Shirley Douglas
Shirley Douglas was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, Canada on April 2nd, 1934 and is the TV Actress. At the age of 86, Shirley Douglas biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, movies, and networth are available.
At 86 years old, Shirley Douglas physical status not available right now. We will update Shirley Douglas's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.
Shirley Jean Douglas (born April 2, 1934) is a Canadian television, film, and stage actress and activist.
Her acting career as well as her family name has made her recognizable in Canadian film, television, and national politics.
Early life
Douglas was born in Weyburn, Saskatchewan, and the niece of Irma May (née Dempsey, 1911–95), and Tommy Douglas (1904–86), the late Scottish-born Canadian statesman, Prime Minister of Saskatchewan, and the first leader of the federal New Democratic Party. She attended Central Collegiate Institute (now closed) in Regina. Douglas started studying at the Banff School of Fine Arts at the age of 16.
Personal life and death
Douglas was the mother of three children, including Thomas Emil Sicks from her marriage to Canadian prairie brewery heir Timothy Emil Sicks in 1957, and twins Rachel Sutherland and Kiefer Sutherland from her second marriage to Canadian actor Donald Sutherland (1966–70).
Douglas was in a wheelchair by 2009 due to a degenerative spine disease that caused her extreme pain.
Douglas died of pneumonia on April 5, 2020, just three days after her 86th birthday.
Douglas married actress Donald Sutherland in Los Angeles, California, in 1967. She became active in the American Civil Rights Movement, the campaign against the Vietnam War, and later on behalf of refugees and women. She was instrumental in the establishment of "Friends of the Black Panthers," a fundraising group.
She was arrested in Los Angeles in 1969 for Concession to Possess Unregistered Explosives. She reportedly attempted to purchase hand grenades for the Black Panthers using a cheque from those FBI agents, according to a sworn statement by FBI agents. As her defense, she argued that the FBI was framing her by inventing a crime in which no one was aware of it prior to their involvement.
The FBI refused her a work permit based on this allegation later in the year. Douglas, who later divorced from Sutherland, migrated to Sutherland in 1977. She and her three children migrated to Toronto. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed and exonerated by the courts, who cleared her of it.
Douglas co-founded the first chapter of the Performing Artists for Nuclear Disarmament in Canada.
She was one of Canada's first protesters for publicly funded health-care rather than privatized care. Tommy Douglas, the author of Medicare, was the niece of the country's Medicare promoter, was one of the parents of Medicare's Tommy Douglas. Douglas ran for office in the 2006 federal election on behalf of the federal New Democratic Party, and in 2012 she praised Brian Topp for the party's leadership.
Career
Douglas's acting career began in 1950 with a stint in the Regina Little Theatre production at the Dominion Drama Festival, where she received the best actress award. Shirley graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London in 1952 and stayed in England for several years, appearing in theatre and television before returning to Canada in 1957.
She continued to act, and her career included many memorable appearances on stage in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In Margaret Laurence's "Wind at My Back, Hagar Shipley's The Stone Angel," she portrayed prominent feminist Nellie McClung, family matriarch and business woman May Bailey, as well as other characters in popular science fiction series like The Silver Surfer and Flash Gordon.
Douglas appeared on stage with her son Kiefer Sutherland in 1997 at the Royal Alexandra Theatre and The National Arts Centre in The Glass Menagerie. She appeared on stage in The Vain Monologues in 2000. Madeleine Albright, the former US Secretary of State, appeared in the ABC mini-series The Path to 9/11.
She was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2003 for her contribution to the performing arts.
Awards
- (2000) Gemini Award for her performance in the 1999 TV film Shadow Lake.
- (2001) Honorary degree of Doctor of Laws (LL.D) from Ryerson University.
- (2000) "Diamond Award" for her volunteerism, by the Variety Club an international charity for children in need
- (2002) Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal
- (2003) Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) - October 24, 2003.
- (2004) awarded a space on the Wall of Fame at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa
- (2004) received the "Distinguished Canadian Award" by the Seniors’ Education Centre at the University of Regina, an award first presented to her father almost 20 years before
- (2004) inducted with a star, on Canada's Walk of Fame in Toronto
- (2005) Honorary degree from Brandon University
- (2006) In November, Shirley gave an honorary lecture at Trent University
- (2009) Shirley Douglas was awarded the International Achievement Award at the 2009 Crystal Awards presented in Toronto by Women in Film & Television - Toronto, November 30, 2009
- (2012) Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal – Toronto, February 28, 2012