In memory of those who have touched our hearts over the years here at the Guild. You will never be forgotten.
Bill Wade
1927-1997
"It was hard to write reviews of local plays on the weekend when the recurring reality was that Bill Wade had died. The Hamilton actor's passing on Friday means the area theatre community will be gathering once more for what seems to be alarmingly frequent occasions to honour and remember one of their number. But this one will be different. Nobody touched Hamilton theatre audiences over the past 40 years the way Bill Wade, who died of a heart attack at 69, did. 'Bill was the closest thing to a star we had in community theatre,' suggests longtime friend Gary Smith, who directed Wade in 14 plays for the Hamilton Players' Guild.
"People would see his name in the program and say: 'Bill Wade's in it. This should be a good one.' Wade was the consummate theatre man, acting in 75 plays, directing another dozen and doing stage makeup for countless more. Dublin born, he was the consummate Irishman, too, theatrically and in real life, forever with a touch of the blarney, a twinkle in the eye and mischief in mind. Often, onstage, the two combined in memorable Irish plays such as The Shadow of a Gunman, Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Da, Long Days Journey into Night and Faith Healer. Ill health forced him to withdraw from another - Dancing at Lughnasa - the week it was to open early in 1996. But he was well enough to be in the audience on closing night and went backstage afterwards to wish the cast well. Wade began his Hamilton community theatre career with the St. Thomas More Players, staying with that group until it disbanded in the early 1970s. From then on, he acted primarily with the Hamilton Players' Guild.
"He also performed for Theatre Aquarius, Burlington and Dundas Little Theatres and The Village Theatre in Waterdown. Interestingly, he won a best actor award for Ardele, his first workshop play with the Guild and a best supporting actor award for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, his first mainstage play for the same group. It was a hint of things to come: He ultimately won seven best actor awards for guild performances in Dylan, Hadrian VII, Philadelphia, Here I Come!, Da, Ten Little Indians, The Gin Game and 84, Charing Cross Road. Wade was proud to be honoured but he'd stopped attending Guild award nights after some unpleasantness one year from an actor who'd lost to him. However, given a ticket as a Father's Day gift to last June's affair, Wade arrived to be presented with the Guild's highest honour - the Thelma Mitcham Award for long and meritorious service. It was in 1972's Dylan, playing the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, that Wade broke his wrist when he fell four feet from a flight of stairs in the first act. He had the arm taped during intermission and finished the show, even carrying an actress offstage over his shoulder before the evening was out. One of Wade's favourite assignments was the title role in the Brian Friel play, Faith Healer.
"Though he hadn't played a leading role since Mr. Scrooge in 1995, Wade dreamed of returning for one last major part. He and director Smith were considering Molly Sweeney, another Brian Friel play. His last cameo was in the musical, La Cage Aux Folles, for Hamilton Theatre Inc. last spring. And, this season, he'd agreed to do a small part in the coming Agatha Christie mystery, The Mousetrap, for the Guild.
"'Bill was a professional,' says Smith. 'He was a great believer in finding the truth in what he did. And he was always ready to help other actors.' But Wade never did give professional theatre a full-time try. He chalked it up to 'cowardice,' but with a wife and seven children it made sense to keep his 36-year day job in the Stelco sales office, from which he retired in 1989. And it allowed area audiences to see much more of him. For 40 years he gave Hamilton theatregoers the pleasure of his company, for which we are eternally grateful."
Stewart Brown, The Hamilton Spectator, November 10, 1997
Goodbye Bill.
Exit, Up Centre
and always in the light!
Bill McDermott
1936-1996
Over 40 years on area stages, Bill McDermott played take-charge roles of patriarchs and coaches and mobsters and cops. But he couldn't play doctor and on Wednesday the Dundas man, 60, died of cancer at Henderson General Hospital.
His passing catches the local theatre community off-guard. As recently as May, McDermott directed Harvey for the Hamilton Players' Guild, the second of two plays - the first was Fatal Attraction - he staged for the Guild last season. He was scheduled to direct The Odd Couple this coming season. His increased directorial assignments were seen as further proof he had rebounded successfully from a 1991 heart attack. Like most things, McDermott - a football lineman with the crack 1953 Westdale Warriors of Russ Jackson and Ron Howell - took a no-nonsense approach to recuperation. His extensive walks - including hikes up the Sydenham Hill twice a week - were the envy of those less energetic. Though he worked with both the Burlington and Dundas Little Theatres, most of McDermott's community theatre was concentrated on the Hamilton Players' Guild.
It was there he met his future wife, Claudia Sweeney, when both were in the cast of The Crucible, a 1956 production that continued to the Dominion Drama Festival in Edmonton. It was the start of a love affair for McDermott - not only for his wife, but also for Arthur Miller plays. He subsequently played Willie Loman in Death of a Salesman, a policeman brother in The Price, and the industrialist father in All My Sons, all for the Guild. But he was proudest of That Championship Season, a 1977 drama by another Miller, Jason, in which McDermott played the coach of a high school basketball team at an adult reunion. McDermott - with the rest of the cast - won a Guild best actor award for that ensemble highlight. Singly, he also won best actor awards for Death of a Salesman and The Little Foxes. "Bill favoured the hairy armpit plays," said his wife, Claudia, who acted with her husband, off and on, until their last appearance together in All My Sons.
Other prominent McDermott acting roles came as Big Daddy in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, Mr. Bumble in Oliver, crooked Harry Brock in Born Yesterday and Oscar Madison in The Odd Couple. McDermott was president of the Hamilton Players' Guild for two years in the 1970s. "Bill is one of the handful of people I think of as personifying the Guild," said current president Margaret Houghton. "He epitomized the best of the local artistic scene. He was a consummate professional in every job he undertook: acting, directing, serving on the executive. But he always had time to help newcomers learn the business he knew and loved." McDermott did work professionally in television and film as a member of both the Canadian Actors' Equity Association and the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists. He acted in TV series back to The Trouble With Tracy in the early 1970s and appeared in literally hundreds of television commercials. On the professional stage, he was in a number of Theatre Aquarius productions. Besides his wife, McDermott is survived by a brother, Bernie, of Fruitland.
Stewart Brown, The Hamilton Spectator, September 6, 1996. Used by permission.