One of Canada's greatest actors is dead. William Hutt wasn't just a star at the Stratford Festival, for many he was Stratford. Hutt is perhaps best known for his numerous performances as King Lear and Prospero. But one role, for me, defined both the man as person and as actor.
I last saw him perform in 2001 as he took on the Clarence Darrow role in Inherit the Wind, against James Blendick's William Jennings Bryan. This was a couple of months before 9/11 -- and both brought the house down. (It's said that after 9/11 and for the balance of that year's season, the audiences for that show and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf were divided into two groups -- those who support free speech and those who don't, maybe that's what the terrorists wanted.)
Both Hutt and Blendick refused to flinch, however, and in so doing earned even more respect from people who appreciate theatre; one of the few bastions of free speech left in North America.
The stages in the city upon the Avon will seem awfully empty this year without Hutt. Here's hoping the next generation carries on his legacy.
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