Frances Hyland OC (April 25, 1927 – July 11, 2004) was a well-known Canadian theatre actress.Hyland studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, making her professional debut in London as Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire, opposite John Gielgud. In 1954, she returned to Canada, becoming a regular at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. Her roles there included Isabella (in Measure for Measure), Portia (in The Merchant of Venice), Olivia (in Twelfth Night), Perdita (in The Winter's Tale), Desdemona (in Othello) and Ophelia in (in Hamlet). She also appeared in movies and on television, including a role on Road to Avonlea.In 1970, she was entitled an Officer of the Order of Canada. She was married once, to George McCowan, and had a son Evan.
[on actress Kate Reid]: We fought a lot, especially when she was drunk and I would have to sustain a long scene. For the audience, it didn't matter because she was so compelling, but once we had a serious rift over that and didn't really see or talk to each other very much for some years. But she was an extraordinary person.
2
The only thing that worries me as a Canadian actor, and it's a constant and serious worry, is that at my age I have no savings, nothing to fall back on. If I lose my health or my ability to work, I think to myself 'My God, is it going to be one room in Parkdale?'
3
There was simply no Canadian star system. There was a lot of fear in the CBC bureaucracy that we'd get ideas above our station. When they brought in actors from the States they were treated very much like stars, but not us. They wanted to maintain control over us, and we were considered small fry. But I stayed in Canada because I learned more about my craft here that would elsewhere.
4
I was desperately in love with Richard Burton for a long time, and we had a wonderful affair. I was just a baby, but Richard laid siege to me, which didn't take long. During our affair, we often went to Welsh pubs and met Dylan Thomas, the poet and legendary drunk. But, oh what a conversationalist.You'd be spellbound for hours.
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Fact
1
She was awarded the 1977 Joseph Jefferson Award for Actress in a Principal Role in a Play for "Long Day's Journey Into Night" at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
2
She was nominated for a 1974 Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Actress in a Principal Role for her performance in "Freedom of the City" at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois.
3
She was awarded the O.C. (Officer of the Order of Canada) on December 18, 1970 for her services to drama in Canada.
4
Best known on TV from the 1989 TV series Avonlea (1990) as "Louisa J. Banks".
5
Legendary Canadian stage actress in a five-decade career, starring and directing in a host of Stratford and Shaw festivals.
6
Entered the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon in the fall of 1944, the first Canadian institution of higher learning to establish a department of Drama
7
She was given acting and elocution lessons in her teen years to overcome her painfully introspective nature.
8
Her mother, Jessie Worden Hyland, a teacher, and her father, Thomas Hyland, a salesman, separated when she was a child and Frances never saw her father again. She has often indicated that she believes the split made her unusually shy and withdrawn.
9
1 son: Evan McCowan
Actress
Title
Year
Status
Character
PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal
1996
TV Series
Catherine Cartwright
Never Talk to Strangers
1995
Mrs. Slotnick
When the Dark Man Calls
1995
TV Movie
Dr. Martha Petrie
Due South
1995
TV Series
Fraser's Grandmother
Avonlea
1990-1995
TV Series
Nanny Banks / Louisa Banks
Lives of Girls & Women
1994
TV Movie
Aunt Grace
Tales from the Cryptkeeper
1994
TV Series
Aunt Melva
Broken Lullaby
1994
TV Movie
Maria
Street Legal
1993-1994
TV Series
Caroline Diamond
Lonesome Dove: The Series
1994
TV Series
Clementine Coffey
The Lotus Eaters
1993
Flora Kingswood
The Hidden Room
1993
TV Series
Rita
Survive the Night
1993
TV Movie
E.N.G.
1990
TV Series
Thelma
Glory! Glory!
1989
TV Movie
Velma
Lonely Knights
1988
TV Movie
Maggie
Night Heat
1988
TV Series
Marie
The Twilight Zone
1988
TV Series
Laura Kincaid
Liberace: Behind the Music
1988
TV Movie
Florence Bettray Kelly
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1987
TV Series
Edith Ferris
Kay O'Brien
1986
TV Series
Dr. Sarah McDonovan
The Sight
1985
Short
The Hearst and Davies Affair
1985
TV Movie
Rose Duras
Pygmalion
1983
TV Movie
Mrs. Higgins
Titans
1981
TV Series
Elizabeth I.
Tales of the Haunted
1981
TV Movie
Dody
Happy Birthday to Me
1981
Mrs. Patterson
The Beachcombers
1973-1980
TV Series
Sadie
Hounds of Notre Dame
1980
Mother Therese
The Changeling
1980
Mrs. Grey
Matt and Jenny
1980
TV Series
Martha Jane
The Great Detective
1979
TV Series
Mrs. Eglantyne
The Albertans
1979
TV Series
Marjanne Hardin
Home to Stay
1978
TV Movie
Aunt Martha
Drylanders Episode 1
1974
Short
Liza
The Naked Mind
1974
TV Series
Another Smith for Paradise
1972
Marie Smith
McQueen
1970
TV Series
Myra
The Mystery Maker
1967
TV Series
Each Day That Comes
1966
Short
Festival
1960-1964
TV Series
Major Barbara / Margot / Duchess / ...
Playdate
1961-1963
TV Series
Sylvia / Eurasian Girl / Rachel / ...
Drylanders
1963
Liza
Salt of the Earth
1961
TV Movie
Q for Quest
1961
TV Series
First Person
1961
TV Series
Encounter
1955-1961
TV Series
Nellie Bancroft / Shevawn Flaherty / Ethel / ...
Startime
1960
TV Series
Miss Miller / Catherine Stockmann
Suspense
1960
TV Series
Ethel
R.C.M.P.
1959-1960
TV Series
Lucy Dodds / Mrs.Phillips
The Unforeseen
1959-1960
TV Series
Martha
Folio
1957-1959
TV Series
Zuzushka / Mariana / The Infanta / ...
Hudson's Bay
1959
TV Series
Susan Murray
First Performance
1958
TV Series
Twelfth Night
1957
TV Movie
Lady Olivia
On Camera
1955
TV Series
Scope
1955
TV Series
Playbill
1954
TV Series
BBC Sunday-Night Theatre
1950-1954
TV Series
Megan Owen / Sonia / Penelope Blessington / ...
Moonlight Becomes You
1998
TV Movie
Nuala Moore
I'll Be Home for Christmas
1997
TV Movie
Thelma Jenkins
A Prayer in the Dark
1997
TV Movie
Anna
Self
Title
Year
Status
Character
Glitter Palace
2002
TV Movie
Herself
The Test
1961
Short documentary
Cattle Ranch
1961
Short documentary
Narrator (voice)
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1996
Gemini
Gemini Awards
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
Broken Lullaby (1994)
1990
Gemini
Gemini Awards
Best Guest Performance in a Series by an Actor or Actress
E.N.G. (1989)
1981
Genie
Genie Awards
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Hounds of Notre Dame (1980)
1980
Genie
Genie Awards
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role