William Hutt, 87, a star of Stratford Festival
STRATFORD, Ontario -- William Hutt, widely regarded as one of Canada's finest classical actors and a company member at the Stratford Festival for almost four decades, died Wednesday of leukemia at Stratford General Hospital, the Festival announced. He was 87.
At the Stratford Festival, where he was a founding member, Mr. Hutt was involved in 130 productions as either an actor or director. Among his more memorable performances were the title characters in "King Lear," "Volpone," "Tartuffe," "Richard II," and "Titus Andronicus," as well as such diverse roles as James Tyrone in Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night," Thomas More in "A Man for All Seasons," and Lady Bracknell in Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest."
"He was our northern star," said Antoni Cimolino, the festival's general director. "He shone strong, bright, and true, helping the rest of us find our way."
On Broadway, Mr. Hutt was seen as the lawyer in Edward Albee's "Tiny Alice" in 1964 and four years later in a production of George Bernard Shaw's "Saint Joan," starring Diana Sands, at the Vivian Beaumont Theater in Lincoln Center.
Shakespeare remained a fascination for the actor throughout his career. When asked about the power of the Bard in a 2006 interview, Mr. Hutt said: "First of all, he froze the English language. Nobody has used the English language better than he has. . . . And also the world that Shakespeare creates with his language, his story lines, his characters -- it's an incredible world."
With his rumbling voice and his mane of white hair, Mr. Hutt commanded the stage well into his 80s, winning praise for his last turn onstage at Stratford as Prospero in "The Tempest," in 2005.
In honor of Richard Monette, the festival's outgoing artistic director, Mr. Hutt agreed to return for a role this season in Albee's "A Delicate Balance," which opens in August. He later had to withdraw because of ill health.
Born in Toronto on May 2, 1920, Mr. Hutt served in World War II. After the war, he attended the University of Toronto, graduating from its Trinity College in 1949. He began his stage career in summer stock and then went to work for the Canadian Repertory Theatre as an associate director.
Mr. Hutt joined the Stratford Festival in its inaugural year in 1953 under Tyrone Guthrie's direction. The actor remained with the company for four decades, except for an absence in the mid-1980s, when he moved to the Shaw Festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake for several years.
Despite his command of the stage, Mr. Hutt was never a snob about the theater. He won praise for his role as Sir John A. Macdonald in the mid-1970s Canadian television miniseries "The National Dream." And in recent years, Mr. Hutt appeared on the acclaimed television series "Slings & Arrows," in which he played a somewhat grumpier version of himself, an aging Shakespearean master.
There were no immediate survivors.
A funeral will be held at St. James Anglican Church in Stratford. 