James Mavor Moore (March 8, 1919 – December 18, 2006) was a Canadian writer, producer, actor, public servant, critic, and educator. He notably appeared as

Nero Wolfe Nero Wolfe is a brilliant, obese and eccentric fictional armchair detective created in 1934 by American mystery (fiction), mystery writer Rex Stout. Wolfe was born in Principality of Montenegro, Montenegro and keeps his past murky. He lives in a ...

in the CBC radio production in 1982.

Life and work

Moore 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 ...

, to Francis John Moore, an Anglican theologian, and Dora Mavor Moore, who helped establish Canadian professional theatre in the 1930s and 1940s. His mother was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, the daughter of economist

James Mavor James Mavor (December 8, 1854 – October 31, 1925) was a Scottish-Canadian economist. He served as a Professor of Political Economy of the University of Toronto from 1892 to 1923. His influence upon Canadian economic thought is traced to as lat ...

. Moore began acting at the age of six on the Hart House Stage, and continued throughout his high school career at the

University of Toronto Schools University of Toronto Schools (UTS) is an independent secondary day school affiliated with the University of Toronto in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school follows a specialized academic curriculum, and admission is determined by a written exam ...

. Subsequently, he took up radio acting to pay his way through college. He received a

BA degree A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

in 1941. Moore served in the Canadian military as an Intelligence officer during World War II. Following the War, he was employed by

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

, becoming its producer for International Service (based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

). He transferred to CBC Television in 1950, serving as its first chief producer. He was among the pioneers of Canadian television in the 1950s, and was the creator of the CBC National News, later known as '' The National''. Moore selected the program's first regular newsreader, Larry Henderson. Moore is well known for his contributions to drama, having created more than 100 plays, documentaries, musicals, and

librettos A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

for stage, radio and television. From 1970 to 1984 he taught theatre history as a professor at

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, and chaired its theatre department (1975-1976). He was named to the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...

in 1974, and was the first artist to chair the council (1979-1983). He received three

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

s for his radio documentaries produced on behalf of the United Nations. Moore was the founding chair of the British Columbia Arts Council (1996-1998). He sat on the first Board of Governors of the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a repertory theatre organization that operates from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shak ...

. He was the founding chair of the Canadian Theatre Centre, the Guild of Canadian Playwrights, and was a founding director of the Charlottetown Festival. In 1973 Moore was made an Officer 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 ...

and was promoted to Companion in 1988. In 1999 he was appointed to the

Order of British Columbia The Order of British Columbia is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Instituted in 1989 by Lieutenant Governor David Lam, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier Bill Vander Zalm, the order is administe ...

. He received the

Governor General's Performing Arts Award The Governor General's Performing Arts Awards are an annual Canadian award, presented to honour distinguished achievements in Canadian performing arts and culture. Administered by the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation in associ ...

, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, in November 1999. He received a total of seven honorary degrees during his lifetime.

Publications and notable works

*''Reinventing Myself'' (1994), Moore's autobiography *''Sunshine Town'' (1954), a musical retelling of the

Stephen Leacock Stephen Butler Leacock (30 December 1869 – 28 March 1944) was a Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humourist. Between the years 1915 and 1925, he was the best-known English-speaking humourist in the world. Early life S ...

biography *''The Ottawa Man'' (1958), a musical drama
''The Ottawa Man'' IMDB *'' Louis Riel (opera), Louis Riel'' (1967), an opera composed by Harry Somers for which Moore wrote the libretto *''Johnny Belinda'', musical play by Mavor Moore and John Fenwick, Charlottetown Festival, 1968 *''Belinda'',

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 ...

adaptation of the musical, telecast March 9, 1977 *''Fauntleroy'' (1980)

Other artistic activities

Moore and his mother worked together to found the New Play Society, for which he served as producer/director of ''Spring Thaw'', the society's annual comedy revue (1948-1965). He wrote a theatre critic section for the

Toronto Telegram ''The Toronto Evening Telegram'' was a conservative, broadsheet afternoon newspaper published in Toronto from 1876 to 1971. It had a reputation for supporting the Conservative Party at the federal and the provincial levels. The paper competed wit ...

(1958-1960), and was arts critic for the

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

magazine (1968-1969).

Family

Moore married Darwina Faessler in 1943. They had four daughters, including Charlotte Moore and Tedde Moore, both

Dora Mavor Moore Award The Dora Mavor Moore Awards (also known as the Dora Awards or the Doras) are awards presented annually by the Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA), honouring theatre, dance and opera productions in Toronto. Named after Dora Mavor Moor ...

winners. His second marriage, in 1968, was to

Phyllis Grosskurth Phyllis Marguerite Grosskurth (''née'' Langstaff; March 16, 1924 – August 2, 2015) was a Canadian academic, writer, and literary critic. Grosskurth was born in Toronto, Ontario, the granddaughter of physician James Miles Langstaff. She r ...

, ending in divorce in 1978. In 1980 he married opera singer Alexandra Browning and welcomed his 5th daughter, Jessica Moore. He died in 2006, aged 87, after several years of ill health. His grandson is actor and music producer 40.

Filmography

References

External links

Mavor Moore fonds
*
Mavor Moore Interview
Legend Library, TheatreMuseumCanada
Canadian Communications Foundation biography

CBC obituary
* ''Identifying Mavor Moore'' by Allan Boss, Ph.

* ''Discovering Mavor Moore'' by Allan Boss, Ph.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Mavor 1919 births 2006 deaths 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Canadian male film actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors Companions of the Order of Canada Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada Male actors from Toronto Members of the Order of British Columbia University of Toronto alumni Upper Canada College alumni Writers from Toronto Academic staff of York University Canadian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian historians 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers Governor General's Award winners