Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia
Donaldson, Peter
Versatile and highly-regarded actor, born in 1953 in Midland Ontario, died January 8, 2011 in Toronto of lung cancer. He studied at the University of Guelph, and in New York.
He performed a wide variety of roles at the Stratford Festival for 24 seasons, debuting in a 1977 production of Romeo and Juliet, with Richard Monette and Marti Maraden as the young lovers. He returned to this play as Friar Lawrence in 2008. Among other roles at Stratford are Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew with Lucy Peacock, and James Tyrone Jr. in A Long Day’s Journey Into Night, for which he won a Genie for best supporting actor the filmed version in 1996. As Timon of Athens in 2004, he brought a difficult role into contemporary relevance. His performance of Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird (2007) was also highly acclaimed. For his final season at Stratford in 2008, he also played Rufio in Caesar and Cleopatra, and Don Armando in Love’s Labour’s Lost.
For Soulpepper Theatre Company, he appeared in Our Town (1999), and in Glengarry Glen Ross (2009). He performed in Norm Foster’s Wrong For Each Other at the Grand Theatre, London in 1992, playing opposite his wife, Sheila McCarthy. In 2010, while undergoing treatment for cancer, he appeared in George F. Walker’s And So It Goes at the Factory Theatre, and in Art at Canadian Stage.
Although the stage was his preference, he also acted for television, appearing often with his wife of nearly 25 years, Sheila McCathy, including in the series Emily of New Moon (1995-99) and The Road to Avonlea, and more recently in Little Mosque on the Prairie. He also appeared in Atom Egoyan’s film, The Sweet Hereafter.
Antoni Cimolino, general director of the Stratford Festival, saluted Donaldson as “the finest actor’s actor. He was deeply admired for the conviction he brought to his work and the unsparing truth of his portrayals. He was versatile and able to give outstanding performances in modern plays, musicals and classics. But his home was Shakespeare.”
Last updated 2011-01-11
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