- John Orrell
John Orrell (
December 31 1934 –September 16 2003 ) was an author, theatre historian, and English professor at theUniversity of Alberta . TheNew York Times described him as the “historian whose intellectual detective work laid the groundwork for the 1997 re-creation of Shakespeare’s original Globe Theater.” [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFD6133DF93BA1575AC0A9659C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/D/Deaths%20(Obituaries)]Life and work
Orrell was born in Kent,
England . After completing his National Service as a pilot at theNATO base inMoose Jaw, Saskatchewan , he obtained a degree in English atUniversity College, Oxford , followed by a Ph.D. at theUniversity of Toronto . In1961 he joined the English department at the University of Alberta inEdmonton , where he lived for the rest of his life.Orrell wrote and presented documentaries for
CBC Television on a wide range of subjects, fromLouis Riel toavalanche control to theRenaissance andElizabethan culture. His book "The Quest for Shakespeare’s Globe", published byCambridge University Press in1983 , brought him international recognition, and led to him serving as advisor to the architect forSam Wanamaker ’s reconstruction ofShakespeare's Globe theatre inSouthwark ,London . He also wrote several other books on theatre history, including "Fallen Empires: Lost Theatres of Edmonton 1881-1914" (1981) which was reissued in2007 .John Orrell died in Edmonton on
September 16 2003 from cancer. In June2004 he was posthumously given the Sam Wanamaker Award at the Globe in London. In October 2004, during Edmonton’s centennial celebration, he was named one of the 100 Edmontonians of the century. [http://www.edmonton.ca/OcctopusDocs/Public/Complete/Reports/CC/Elected-1995/2004-11-16/2004%20summary%20report.doc] His son is the scientist and authorDavid Orrell .Books by John Orrell
*"Fallen Empires: Lost Theatres of Edmonton 1881–1914" (1981)
*"The Quest for Shakespeare’s Globe" (1983)
*"The Theatres of Inigo Jones and John Webb" (1985)
*"The Human Stage: English Theatre Design 1567–1840" (1988)
*"Rebuilding Shakespeare’s Globe" (1989), written withAndrew Gurr Awards
* 2004
Sam Wanamaker Prize
* 100 Edmontonians of the CenturyExternal links
* [http://www.canlit.ca/reviews-review.php?id=13889 Canadian Literature’s review of "Fallen Empires"]
* [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DEFD6133DF93BA1575AC0A9659C8B63&n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Subjects/D/Deaths%20(Obituaries) Obituary in New York Times]
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article37327.ece Obituary in the Independent]
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