Leon Marr
Leon Marr (May 26, 1948 – July 22, 2019) was a Canadian film and television director and screenwriter, who won a Genie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 8th Genie Awards in 1987 for Dancing in the Dark.[1] He was also a nominee, but did not win, for Best Director.[2]
Early life
Marr was born in 1948 in Toronto, Ontario. Before becoming a notable film director, Marr attended both the University of Toronto and the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.[3]
Career
Marr directed several short films, wrote several unproduced screenplays and worked as an assistant to Norman Jewison on the 1982 film Best Friends.[4] The first longer film Marr worked on was known as Flyaway Paul, for which he wrote the screenplay in 1980.[5] After the director decided to turn the movie into a comedy, production was cut and it was never released.
He first read Joan Barfoot's novel Dancing in the Dark in 1983,[5] and worked for three years to get the film made after securing the rights.[5]
Following Dancing in the Dark, Marr optioned the film rights to Judith Thompson's play I Am Yours;[6] however, the financing didn't come through and the film was never made.
Marr subsequently worked primarily in television, directing episodes of Forever Knight, The Hitchhiker and The Hidden Room and taking a guest acting role in the pilot episode of Saving Hope. His second feature film, The Second Time Around,[7] starring Linda Thorson and Stuart Margolin, was released in 2018.
Marr died on July 22, 2019 in Toronto.[8]
References
- ^ "Empire strikes 8 Genies It's on to the Oscar for Quebec comedy". Toronto Star, March 19, 1987.
- ^ "Arcand's Decline tops Genie nominations with 13". The Globe and Mail, February 5, 1987.
- ^ Jay Scott, "Canadian film dances darkly into spotlight". The Globe and Mail, May 16, 1986.
- ^ Taylor, Noel (December 12, 1986). "A thriller of the hearth that compels without suspense". The Ottawa Citizen.
- ^ a b c "Leon Marr's a word-of-mouth success story". Toronto Star, October 11, 1986.
- ^ "Thomson play heads for screen". Toronto Star, June 9, 1988.
- ^ "Telefilm Canada to fund the production of 14 English-language films for a total of $8.1 million" Archived 2015-09-10 at the Wayback Machine. Telefilm Canada, July 28, 2015.
- ^ "Director Leon Marr passes away". Playback, August 1, 2019.
External links
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