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Beattie, Rod

CTE photo
Rod Beattie in his signature role in the Wingfield plays by Dan Needles

Toronto Ontario-based character actor, born in 1948, who has been active in Canadian theatre for over fifty years. Rod Beattie has a Masters degree in English from the University of Toronto.

He is probably best known for his performances in the seven solo Wingfield Farm plays by Dan Needles which he has toured across Canada (including to the Stratford Festival, the Piggery Theatre, and the Citadel Theatre) for thirty-two years, totalling almost 5000 performances. In these gently satiric comedies, he plays a city stockbroker who has taken up residence in the country; he also enacts all of the locals he encounters. In 1991-92 he won the Dora Mavor Moore Award for best actor in a leading role for his performances in the first three Wingfield plays

Among many other plays, Rod Beattie has appeared in the premiere of John Krizanc's Prague; in Tom Stoppard's Travesties (Centaur Theatre 1977); and in David Mamet's Oleanna with Sandra Oh (National Arts Centre). He has toured with his former wife, Martha Henry, in A.R. Gurney's Love Letters, and he has played the title role in the Stratford production of Macbeth (1999) opposite Martha Henry. He also appeared with her in the Company's production of The Seagull (2001).

During his sixteen seasons at Stratford since 1974, he has played in over fifty productions including: Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Crabtree in The School for Scandal and Loyal in Tartuffe (2017).

Rod Beattie has also performed in film and on television.

Profile by Anne Nothof, Athabasca University

Last updated 2020-03-24