Pioneer Canadian Actors: The Stories Behind Legends of the Silver Screen

It seems that so many of today's Hollywood stars come from Canada, but at one time only a few could claim to have conquered Tinseltown. Here are the biographies of those Canadians who crossed the border and beat down the studio doors of Hollywood to leave an outstanding legacy that inspired later generations of talent: ⢠Mary Pickford, a Canadian dubbed America's Sweetheart, was instrumental in creating the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and in helping to form United Artists ⢠Lorne Greene, famed patriarch of Bonanza's Cartwright clan, was a generous father figure to a younger generation of Canadian actors ⢠Fay Wray, a young girl from southern Alberta, became famous as Hollywood's Queen of Scream and is forever remembered for her role in King Kong ⢠Raymond Burr, the actor who seemed indistinguishable from his two renowned television roles as Perry Mason and Robert Ironside ⢠Christopher Plummer, who came to motion picture fame opposite Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music, has enjoyed a long and diverse career in film and on stage ⢠Norma Shearer, considered the very definition of glamour during her glory days in Hollywood, had a trophy case filled with five Oscars by 1936 â¢William Shatner, forever an icon of film and television as Captain James T. Kirk of the Starship Enterprise, has more recently found fame again with his unique brand of self-deprecating humour ⢠Leslie Nielsen, possibly one of the most original talents to come out of Canada, earned his fame through comedic roles in Airplane! and the Naked Gun series and more...