John MacLachlan Gray, OC (born John Howard Gray; 26 September 1946) is a Canadian writer-composer-performer for stage, TV, film, radio and print. He is best known for his stage musicals and for his two seasons as a

satirist This is an incomplete list of writers, cartoonists and others known for involvement in satire – humorous social criticism. They are grouped by era and listed by year of birth. Included is a list of modern satires. Under Contemporary, 1930-1960 ...

on CBC TV's '' The Journal'', as well as an author, speaker and social critic on cultural-political issues.

Bio

Born in

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, and raised in

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native En ...

, Gray obtained a B.A. at

Mount Allison University Mount Allison University (also Mount A or MtA) is a Canadian primarily undergraduate liberal arts university located in Sackville, New Brunswick, founded in 1839. Like other liberal arts colleges in North America, Mount Allison does not par ...

, and an M.A. at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. While attending the latter, he founded Tamahnous Theatre, and served as its director from 1971 to 1974. He then joined

Theatre Passe Muraille Theatre Passe Muraille is a theatre company in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Brief history One of Canada's most influential alternative theatres, Theatre Passe Muraille ("theatre beyond walls") was founded in 1968 by director and playwright Jim Garr ...

in Toronto, Ontario, where he began writing and composing for the stage. His first musical was "18 Wheels," about truck drivers.

Plays

In 1978, with

Eric Peterson Eric Neal Peterson (born October 2, 1946) is a Canadian stage, television, and film actor, known for his roles in three major Canadian series – '' Street Legal'' (1987–1994), '' Corner Gas'' (2004–2009), and '' This is Wonderland'' ...

, he wrote and composed ''

Billy Bishop Goes to War ''Billy Bishop Goes to War'' is a Canadian musical, written by John MacLachlan Gray in collaboration with the actor Eric Peterson. One of the most widely produced plays in Canadian theatre, the two-man play dramatizes the life of Canadian World ...

'', which appeared on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

in New York City in 1980, produced by

Mike Nichols Mike Nichols (born Michael Igor Peschkowsky; November 6, 1931 – November 19, 2014) was an American film and theater director, producer, actor, and comedian. He was noted for his ability to work across a range of genres and for his aptitude fo ...

, and in

London's West End The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government bui ...

. It has since been performed in over 150 independent productions in Canada and the United States. The play appeared on television in a

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

- CBC co-production, and in a German version, ''Billy Bishop Steig Auf''. ''Billy Bishop Goes to War'' was the winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critics Award in 1981, the Governor General's Award for Drama, and the 1982 Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award. In 2009, Peterson and Gray returned to their roles at Soulpepper Theater in Toronto, in a re-mounting where Bishop tells his story, wearing pajamas and dressing-gown, near the end of his life. Directed by Ted Dykstra, the production received rave reviews, and continues to be performed at Soulpepper and at other venues across Canada. In 2010, the play was shot for CBC Television in partnership with Strada Productions, directed by Barbara Willis-Sweete.

Musicals

Gray has written and composed six other musicals including ''18 Wheels'', ''Rock and Roll'', ''Don Messer's Jubilee'', ''Health'', and ''Amelia: The Girl Who Wants to Fly'' (2011). ''Rock and Roll'' won a

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Award (also known as the Dora Award) is an award presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts which honours theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moore, who helped est ...

in 1982, and became an award-winning feature video entitled ''King of Friday Night''. Gray's most recent musical is ''TheTree. TheTower. TheFlood'', three Bible stories for the age of information, commissioned by CBC Radio Drama.

Newspaper columnist

In the late 1990s, Gray became a newspaper columnist, contributing weekly pieces on cultural politics to the ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' and '' The Globe and Mail''. In the early 2000s he contributed a column to ''Western Living Magazine'' called "O For the Love of Dog," in which he wrote about his dog Gus.

Novelist

Around that time he abandoned the theatre in favour of the novel – in a series of thrillers set in post-modern Vancouver, mid-19th century England and the United States before the Civil War. As with ''Billy Bishop Goes to War'', Gray casts an ironic contemporary eye on imagined historical events. He is the recipient of a

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

, and the Governor General's Medal. In 2000, he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

for "his contribution to Canada's cultural landscape". He holds

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or '' ad ho ...

s from

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus in Saint John, New Brunswick. Dalhousie offer ...

and

. John Gray lives in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. Th ...

, British Columbia with his wife Beverlee. They have two sons,

Zachary Zachary is a male given name, a variant of Zechariah (given name), Zechariah – the name of Zechariah (list of biblical figures), several Biblical characters. People *Pope Zachary (679–752), Pope of the Catholic Church from 741 to 752 *Zachar ...

(a musician and actor) and Ezra ( a visual artist).

Bibliography

* ''Billy Bishop Goes to War'' – 1982 (with Eric Peterson) * ''Dazzled!'' – 1984 * ''Local Boy Makes Good'' – 1987 * ''I Love Mom: An Irreverent History of the Tattoo'' – 1994 * ''Lost in North America: The Imaginary Canadian in the American Dream'' – 1994 * ''A Gift for the Little Master'' – 2000 * ''The Friend in Human'' – 2003 ** in German: ''Der menschliche Dämon.'' Transl. Edith Walter.

Heyne Verlag The Heyne Verlag (formerly Wilhelm Heyne Verlag) is a German publisher based in Munich, which was founded in Dresden in 1934 and sold to Axel Springer in 2000. In 2004 it became part of Random House. Heyne was one of the largest publishing houses ...

2005 * ''White Stone Day'' – 2005 * ''Not Quite Dead'' − 2007 * ''The White Angel'' - 2017

Awards, Selected

*Governor General's Medal *Los Angeles Drama Critics' Dramalogue Award *Gold Award, New York Film and Television Festival *ACTRA Award (Nellie), Best Production, 1983 *Canadian Film and Television Award *Silver Hugo Award, Chicago *Rocky Award, Banff Television Festival, Best Variety Production *National Magazine Award *Dora Mavor Moore Award (2) *Western Magazine Award (6)

References

Gray
entry in

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; french: L'Encyclopédie canadienne) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with the support of Canadian Heritage. Available f ...

External links

Records of Tamahnous Theatre are held by Simon Fraser University's Special Collections and Rare Books
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gray, John Maclachlan 1946 births Living people 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian novelists 21st-century Canadian novelists Canadian male novelists Canadian people of British descent Canadian television personalities Dora Mavor Moore Award winners Governor General's Award-winning dramatists Mount Allison University alumni Officers of the Order of Canada People from Colchester County Writers from Nova Scotia Writers from Ottawa Canadian satirists Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers