Keywords Actors, Film & TV Actors, Theatre Born in 1934

In 1967, Douglas moved from England to Los Angeles. While working as an actor, she began an intense period of radical political involvement within the American civil rights movement. In 1977 she returned to Toronto and embarked upon her Canadian stage career.

She quickly became sought after for the size and power of her stage presence, the intensity of her playing style and her astounding voice. Over the next decade she graced stages across the country, from small alternate theatre venues to prestigious companies like STRATFORD. She supported new works by Canadian playwrights Sharon POLLOCK, Michel TREMBLAY, and Brad FRASER, as well as performing the classical repertoire. She played a range of powerhouse characters. In 1996 Douglas was offered the opportunity to perform with her actor son Kiefer SUTHERLAND in a co-production of The Glass Menagerie with the NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE and the ROYAL ALEXANDER THEATRE in Toronto. She then landed the choice role of imperious matriarch May Bailey in the television series Wind at My Back (1996). In 2000, she won a Gemini Award for her performance in the 1999 television film Shadow Lake.

Douglas remained politically active, lending her voice and support to collective causes for world peace. As her father had predicted, a slide toward the privatization of health care had begun. For Douglas it became imperative to call for a halt to the wilful neglect of the system. She accepted film roles and made several appearances on stage, most notably in The Vagina Monologues (2000). But her activities as spokesperson with the Toronto Health Coalition and Canadian Health Coalition, her lobbying efforts, her public lectures, and the formation of the artist-supported group Friends of Medicare began to take precedence.

Ryerson Polytechnic University awarded her an honorary doctorate in 2000 and the same year she was honoured by the Variety Club, an international charity for children in need, with a Diamond Award for her volunteerism. In 2003 Douglas was awarded the ORDER OF CANADA; in 2004 she was given a place on the Wall of Fame at the National Arts Centre; and in 2005 Douglas was inducted, with a star, onto Canada's Walk of Fame.

Douglas, Shirley
Actress Shirley Douglas, the daughter of politician Tommy Douglas and mother of acclaimed actor Kiefer Sutherland, has had a distinguished career in the arts spanning over 3 decades (courtesy Shirley Douglas).

Author SANDRA NICHOLLS

Links to Other Sites
Shirley Douglas
A profile of activist and film, television, and stage actor Shirley Douglas. From the "Celebrating Women's Achievements" series, Library and Archives Canada.