Douglas Campbell (actor)

Canadian actor (1922–2009)

Douglas Campbell, CM (11 June 1922 – 6 October 2009) was a Canadian based stage actor. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland.

Campbell's interest in the theatre began at London's Old Vic Theatre at age 17, where working as a stage hand he saw Tyrone Guthrie's production of King John. He first performed in the 1941 Old Vic touring productions of Medea and Jacob's Ladder. He was invited to Canada in 1953 by Guthrie, who had just been appointed the first artistic director of the fledgling Stratford Festival of Canada in Stratford, Ontario. Campbell played Hastings in the opening production of Richard III in 1953, and King Oedipus in the stage and screen production of Oedipus Rex in 1954. He appeared many times at Stratford in the fifty years that followed, drawing great acclaim in the role of Othello in 1959, and in many appearances as Falstaff. Campbell founded the Canadian Players in 1954, and was artistic director at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis from 1966 to 1967. He was awarded the Order of Canada on 17 April 1997. Campbell received a Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, in 2003.

In 1947, Campbell married Ann Casson, actress and daughter of Sir Lewis Casson and Dame Sybil Thorndike. His children from that marriage are Dirk Campbell, television director; Teresa Padden who played Cordelia to his first King Lear, Tom Campbell, painter; Benedict Campbell, actor. In the late 1960s, Campbell developed a relationship with Moira Wylie, an actress and director, with whom his children Beatrice and Torquil Campbell were born. Beatrice Campbell is a stage manager at the Shaw Festival while Torquil Campbell is an actor and lead singer/songwriter of the indie rock band Stars. Casson, whom Campbell never divorced, died in 1990. He and Wylie married in 1993. Campbell died at Hôtel Dieu hospital in Montreal, Quebec from complications of diabetes and congestive heart disease on 6 October 2009.

Film Year Title Role Notes 1957 Oedipus Rex Oedipus 1965 When Tomorrow Dies Doug James 1972 A Fan's Notes Paddy the Duke 1979 Lost and Found British Professor 1980 Double Negative Crichett, Sr. Nothing Personal The Walker 1982 If You Could See What I Hear Porky Sullivan 1983 Strange Brew Henry Green Snow Nick Short film 1985 Perfect Party Pro Credited as Doug Campbell 1990 I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle Mr. Bancroft 2000 Once Upon a Christmas Santa Claus Final film role

Television Year Title Role Notes 1953 Sunday Night Theatre The Stranger Season 4, episode 19: "The Lady from the Sea" 1955 Omnibus Season 3, episode 16: "Hamlet" On Camera Season 1, episode 23: "The Queen's Ring" Scope Colonel Thomas Talbot Season 1, episode 19: "The Colonel and the Lady" First Performance Colonel Thomas Talbot Season 1, episode 1: "The Colonel and the Lady" 1955 1959 General Motors Theatre Cal / O'Brien / Claggart / Terrence 4 episodes 1957 1960 DuPont Show of the Month Squire Trelawny / Danglars / King Henry VIII / Various 4 episodes 1958 Suspicion Armstrong Episode 27: "The Girl Upstairs" 1958 1959 Folio Sean Kelly 2 episodes 1959 Day of Decision Narrator Miniseries The Unforeseen 2 episodes 1959 1960 Startime W. S. Gilbert 3 episodes 1960 1962 Festival Don Alhambra del Bolero, the Grand Inquisitor / W. S. Gilbert / Dunlavin / Bill Bobstay, Boatswain's mate 4 episodes 1962 John Brown's Body John Brown TV movie 1964 The Defenders Ed Clark Season 3, episode 20: "The Pill Man" Twelfth Night Sir Toby Belch TV movie 1965 Profiles in Courage John Quincy Adams Episode 22: "John Quincy Adams" 1975 Performance Sir George Simpson Episode 5: "The Man in the Tin Canoe" 1976 Bill Brand Reg Starr Miniseries 1979–1982 The Great Detective Inspector Alistair Cameron 35 episodes 1981 You've Come a Long Way, Katie Miniseries 3 episodes 1984 Sam Hughes's War TV movie Charlie Grant's War Manlus TV movie 1985 The Edison Twins Harry Season 3, episode 4: "Monkey in the Middle" 1986 The Boys from Syracuse Prologue Uncredited 1986 1990 The Campbells Justice Harris 2 episodes 1 uncredited 1988 Adderly Marty Season 2, episode 20: "The Interrogation" 1991 Mark Twain and Me TV movie 1998 Due South Capt. Ed Smithers 2 episodes 2000 Anne of Green Gables: The Continuing Story Dr. Powell Miniseries 2 episodes Final TV role