Press.
[edit] References
- ^ James Mavor fonds
- ^ DORA MAVOR MOORE (1888-1979)
- ^ A Brief History of CanStage
- ^ Order of Canada citation
