Jane Mallett (April 17, 1899 – April 14, 1984) was a Canadian actress.[1] She was born as Jean Dawson Keenleyside in London, Ontario, Canada.
Career
editHer films included Love at First Sight, The Sweet and the Bitter, The Yellow Leaf, Nothing Personal, and Improper Channels. She was a stalwart on CBC Radio from the 1940s to the 1970s, working with such notables as Andrew Allan, John Drainie, and Barry Morse. She was most noted for Travels with Aunt Jane, a 1974 CBC Radio comedy series in which she portrayed the character of "Aunt Jane", an unmarried woman who travelled across Canada to visit her relatives.[2] Television producer Jack Humphrey also created a pilot for a television version of Aunt Jane in 1977,[3] but the show was not picked up to series.
Mallett's stage career included performances with the Shaw Festival of Canada and the Stratford Festival of Canada.
She was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 1975.[4] In 1976, she was a recipient of ACTRA's John Drainie Award.[5]
Following her death in 1984, she was posthumously celebrated in Toronto by the naming of a theatre in her honour at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts.[6] The Jane Mallett Theatre is a 498-seat venue, an intimate environment with superior sight lines and exceptional acoustics. Staffed by professional technicians and equipped with a lighting grid and unique fly system, the semi-circular thrust stage is ideal for concerts, theatrical productions as well as the most demanding high-tech audiovisual presentations.
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | The Sweet and the Bitter | Mrs. MacDonald | |
| 1971 | The Megantic Outlaw | Morrison's mother | |
| 1974 | Sweet Movie | Mrs. Alplanalpe | |
| 1976 | Love at First Sight | Grandma | |
| 1980 | Nothing Personal | Little Old Lady | |
| 1981 | Improper Channels | Burger King Lady | |
| 1983 | Utilities | Dr. Martha | (final film role) |
References
edit- ^ "Jane Mallett dies". Calgary Herald, April 16, 1984.
- ^ "Radio's a laugh with Aunty Jane Mallett". Windsor Star, July 6, 1974.
- ^ "Author tries pottery to background TV drama". Saskatoon Star-Phoenix, February 25, 1977.
- ^ "62 named to Order of Canada". Edmonton Journal, June 28, 1975.
- ^ "It's a clean sweep for CBC shows in ACTRA Awards". Calgary Herald, April 22, 1976.
- ^ "Theatre named after Jane Mallett". The Globe and Mail, November 8, 1984.