Bill Adkins

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For the political candidate, see United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky, 2012 § District 4.

William Adkins, CM (died March 28, 1982) was a Canadian noted for his 50 plus years service to amateur theatre.[1]

Early life[edit]

Adkins was born in Winslow, Buckinghamshire,[2][3] circa 1889.[3] He left England for Canada circa 1911,[2] farming near Edmonton[2][3] and working for the Hudson's Bay Company.[2] During World War I, he served with the Canadian Field Artillery in Europe.[2][3] After the war, he returned to Canada, settled in Ottawa, and married Gertrude Helen Green, with whom he had two children.[3] He joined the Department of Indian Affairs, where he met Duncan Campbell Scott through whom he became involved in the theatre.[2][3]

Theatre work[edit]

Adkins worked backstage on every production of the Ottawa Drama League (later the Ottawa Little Theatre) after 1920.[4][5] Over many years, he worked as electrician, carpenter, scene shifter,[4] scene painter,[2] lighting operator, set designer,[6][7][8] set builder,[9] and, from 1927, stage manager.[2][3][4][10] During World War II, Adkins arranged and stage managed shows for troops.[2][11] Adkins continued as stage manager of the Ottawa Little Theatre after the war, travelling with it to the Dominion Drama Festival and other regional performances.[12][13] He also supervised visiting stage managers when Ottawa hosted drama festivals,[11] and managed the stage and lighting for the outdoor theatre at a summer drama school for children.[14] Adkins was still stage manager at the time that the Ottawa Little Theatre burnt down in 1970,[15] and when it reopened after rebuilding in 1972, with improved stage facilities.[16] He retired from the theatre in 1979,[3] and died in Ottawa on 28 March 1982.[3]

Awards[edit]

Adkins received a 1960 Canadian Drama Award, in recognition of outstanding contributions to Canadian theatre.[17][18][19][20] In 1973, the first year it was awarded, he was invested with the Member of the Order of Canada,[21][22] "for his 50 years' service to the amateur theatre movement in Ottawa and to the Dominion Drama Festival".[1] In 2013, during their 100th season celebrations, the Ottawa Little Theatre named him as a Cornerstone Inductee, an honor instituted for volunteers who made an extraordinary contribution to the development of the theatre.[23]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Honours - Recipients - Mr. William Adkins, C.M." The Governor General of Canada. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ketchum, W.Q. (24 August 1963). "Faces of Ottawa: William Adkins". The Ottawa Journal. p. 16. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ashley, Audrey M. (29 March 1982). "Former OLT manager dies". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 46. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  4. ^ a b c Alford, Walter (30 November 1935). "Back Stage Staff Work Hard For Drama's Success". The Ottawa Journal. p. 25. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  5. ^ "Bill Adkins at L. Theater for 39 Years". The Ottawa Citizen. 15 October 1960. p. 20. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  6. ^ Frankham, Roger (3 January 1942). "Look For Man Behind Scenes When Play Is Great Success". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 26. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  7. ^ Thistle, Lauretta (26 April 1960). "Does Agatha Christie Despise Her Audience?". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 13. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  8. ^ Daley, Frank (7 January 1967). "Ottawa Little Theatre". The Ottawa Journal. p. 34. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  9. ^ Devlin, Edward "Ted" (1998). "3. "The Stanley Cup was a Centrepiece on our Dining-Room Table"". In Finnigan, Joan (ed.). Tallying the Tales of the Old-timers. GeneralStore PublishingHouse. p. 33. ISBN 9781896182957. Retrieved 13 February 2019. Above all there was Bill Adkins, the English-born stage manager and set-builder, who put it all together and made it happen on stage.
  10. ^ Meiklejohn, J.M.C.; Johnston, edited by Denis W (Fall 1989). "THEATRE IN OTTAWA IN THE 1930s: A MEMOIR". Tric/Rtac. 10 (2). Retrieved 13 February 2019. {{cite journal}}: |first2= has generic name (help)
  11. ^ a b "Teen Corn Festival May Not Be So Corny". The Ottawa Citizen. 12 May 1949. p. 11. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  12. ^ Coates, Richard (21 March 1951). "Set Delivery Delay Sweats ODL Director". The Ottawa Journal. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  13. ^ "Pinocchio Packs His Bag And Marks It 'DDF, Rush'". The Ottawa Citizen. 12 May 1951. p. 24 (S3). Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  14. ^ Cooper, Philip (12 July 1958). "Manotick Farm Is Now School For Thespians". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 21. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  15. ^ McIndoe, Jane (4 July 1970). "The History of the Ottawa Little Theatre - A Tradition to Rebuild On". The Ottawa Journal. p. 6. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  16. ^ "Curtain goes up on Ottawa Little Theatre". The Ottawa Citizen. 29 January 1972. p. 25. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  17. ^ "Bill Adkins Honored". The Ottawa Journal. 3 December 1960. p. 52. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  18. ^ "Here and There: Award For Stage Manager". The Ottawa Citizen. 3 December 1960. p. 26. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  19. ^ "Conversation Piece". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. 7 December 1960. p. 25. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  20. ^ "Little Theatre Play Tops Drama Festival". The Ottawa Journal. 20 March 1961. p. 9. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  21. ^ Grantham, Ronald (9 April 1973). "Canadian honors system enters fourth stage". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 16. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  22. ^ "Appointments made to Order of Canada". The Leader-Post. Regina, Saskatchewan. 23 December 1972. p. 35. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  23. ^ "Cornerstone Inductees". Ottawa Little Theatre. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
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