Paul Bettis

Paul Bettis was a director and actor and one of the pioneers of Canadian theatre the 1970s when Canada was beginning to develop its own voice and moved away from British and American stage influences. He studied at Oxford but then moved to Canada first to teach in Vancouver and then as an actor and director settling ultimately in Toronto. His most important work in the ’70s was as artistic director of Theatre Second Floor, a company that produced works by Shakespeare, Beckett, Sam Shepard and Des McAnuff. His main work was based in the theatre with occasional forays into film. He died of lung cancer.