Tom Kneebone, was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 cabaret

Cabaret

Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...

 performer and actor.

Born in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

, New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

, Kneebone went to England to study at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, opened by Laurence Olivier in 1946, is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, an organisation securing the highest standards of training in the performing arts, and is an associate school of the Faculty of Creative Arts of the University of the...

. He moved to Canada in 1963 and performed in various revues in Toronto and across Canada for decades, often with onstage partner Dinah Christie

Dinah Christie

Dinah Barbara Christie is a Canadian comedic actor and singer.The daughter of actors Robert and Margot Christie, she came to Canada at the age of two with her parents and grew up in Toronto. At age 13, she worked as a call boy at the Stratford Festival and became an apprentice at the Festival in...

. Kneebone was also a performer at the Shaw Festival

Shaw Festival

The Shaw Festival is a major Canadian theatre festival in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, the second largest repertory theatre company in North America...

 and the Stratford Festival of Canada

Stratford Festival of Canada

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival is an internationally recognized annual celebration of theatre running from April to November in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario...

. He became artistic director of the Smile Theatre Company in 1987, writing and directing performances at health care facilities and senior citizens' homes.

In early 2003, he was named a member of both the Order of Canada

Order of Canada

The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...

 and the Order of Ontario

Order of Ontario

The Order of Ontario is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is administered by the Governor-in-Council and is intended to...

. Kneebone's Order of Canada honour was in recognition of being a "multi-talented performer who has had a long and eclectic career" while his Order of Ontario honour was for having "brought joy to the lives of thousands of seniors confined to nursing homes and long-term care facilities through live theatre".

Kneebone died later that year at age 71.

External links

• Tom Kneebone memorial