Frances Hyland

Frances Hyland
Born	(1927-04-25)April 25, 1927 Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Occupation	Actress

Frances Hyland OC (April 25, 1927 – July 11, 2004) was a Canadian stage, film and television actress.

Hyland studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, making her professional debut in London as Stella in A Streetcar Named Desire, opposite John Gielgud. In 1954, she returned to Canada, becoming a regular at the Stratford Festival in Ontario. Her roles there included Isabella (in Measure for Measure), Portia (in The Merchant of Venice), Olivia (in Twelfth Night), Perdita (in The Winter's Tale), Desdemona (in Othello) and Ophelia in (in Hamlet). She appeared in movies such as The Changeling (1980), The Hounds of Notre Dame (1980), Happy Birthday to Me (1981), The Lotus Eaters (1993) and Never Talk to Strangers (1995), and on television, including a role on Road to Avonlea.

Personal life and awards

Hyland was born in 1927 in Shaunavon, Saskatchewan, a small town south-west of Swift Current, to Jessie (née Worden), a teacher, and Thomas Hyland, a salesman. Her parents separated, reconciled, and finally parted permanently during the first decade of Hyland's life. She never saw her father again.

Frances Hyland graduated in 1948 from the University of Saskatchewan with a BA in English.

In 1970, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1994, Hyland received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts, for her lifetime contribution to Canadian theatre.

She was married once, to George McCowan; the couple had one child, a son, Evan.

External links

• Frances Hyland at Find a Grave