Harry Rasky, CM,

O.Ont The Order of Ontario is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered ...

(9 May 1928 – 9 April 2007) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

director.

Life and career

Rasky was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

into a Jewish family, where he completed studies at

Oakwood Collegiate Institute Oakwood Collegiate Institute (commonly known as OCI or Oakwood) is a public high school in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located near the neighbourhoods of Regal Heights, Oakwood-Vaughan and Bracondale Hill. History and Alumni Oakwood was fo ...

and then

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies f ...

. He participated in

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

's first four years writing and producing ''

CBC News Magazine ''CBC News Magazine'' (later known as ''Newsmagazine'') was a weekly Canadian news television series which debuted on CBC Television on September 8, 1952. The series presented the week's international news highlights and documentaries from CBC corr ...

'' (1952–1955). He also produced a documentary for the 1961 debut evening of

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...

. He earned more than 200 awards during his career in which his films numbered more than 400. In the late 1950s Rasky moved to New York where he was hired by towering figures in the broadcasting world such as Murrow and Cronkite. After learning the tricks of the trade Rasky became a freelance director and began to travel around the world documenting every inch of his journey. Throughout the 1960s Harry made films on Castro,

Che Guevara Ernesto "Che" Guevara (14th May 1928 – 9 October 1967) was an Argentines, Argentine Communist revolution, Marxist revolutionary, physician, author, Guerrilla warfare, guerrilla leader, diplomat, and Military theory, military theorist. A majo ...

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, the Nobel Prize Winners in 1964 (which included Martin Luther King Jr.) and many more individuals. He also made two wildly different docudramas entitled ''Hall of Kings'', for which he won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

, and ''Upon This Rock'', which starred Orson Welles. His films were dubbed "Raskymentaries" by film critics, and noted for their poetry of the screen. After making a film in Vietnam entitled ''Operation Sea War'', Rasky decided that politics was not his area of interest. He decided to dedicate his filmmaking career to documenting the world's greatest creators. By the early 1970s Rasky returned to his native Toronto when the CBC offered him a simple arrangement: "make one film a year for us on whatever you want." Throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s, he made films on figures such as

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...

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Mikhail Baryshnikov Mikhail Nikolayevich Baryshnikov ( rus, Михаил Николаевич Барышников, p=mʲɪxɐˈil bɐ'rɨʂnʲɪkəf; ; born January 27, 1948) is a Latvian and American dancer, choreographer, and actor. He was the preeminent male ...

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, Will and Ariel Durant,

Christopher Plummer Arthur Christopher Orme Plummer (December 13, 1929 – February 5, 2021) was a Canadian actor. His career spanned seven decades, gaining him recognition for his performances in film, stage and television. His accolades included an Academy Aw ...

Yousuf Karsh Yousuf Karsh FRPS (December23, 1908July13, 2002) was an Armenian–Canadian photographer known for his portraits of notable individuals. He has been described as one of the greatest portrait photographers of the 20th century. An Armenian ge ...

Tennessee Williams Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the three ...

, and

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

, as well as that covered a variety of issues including ''The War Against the Indians'' and ''The Spies That Never Were''. He published an autobiography, ''Nobody Swings on Sunday'', in 1980. In 2003, he released an autobiographical documentary film about his childhood, of the same title. He was named a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 2003. Rasky died in hospital of heart failure on 9 April 2007 while recovering from a hip fracture sustained at his home.

Filmography

*''Upon This Rock'' (1970) *''An Invitation to a Royal Wedding'' (1972) *''The Wit and World of George Bernard Shaw'' (1972) *''Tennessee Williams' South'' (1973) *''Next Year in Jerusalem'' (1974) *''Travels Through Life with Leacock'' (1975) *'' Homage to Chagall: The Colours of Love'' (1977) *''The Peking Man Mystery'' (1977) *'' Arthur Miller on Home Ground'' (1979) *''The Song of Leonard Cohen'' (1980) *''

Being Different ''Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism'' is a 2011 book by Rajiv Malhotra, an Indian-American author, philanthropist and public speaker, published by HarperCollins. The book reverts the gaze of the western cultures on Indi ...

'' (1981) *''The Man Who Hid Anne Frank'' (1981) *''Stratasphere'' (1983) *''The Mystery of Henry Moore'' (1985) *''Karsh: The Searching Eye'' (1986) *''Dugas'' (1988) *''The Great Teacher: Northrop Frye'' (1989) *''The War Against the Indians'' (1992) *''Prophecy'' (1995) *''Nobody Swings on Sunday: The Many Lives and Films of Harry Rasky'' (2003) *''Modigliani: Body and Soul'' (2005)

Awards and recognition

* 1966: Emmy Award for ''Hall of Kings'' * 1977: Academy Award Nomination for ''Homage to Chagall: The Colours of Love'' * 1984: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – Certificate of Special Merit for "Stratasphere" (56th Academy Awards) * 1985:

Directors Guild of America Awards The Directors Guild of America Awards are issued annually by the Directors Guild of America. The first DGA Award was an "Honorary Life Member" award issued in 1938 to D. W. Griffith. The statues are made by New York firm, Society Awards. Cate ...

, Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary/Actuality:, '' Homage to Chagall: The Colours of Love''"Harry Rasky wins directors' award". ''

Montreal Gazette ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', March 11, 1986. * 1992:

Margaret Collier Award The Margaret Collier Award is a lifetime achievement award, presented to a Canadian writer for their outstanding body of work in film or television. Formerly presented as part of the Gemini Awards, it became part of the Canadian Screen Awards in 201 ...

* 2002: appointed Member of the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rasky, Harry 1928 births 2007 deaths Canadian documentary film directors Canadian documentary film producers Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario Film directors from Toronto University of Toronto alumni Jewish Canadian film people Canadian Screen Award winning writers