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Blythe, Domini

CTE photo
Domini Blythe as Fanny Kemble, Stratford Festival

British-born actress, she has acted on stages across Canada, but is probably best known for her 11-year association with the Stratford Festival. She died at the age of 63 in December 2010 of cancer.

She studied at the Central School of Drama in London, before working with the Royal Shakespeare Company and appearing in the West End in the controversial production, Oh, Calcutta!

Domini Blythe moved to Canada in 1972, and acted for three seasons at the Shaw Festival, including the role of Cleopatra in Caesar and Cleopatra. At the invitation of Robin Phillips, she joined the Stratford Festival in 1975, performing leads in The Merchant of Venice, Titus Andronicus, Merry Wives of Windsor, Hay Fever, As You Like It and The Importance of Being Earnest among others. She also performed at Citadel Theatre, the St. Lawrence Centre, Shaw Festival, and Grand Theatre, London.

For twelve years she performed mostly on television and in film though she occasionally returned to the stage (Centaur Theatre's Woman in Mind, 1990).

In 2000, she was invited by Richard Monette, with whom she had acted in London, to perform again at Stratford in The Importance of Being Earnest, and as Gertrude opposite Paul Gross's Hamlet. In 2001 she performed there in Henry V and Inherit the Wind. In 2006 she premiered Fanny Kemble (co-created and directed by Peter Hinton), a solo show about the life of the famous British actress and abolitionist.

Source: John Coulbourn. "An Earnest and elegant return," Toronto Sun, 28 May 2000.

Profile by Gaetan Charlebois and Anne Nothof. Additional information provided by Lindy Cooksey and Christopher Hoile.

Last updated 2011-01-11