Frances Hyland

Born in Saskatchewan, Frances Hyland was a Canadian stage and screen actress who trained at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. She made her professional debut on the West End as Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire. In 1954 Tyrone Guthrie invited her to appear in the first season of the Stratford Festival, where she played Isabella in Measure for Measure and remained for ten seasons. Her Shakespearean roles there included Portia, Olivia, Perdita, and Desdemona, and she performed as Ophelia opposite Christopher Plummer in Hamlet. In 1979 she directed Othello for the Stratford Festival. Beyond Stratford, Hyland worked with the Shaw Festival, at Toronto's Crest Theatre in The Living Room, and on Broadway opposite Tony Perkins in Look Homeward, Angel. Her television work included co-starring in The Albertans and playing Nanny Louisa on Road to Avonlea. In 1970 she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and she received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award in 1994.