ROLAND o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-11-05 published
Kathleen
Innes
Stewart Roland
CROWE
By C.N.R. STEWARD/STEWART/STUART,
Wednesday,
November 5, 2003 - Page A26
Sister, friend, actor, social worker. Born April 9, 1908, in
London, England. Died August 26, 2003 in New York City, aged
Although born in England, Kitty -- or The Doy, as she was called
en famille -- spent her early life in Cleveland, Ohio, where
our father headed the H.K. Cushing Laboratory for Experimental
Medicine at Western Reserve University. Her three brothers (I
am the youngest) were born there. Our father, in 1922, moved
our mother and the four children to Toronto where we were enrolled
in those private schools that met his high standards. My sister
went to Havergal College on Jarvis Street in Toronto and hated
it. She stuck it out, though, and, on graduation, was accepted
into the arts program at University College at the University
of Toronto. After graduation, she and a girlfriend went to Europe
where, among other adventures, they bicycled through Normandy
and Brittany, an unusual escapade for two young women in the
late 1920s. It was a life-enhancing experience as the journals
she so meticulously kept attest.
Hers was indeed a privileged upbringing but throughout her long
life she identified more with the downtrodden. After our father
died in 1930, she returned to the family home in Toronto's Lawrence
Park where, after our mother died in 1933, she, 10 years my elder,
became my surrogate mother.
Next door to us was a family by the name of
CROWE and, in 1935,
she married the boy next door who went by the imposing moniker
of James Fitz-Randolph. Both were aspiring actors and singers
and moved to New York. Under their stage names, Kathleen and
Norman ROLAND, for the next 30 years or so they appeared in theatres
all over the eastern United States and Canada. In 1953, they
appeared together at the first Stratford Festival in the famous
tent. (Kitty understudied Irene
WORTH who was playing Queen Margaret
in Richard III. She told me she was terrified that one day Ms.
WORTH would be unable to appear because she felt she could not
play the part. Ms.
WORTH was in robust good health and Kitty's
fears were never tested.) Brendan Behan's The Hostage was another
vehicle for their talents, as it ran for years off Broadway.
When without a part she augmented her income by writing cookbooks
for a major American publisher. Shamelessly, she cribbed recipes
from other cookbooks to supplement her own creations (she was
a great cook). Proudly she retained her Canadian citizenship
and worked for the National Film Board during the Second World
War.
Sadly, married life became a hell for Kitty. Eventually, she
sued successfully for divorce.
She followed her stage career until well into her 60s, appearing
last in Toronto in 1975 in Noël Coward's Present Laughter, which
starred Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
As parts dried up she started another career as a social worker
for New York City where her ability to speak Spanish (she also
spoke French, German and a smattering of other languages), proved
to be a valuable tool. For many years she was also active in
the West Side Tenants Association. She hated grasping landlords
with a passion and at one time she herself successfully sued
her landlord for wrongful eviction. She was not all sugar candy.
During 2001 and 2002 she suffered a series of falls that resulted
in fractured bones; she was forced to give up her independence.
She moved into the Jewish Home and Hospital which is a fine place
but a place to which she could not adapt. Finally, I think, she
decided that life was no longer worth living. At 3 a.m. on August
26 last, she died, apparently peacefully.
C.N.R. (Jock)
STEWARD/STEWART/STUART is Kathleen
CROWE's kid brother.
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ROLLINS o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-05-31 published
EUSTACE,
David
Fox
Born Dublin, Ireland October 31, 1931, died peacefully, at home
in Toronto, on May 29, 2003. Brother to Roland
EUSTACE,
Hope
DAVIS and Ruth
DEVLIN. Cherished husband of Roberta
EUSTACE and
father of Steven, Gary, (Lynn,) James, (Mary,) and Talbot
EUSTACE.
Beloved Grandfather and sage of Tara, Connor, and Gemma
EUSTACE.
A true renaissance man. He will be missed by his many Friends
who have known him as a writer, filmmaker, creative thinker,
businessman, insurance executive, magician, a lifelong movie
buff and lover of fine books. Special thanks to Dr. Patrick
SKALENDA
and Beata ROLLINS for palliative care. The celebration of a life
well lived will be held at home on Sunday, June 1st between 2-6
p.m. Donations, in lieu of flowers, can be made to the Canadian
Cancer Society.
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