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Butler, Anne

CTE photo
Anne Butler

Actor, director, producer and teacher, born in 1936 in England; died December 29, 2019 in Toronto Ontario. Anne Butler worked continuously on stage and in film, television and radio for over 60 years in Halifax, Toronto and Montreal. She studied at the London School of Dramatic Art and moved to Canada in 1957.

She acted with the Canadian Players, and in dozens of theatres across the country, including Neptune Theatre; Vancouver Playhouse; Tarragon Theatre; Manitoba Theatre Centre; Shaw Festival (Eliza Doolittle in Pygmalion); Centaur Theatre, Young People's Theatre, and Canadian Stage.

Anne Butler had a wide acting range, and her performances were marked by a focus and intelligence that felt completely organic to the character she played. She acted in comedy, drama and in musical theatre; and worked with directors Athol Fugard, Andrew Allan, Bill Glassco, Walter Learning, Alan Lund and Brian MacDonald.

She played leads or featured roles in Athol Fugard's A Lesson From Aloes, Shakespeare's Othello, Henry Beissel's Inook and the Sun, and the musical, Anne of Green Gables.

Anne Butler also directed, including the musicals Frankenstein, The Sound of Music, Oliver, The Wizard of Oz, Jack The Ripper and Annie.

In 2004, she founded Bard in the Park in the Beaches area of Toronto, producing and directing plays until 2011, when she directed Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.

She was the vice-president of Canadian Actors Equity and on the board of directors of the Cabaret and Musical Theatre Alliance. She was chairman of the Theatre Arts Ball for 14 years, a fund-raising and charity event for the Actors Fund of Canada for destitute and sick performers.

She was also a speech, drama and musical comedy teacher, and speech defects coach for adults and children.

Profile by Gaetan Charlebois. Additional information by Anne Nothof.

Last updated 2020-06-03