Dawn Greenhalgh Dies: Revered Canadian Stage Actor, Star Of TV’s ‘Anne of Green Gables’ Was 93

Dawn Greenhalgh, the Canadian stage star also known for roles in films including The Virgin Suicides and TV roles in Anne of Green Gables, died November 6 in Toronto. She was 93. Her death was announced by her family and Ontario’s Stratford Festival. A cause was not disclosed, but her family noted that she passed peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones. “The Festival lost one of its founders this week with the passing of Dawn Greenhalgh,” the Stratford Festival said in a statement. “Dawn was one of the few surviving members of the inaugural acting company, having joined the Festival in 1953 at just 19 years old. She played a Lady at the Court of France in All’s Well That Ends Well, a production that featured Alec Guinness as the King of France. “Over eight seasons, she played such characters as Charmian in Antony and Cleopatra (1967), Natalia Petrovna in A Month in the Country (1973), Béline in The Imaginary Invalid (1974), the Princess of France in Love’s Labour’s Lost (1974), Dionyza in Pericles (1974) and Heloise in Heloise and Abelard (1978).” Watch on Deadline See the Festival’s full statement below. Among her many screen credits are such Canadian TV series as Slings and Arrows, Dracula The Series and Strange Paradise. In the 1985 limited series Anne of Green Gables, she starred alongside her daughter Megan Follows, and in the 2013 CW series Reign she played Catherine, Queen of France. Other TV credits include Five Days at Memorial, Saving Hope, La Femme Nikita and the animated Babar. Born in Shanghai, China, in 1933, Greenhalgh emigrated to Canada at age 14, accompanied only by a guardian. She embarked on a stage career shortly after high school. Greenhalgh was the matriarch of one of Canada’s most significant acting families, which, in addition to Megan Follows, includes Greenhalgh’s other children Edwina Follows, Samantha Follows and Laurence Follows, her children with former husband, the actor Ted Follows. “For more than 60 years, Dawn captivated audiences across the country, performing extensively on radio, film, television, and stage,” the Stratford Festival notes. “Her immense talent, sharp wit, and dedication truly made her a trailblazer in the Canadian arts scene.” Greenhalgh was just 19 years old when, in 1953, she was named a founding cast member of the Stratford Festival. She would go on to be a founding member of the Neptune Theatre in Halifax and Theatre Plus in Toronto. Of her screen roles, her family notes that she “loved working with film directors Sophia Coppola (The Virgin Suicides) and David Cronenberg (Map to The Stars),” as well as with her daughter on Anne of Green Gables. “Dawn Greenhalgh was a powerhouse, a dynamic, brilliant actress,” said Stratford Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino. “As an extraordinary artist she could be both charming and unsettling. It was a pleasure to hear her perspective on plays and productions as it was informed by a lifetime of wide experience, a sparkling intellect and an independent, free thinking mind.” Greenhalgh is survived by children Edwina Follows (Matthew Ives); Laurence Follows (Peter Ferri); Samantha Follows (Sean O’Bryan); and Megan Follows; six grandchildren two step-grandhildren.