Sask. actress Shirley Douglas to get honorary degree

Veteran actress and activist Shirley Douglas will receive an honorary doctor of fine arts degree from the University of Regina next week.

The Weyburn, Sask., native – mother of actor Kiefer Sutherland and daughter of the late Tommy Douglas – will pick up the honour Feb. 24 at a ceremony held by the Canadian actors union, ACTRA, in Toronto.

Douglas, 76, started acting as a teenager in Regina and studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts as well as the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

She’s worked with famed directors including Stanley Kubrick ("Lolita") and David Cronenberg ("Dead Ringers") and won a Gemini Award for her performance in the 1999 TV film "Shadowlake."

Douglas has also supported a variety of causes throughout her career, including the American Civil Rights Movement, the Black Panthers and the fight to save medicare, pioneered by her father.

She’s also participated in anti-nuclear marches in England, campaigned against the Vietnam War and co-founded the first chapter in Canada of the Performing Artists for Nuclear Disarmament.

Douglas, who lives in Toronto, is an Officer of the Order of Canada as well as an inductee into Canada’s Walk of Fame.

She was once married to actor Donald Sutherland and has two other children – Thomas and Rachel.