Claire Drainie Taylor, née Wodlinger[1] (September 11, 1917 – November 18, 2009) was a Canadian actor and writer, who wrote and acted in radio and television productions for CBC Radio from the 1930s through the 1960s.[1]

Claire Drainie Taylor
Born
Claire Drainie Wodlinger

(1917-09-11)September 11, 1917
DiedNovember 18, 2009(2009-11-18) (aged 92)
OccupationWriter
Spouses
  • Jack Murray
    (m. 1933; div. 1938)
  • (m. 1942; died 1966)
  • (m. 1968; died 2004)
ChildrenBronwyn, Kathryn, Michael, Jocelyn, Philip and David

Early life

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Born and raised in Swift Current, Saskatchewan.[1]

Career

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For the CBC, Drainie Taylor acted in a number of radio and television productions, including Jake and the Kid, John and Judy and Barney Boomer; she also wrote radio plays, including Santa Had a Black, Black Beard and Flow Gently Sweet Limbo.[1]

She published an autobiography, The Surprise of My Life, in 1998.[1] Also that year, she created the Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize, a literary award presented by the Writers' Trust of Canada to the year's best biographical work by a Canadian writer.[2]

Personal life

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Drainie Taylor was briefly married to Jack Murray as a teenager, moving with him to Vancouver Island before divorcing him at age 21.[1] She subsequently met and married fellow actor John Drainie, with whom she had six children including journalist Bronwyn Drainie.[1]

After John Drainie's death in 1966, she remarried in 1968 to theatre producer Nathan A. Taylor, who died in 2004.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h "Claire Drainie Taylor (1917-2009) Passed away peacefully at home in her 93rd year. Claire Wodlinger Murray Drainie Taylor". v1.theglobeandmail.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-27. Retrieved 2010-01-23.
  2. ^ "$10,000 biography award launched". Ottawa Citizen, September 26, 1998.
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