His own troubled childhood gave him empathy
for the suffering of others
By Sandra Martin
A man whose own early life was emotionally and economically destitute, Allan King embraced film as an entry point to other people's traumas – not to ridicule or exploit them, but to empathize with the human condition in its infinite variety. Unlike many Canadian filmmakers who are, in Mordecai Richler's inimitable phrase, world-famous, coast to coast, Mr. King was renowned as a filmmaker far beyond our borders.
Self-taught, curious, intellectual, passionate, he transformed documentaries from beautiful, geographical travelogues into gritty chronicles of real peoples' troubled lives with genre-busting films such as Warrendale , A Married Couple , Dying at Grace and Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company.
He died yesterday at his home in Toronto, two months after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. Mr. King, who was 79, is survived by his third wife Colleen Murphy, four children, six grandchildren, his sister Sheila DeJong and his extended family. A memorial service is planned for the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto on Monday, June 22. [rc]
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© Copyright 2009 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc
June 16, 2009
CANADA: Allan King's documentaries spoke to the human condition
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TORONTO, Ontario / Globe and Mail / National / June 16, 2009
Obituary
ALLAN KING
His own troubled childhood gave him empathy
for the suffering of others
By Sandra Martin
A man whose own early life was emotionally and economically destitute, Allan King embraced film as an entry point to other people's traumas – not to ridicule or exploit them, but to empathize with the human condition in its infinite variety. Unlike many Canadian filmmakers who are, in Mordecai Richler's inimitable phrase, world-famous, coast to coast, Mr. King was renowned as a filmmaker far beyond our borders.
Self-taught, curious, intellectual, passionate, he transformed documentaries from beautiful, geographical travelogues into gritty chronicles of real peoples' troubled lives with genre-busting films such as Warrendale , A Married Couple , Dying at Grace and Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company.
He died yesterday at his home in Toronto, two months after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. Mr. King, who was 79, is survived by his third wife Colleen Murphy, four children, six grandchildren, his sister Sheila DeJong and his extended family. A memorial service is planned for the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto on Monday, June 22. [rc]
Click here to read more
© Copyright 2009 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc
His own troubled childhood gave him empathy
for the suffering of others
By Sandra Martin
A man whose own early life was emotionally and economically destitute, Allan King embraced film as an entry point to other people's traumas – not to ridicule or exploit them, but to empathize with the human condition in its infinite variety. Unlike many Canadian filmmakers who are, in Mordecai Richler's inimitable phrase, world-famous, coast to coast, Mr. King was renowned as a filmmaker far beyond our borders.
Self-taught, curious, intellectual, passionate, he transformed documentaries from beautiful, geographical travelogues into gritty chronicles of real peoples' troubled lives with genre-busting films such as Warrendale , A Married Couple , Dying at Grace and Memory for Max, Claire, Ida and Company.
He died yesterday at his home in Toronto, two months after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. Mr. King, who was 79, is survived by his third wife Colleen Murphy, four children, six grandchildren, his sister Sheila DeJong and his extended family. A memorial service is planned for the Isabel Bader Theatre in Toronto on Monday, June 22. [rc]
Click here to read more
© Copyright 2009 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc
