Maurice Podbrey CM (born April 25, 1934) is a South African actor and theatre director. He has spent much of his career in Canada, where he co-founded and was the artistic director of the English-language Centaur Theatre in Montreal.
Biography Podbrey was born in Durban in 1934 into a Lithuanian Jewish family. His father had had Bundist sympathies and his politics influenced his children; Podbrey's sister Pauline later became a trade union organiser.
Podbrey was educated at the University of the Witwatersrand and at the College of Education; after graduating, he emigrated to England and worked as a schoolteacher. In 1959, he switched careers to work as an actor and director. He briefly served as the artistic director for the Chester Playhouse before moving again to Montreal in 1967, when he was invited to join the National Theatre School of Canada as an instructor. Seeking to remedy the lack of English-language theatre in Montreal, Podbrey and Herb Auerbach opened a theatre company in Montreal's former Montreal Stock Exchange building on François-Xavier St. in Old Montreal. Podbrey was the artistic director of the newly founded Centaur Theatre, with Auerbach acting as president and founding chairman.
Having seen and admired the work of South African playwright Athol Fugard in London, Podbrey introduced his work to the North American theatre scene by staging People Are Living There at the Centaur in 1975. Podbrey held his position as artistic director of the Centaur until his retirement in 1997, when he was succeeded by Gordon McCall. He then returned to South Africa and founded Mopo Cultural Trust, a non-profit devoted to developing South African theatre.
Podbrey was awarded membership of the Order of Canada on April 19, 1991, for his services to the performing arts in Canada.
Film and television performances DateTitleRoleNotes 1960Scotland Yard (BBC TV series)DetectiveEpisode: "Information Received"1964A Christmas Night with the StarsVicarEpisode dated December 24, 1964 1965Out of the UnknownDirectorEpisode: "A Stranger in the Family"1965The Wednesday PlaySergeantEpisode: "The Girl Who Loved Robots"1964-66Hugh and I2 episodes 1964-1967Theatre 6252 episodes 1971Doodle FilmVoiceShort 1974Why Rock the Boat?Guest Speaker 1975Aucassin and NicoletteNarratorShort 1977Strangers at the DoorShort 1981Happy Birthday to MeDr. Feinblum1982Odyssey of the PacificPoliceman1982-1983The Mysterious Cities of GoldGovernor Pizarro39 episodes1985One Step Away1986Spearfield's DaughterLondon Editor1987The Last Straw Dr. Cameron1991Urban AngelNewton MackenzieEpisode: "Battered Lives" 1992The Boys of St. VincentArchbishop1993Love and Human RemainsThe Theatre Director1994Mrs. Parker and the Vicious CircleLong Island Investor1996Everything to GainThe Priest1998The Adventures of SinbadFinEpisode: "Castle Keep"1998The Sleep RoomDr. Gottlieb1998Inside Out (1998 film)Costa
Bibliography Charlebois, Gaetan. "Maurice Podbrey." Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia. N.p., 5 July 2013. Web.
Marsh, James H. "Centaur Theatre." The Canadian Encyclopedia: Year 2000 Edition. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 2000. 425-26. Print.
Podbrey, Maurice, and R. Bruce. Henry. Half Man, Half Beast: Making a Life in Canadian Theatre. Montréal: Véhicule Press, 1997. Print.
References
External links Interview with Theatre Museum Canada, 30 May 2007