Advertisement

Acclaimed actor, director and playwright Joy Coghill-Thorne dead at 90

Actor, director and playwright Joy Coghill-Thorne is presented with the Governor General's Performing Arts award by Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa Friday November 1, 2002. The acclaimed Canadian actor, director and playwright has died at age 90.
Actor, director and playwright Joy Coghill-Thorne is presented with the Governor General's Performing Arts award by Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson during a ceremony at Rideau Hall in Ottawa Friday November 1, 2002. The acclaimed Canadian actor, director and playwright has died at age 90. Fred Chartrand / The Canadian Press

Acclaimed Canadian actor, director and playwright Joy Coghill-Thorne has died at age 90.

She had been admitted to St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver after suffering massive heart failure and died on Jan. 20.

Coghill-Thorne was born in Findlater, Sask., on May 13, 1926, and grew to be a trailblazer in the Canadian theatre community.

READ MORE: ‘Corner Gas’ star Janet Wright dead at 71

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Get daily National news

Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.
By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy.

She created Holiday Theatre in 1953, which is billed as Canada’s first professional children’s theatre.

Coghill-Thorne was the first woman to hold the position of artistic director at the Vancouver Playhouse from 1967 to ’69, and more than 40 years later she founded Western Gold, a company for senior Canadian actors.

One of her best-known works as a playwright is “Song of This Place” about legendary Canadian artist Emily Carr.

Story continues below advertisement

READ MORE: Tony Rosato, Canadian ‘Saturday Night Live’ and ‘SCTV’ alum, dead at 62

She was inducted as a member of the Order of Canada in 1991, and received a Governor General’s Award for the Performing Arts in 2002.

In 2001, Coghill-Thorne co-founded the Performing Arts Lodge Vancouver which provides affordable housing and a network of support for veterans of the city’s performing arts communities.

Coghill-Thorne is survived by her three children, Debra, Gordon and David, and her grandchildren Casey and Lucy.

Sponsored content

AdChoices