Richard Monette

Richard Monette was a Canadian actor and director who was born in Montreal in 1944 and died in 2008. While at Loyola College, his acting drew attention when he won top honors at a Toronto drama competition in 1959. He turned professional with a Hamlet at Toronto's Crest Theatre, then joined the Stratford Festival in 1965. A role in Soldiers took him to Broadway, and he also acted in CBC television plays. In 1969 he moved to London, where he performed open-air Shakespeare in Regent's Park and appeared in the original London production of Oh! Calcutta!. Back in Canada in 1974, he took the title role in the English-language premiere of Michel Tremblay's Hosanna at Tarragon Theatre and later returned to Stratford as a leading man. He became Stratford's longest-serving artistic director in 1994 and served until 2007, staging every Shakespeare play and musicals such as My Fair Lady. His film work included I've Heard the Mermaids Singing (1987).