Remembering Jimmy

by Tim Chapman, Professional Theatre Coordinator

I want, belatedly, to acknowledge the death of James (“Jimmy”) Douglas on December 29, 2009. James Douglas (1929-2009) had a long and successful career as an actor, producer, director and writer. I first saw Jimmy in a performance at the Red Barn Theatre in 1970 when Bill Glassco was Artistic Director. That same year gave us the wonderful comedy M.A.S.H. directed by Robert Altman with Jimmy as Col. Merrill. I remember being very impressed that I could see a Canadian actor at the Red Barn who I had just seen in a very successful American movie.

Later I got to know Jimmy when he served on Theatre Ontario’s Youth Theatre Training Committee for many years. That’s when I learned to appreciate his enthusiasm for theatre and the fun he had in everything he did. He was still doing his one-man show An Evening with Stephen Leacock in his final year.  James Douglas was Artistic Director of the Gryphon Theatre in Barrie in the 1980s. In the 1990s, he premiered the new musical War Brides at Theatre Orangeville where he later directed his own adaptation of W. O. Mitchell’s Jake and the Kid. He lived for many years in nearby Belfountain. I will never forget the smile on his face and the glint in his eyes.