Mavor Moore has had a long and distinguished career as a playwright, composer, actor, director, radio and television producer, and arts administrator. Much of his dramatic writing has been for radio and television; indeed, he was a pioneer of Canadian television. He has been extraordinarily prolific, the author of more than a hundred radio plays and more than fifty produced television scripts. He was also instrumental in the formation of some influential theater companies. Distinctions include three Peabody awards and the Centennial Medal awarded in 1967; Moore was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1973; he became a Companion in 1988. In 1977 he received the Queen's Medal.

James Mavor Moore was born in Toronto in 1919 to Francis John Moore, an Anglican minister, and Dora Mavor Moore, a professional actress who had toured for a time with Sir Philip Ben Greet in America. She later played at London's Old...