Celebrating 60 years: THE ACTRA STORY This special issue of ...

A CTRA MARITIMES
From squeaky floors to soundstages, and still growing
by Deborah Allen
The tiny office on Birmingham Street, with just
enough room for a desk and a place to sit and pay
your dues, stands in contrast to the modern premises
and operation of today’s ACTRA Maritimes. First
staffed by Helen Golding, then Helen Roberts, it progressed
through Blowers to Spring Garden Road
under Reps Bill Fulton, Deborah Murray and Ed
Frenette, serving writers and broadcast journalists as
well as performers. Under the presidencies of David
Renton, Joan Gregson, Doug Huskilson, Sudsy Clark
and Gary Vermeir, now our present Branch Rep, the
office expanded as its responsibilities increased.
Legendary CBC figures Hector MacFadyen and
Peter Donkin produced live shows out of a studio atop
The Nova Scotia Hotel on the Halifax waterfront.
Stories abound of radio listeners, country-wide, treated
to unusual, unexplained sounds of dock activities.
At the climactic moment of one tense, live radio
show whose characters were about to expire from lack
of water, a large ocean liner slipped her lines with
much whistle hooting bringing even the cast to a
shocked silence! Faith Ward particularly remembers
lots of radio drama in the mid-‘60s, and fondly recalls
the ‘Herschorn Hall’ perils, where members performed
network dramas and popular series like Rum Runners.
The squeaky floor required absolute stillness, the tiniest
movement ruining a take. Although radio drama
production continued into the late ‘80s, it gradually
declined to occasional series like Clean Sweep and In
the Blood, and Between the Covers, or small projects for
Maritime broadcast.
In the ‘50s, members kept busy on series for educational
TV and on national CBC-TV programmes
1 ACTRA demonstrating against
a non-union production in New
Brunswick, 2000. Then Branch
President Andrew MacVicar
and his wife, member Sherry
Devanney, in foreground.
Bill Forbes, Larry Lefebvre,
National Organizer Dan
Mackenzie, Monetta James,
Clarissa Hurley and Sebastian
MacLean in the background.
2 Coast Guard, a radio drama
from CBC Halifax Studio H
in the 1980s. (l to r): John
Fulton, Bill Carr, the late Ed
McCurday and the late John
Burke.
3 Anne Murray and friends in
the 1970s.
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1943-2003 • actra • celebrating 60 years 27
such as The Don Messer Show and Singalong Jubilee as
well as almost weekly live dramatic presentations out
of a former schoolroom. Later came Switchback and
Street Cents, the latter launching the career of
Councillor Jamie Bradley.
The burgeoning independent production industry
confirmed ACTRA’s tremendous talent pool, now
numbering over 500. Members successfully lobbied
government to create a film office, and were instrumental
in the Roll ‘Em study outlining the tremendous
potential for success, given adequate government
support, for local producers. The resulting system of
tax incentives and investment created employment
for hundreds of industry craftspeople. Then came the
soundstages – one in a former military base, which
became home to Black Harbour; another in an abandoned
downtown power plant; another in Dartmouth.
From the earliest days of Salter Street Productions,
to series like This Hour Has 22 Minutes and Pit Pony;
hosting big features like The Shipping News and K19:
The Widowmaker and countless smaller U.S. productions;
leavened by plenty of award-winning homegrown
features like The Hanging Garden and Marion
Bridge, it has been an amazing progression.
Through long-time ACTRA godfather David
Renton’s efforts, we’ve added a PAL Halifax Chapter
to our list of accomplishments. With a great posse at
his side, our next big birthday party might just happen
at our new lodge!
A very special thank you to the tireless staff in
Halifax who do so much for our membership in all
three provinces: Gary Vermeir, Richard Hadley,
Jeannine Huczel and Sandra Larson.
Photo courtesy CBC/Sudsy Clark.
Photo courtesy CBC.
3
the
ACTRA
story
Deborah Allen is a
long-time member of
ACTRA Maritimes,
Branch Councillor
and former Branch
President. Her career
spans more than 30
years as a performer
on stage, radio, television
and film
including the Emmynominated
Homeless
to Harvard and
CBC’s Mystery
Project radio series
Clean Sweep.