In Memory of Leslie Yeo 1915 - 2006

With great sadness ACTRA has learned that Leslie Yeo, Life member, has passed away at the age of 91. Les was an accomplished actor who can be considered a principal builder of theatre in our country, dating back to the 1950s when he first brought his London Theatre Company to St. John’s, Newfoundland, in 1951 to stage 26 plays in 26 weeks.

Les moved to Toronto In 1957, a few years after the advent of television, and began directing large musicals and conventions before building his career in film and television. In films, he played Robert Shaw's bowling buddy in Canada's first feature, The Luck of Ginger Coffey, and was Kate Reid's husband in Bye Bye Blues. His final film appearance at the age of 84 was as Samuel Small in Sleeping Dogs Lie for Sullivan Productions.

Les was one of the first people to join ACTRA and was elected to its board and served as Treasurer from 1967 to 1971, during which time he became involved in the Board of Trustees for the ACTRA Insurance and Retirement Plan. When the board was reorganized in 1972, Les became the first Treasurer, and was one of the founding fathers of the Actra Fraternal Benefit Society (AFBS) when it formed in 1975. He was Vice-President, Finance and Chairman of the Insurance Committee for most of the next 15 years until he retired in 1990.

Leslie Yeo died in Toronto on September 14, 2006. He is survived by his son Jamie and his wife Grete.

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Lloyd Bochner 1924 - 2005

Accomplished performer and founding member Lloyd Bochner has passed away at the age of 81. He was honoured last December with the ACTRA Award of Excellence at a special reception in Los Angeles.

Mr. Bochner was been a member of ACTRA for 62 years, and a performer for more than 70. He started performing at the age of 10, appearing in Hart House Theatre, the Royal Alex, and performing in Canada's earliest radio dramas and feature films. In the late '40s and early '50s, the 'golden age of television', he commuted between Toronto and the U.S. starring in Studio One, Kraft Theater, One Man's Family and Hong Kong. His later TV series stints included The Richard Boone Show, Combat, The Twilight Zone, and a starring role in Dynasty as Cecil Colby. He appeared in more than 50 feature films, and countless stage productions, including being a founding member and five-year player at the Stratford Festival. He was also president and CEO of Bluenose Productions.

While building an impressive career as a performer and producer, Mr. Bochner gave much back to the community hosting Variety Club telethons in Toronto for many years, advising Famous People Players in Toronto, as a Patron of Hart House Theatre, and as founder and Chairman of the Committee to End Violence.

We send our deepest sympathies to Mr. Bochner's family and colleagues, especially his wife Ruth, and children Hart, Paul
and Johanna.

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Tony van Bridge (1917-2004) was born in London , England , and trained at RADA . In 1954, after several years acting with the Young Vic and Old Vic companies, he emigrated to Canada and immediately embarked on his first of several tours with the Canadian Players. The next year he joined the Stratford Festival, where he was to spend 15 seasons. His many memorable roles there included Bottom, Friar Laurence, Mr Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer, and (most famously) Falstaff in all three plays in which the character appears.

Tony’s first season at The Shaw was 1968, playing Captain Shotover in a cast that included Frances Hyland, Diana Leblanc, Jessica Tandy and Paxton Whitehead. He acted and directed there for 22 seasons; serving as Artistic Director in 1975. That year he programmed and directed Robertson Davies’ Leaven of Malice at the Festival Theatre. Another of Tony’s noteworthy achievements at The Shaw was directing three Priestley plays, including An Inspector Calls in which he also played the title role -- several years before the play was “rediscovered” by London ’s West End . Because of his encouragement of young people, in 2001 The Shaw established an award in Tony’s name to recognize outstanding young actors in their first year with the company.

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Aileen Seaton
Life member of ACTRA
1920-2004

There are many who will mourn the passing of Aileen Seaton, a superb actress and reader as well as a woman of grace and distinction. We friends and colleagues would like to speak about some of her many facets.

I worked with both Aileen and John many times but it was at the Canadian National Institute for the Blind that I really got to know what a truly delightful person Aileen was. Some time in 1971 she and I were in Studio G in the old CBC building on Jarvis Street (I can’t remember now what the programme was) but during the break actor-writer Alan King, who also worked primarily for CBC Radio, approached us individually to ask if we would be interested in reading books for the CNIB. Aileen immediately jumped at the idea and from then until a few weeks before her death on December 29, 2004 she recorded well over 200 books and magazines for people unable to read print due to a visual or physical handicap. In November of last year she was given an award by the Ontario Government honouring her for over 30 years of volunteering and at the CNIB was nominated innumerable times and thrice won a Torgi – the annual CNIB award given for Best Reader of the Year. Fitting and wholly deserved as these awards were they only serve to emphasize the greatness of the legacy she left – hundreds of books recorded permanently on tape and CD in her beautifully distinctive and expressive voice. For an actor to be so remembered, could there be any better memorial?

With deepest sadness we say goodbye to a true free spirit. Dahné touched so many lives in so many ways – friend, teacher, wife, aunt. She loved movies, books, hats, her three cats and of course her husband, Tom, and all her friends. Dahné was there with a shoulder when you needed it, an open door when you had nowhere else and an open heart. She sang with absolute feeling and emotion, often causing a shiver or two down the spine with the purity of her voice. Of all the things that can be said about Dahné, first and foremost is that it was a privilege to have known her. She will be truly missed.

Photo by Nuala Robinson

Pierre Berton dominated print and broadcast media in Canada. He had at least 12 honorary degrees, three Governor General's Literary Awards for non-fiction, two National Newspaper Awards, two ACTRA Nellies for broadcasting and he was a Companion of the Order of Canada and Chancellor of Yukon College. This voice of Canada will be sadly missed.

Robert Jeffrey
1934-2004

Robert (Bob) Jeffrey’s vocal talent was appreciated at an early age. At Eight years old he was appointed head chorister at St. John's Cathedral in Winnipeg. His singing led to guest spots on CBC radio's "Sunday:School of the Air." By the time his voice changed and he was an up and coming tenor, Robert became a regular on CBC variety shows broadcast from his home town. He later worked with Fred Rogers and Ernie Coombs on a new show, "Mister Rogers' Neighbourhood" followed by "Butternut Square", and guest spots on "Mr. Dress-up" and TVO's "Polka Dot Door". In the 1970' s he appeared often in the productions of CBC variety producers Neil Andrews, Franz Kramer and Bob Gibbons, starring in Gibbons' The Popcorn Man in 1979.

Robert died of heart failure on Sept. 17, 2004.

He was loved and will be missed.
Grant Cowan

Jon Granik
1929 - 2003

Jon was CBC Radio drama performer for over 35 years and appeared with praise in both film and television roles. He was twice nominated best actor in this field. His professional theatre work at Stratford started in 1954. His distinctive baritone voice carried him easily into the field of documentary narration and commercial voice-over work. A Toronto newspaper once profiled him as "the wealthiest actor in Toronto that no one had ever heard of". He graduated from University of Alberta with majors in modern languages and drama and did post-graduate work on a scholarship at Fordham University in New York City. Jon was a member of ACTRA, Equity and UBCP. He leaves behind his two daughters, Lisa and Ilona.