The Globe
July 13, 2024
Les died quietly at home surrounded by the love of his
family on July 8, 2024. Les will be greatly missed by Sandra his wife of 54
years, their children and grandchildren. He will be remembered as a man who
loved every minute with each and every one of his family. Les was generous,
creative, fond of art, music, drama. He had prodigious memory for poems, and
bad jokes. Les used to say that the last 29 years, of retirement with his wife,
Sandra were the happiest in his life. He painted and exhibited with the Toronto
Mark Makers 6, while Sandra was active at the ROM. We were travelers,
gardeners, and cooks together. We are proud parents and friends of three
children and six grandchildren Caitlin, Brian, Alex, Erika, & Miranda,
Diego, Anna, Maya, & Marc, Maureen, Sean, Ryan all rather talented and
amazing. A graduate of U of T, Les spent most of his time in the theater, but
they let him graduate with an Honors BA in English anyway. He wrote for the
Varsity and the UC newspaper, edited the literary magazine, did some debating,
went to classes, paid his way by designing silk screen posters and working in
summer stock theater. After graduation, Les worked as an actor. He married his
high school sweetheart, Wendy Michener, mother of his two daughters, who died
in1969. Les and Wendy went abroad to seek wisdom, fame and fortune, writing
freelance articles about the arts in the UK, Europe and Russia. With a Canada
Council Scholarship, Les studied design for theater at le Centre Dramatique de
l'Est in Strasbourg. He came back to work for a group of Canadian theatres in
Toronto, Halifax, and Vancouver. He was best known for his work at the COC, and
the Toronto and Broadway production of "Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and
Living in Paris". Along the way he joined the CBC in design, and then
training. He was a founding director of Associated Designers of Canada,
international organizations…INPUT, PREPUT, and IBTOC. After retirement he
continued to work with friends on issues that they cared about, in particular
promoting the voices of the disadvantaged groups by bringing talented
indigenous people and people of color into careers in broadcasting. They
trained journalists and production staff for APTN newsroom, for SABC at the end
of Apartheid, for CIDA in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as a number of projects
to attract persons with disabilities into jobs in the media. The family would
like to thank Dr. Whalen from Temmy Latner Palliative Care, & Spectrum,
Sprint Senior Care, Its all Good Care, Societies for their invaluable help and
care. A private family funeral has been held.
LAWRENCE, Les (Leslie George Lawrence)
Born: 7/2/1934, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died: 7/8/2024, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Les Lawrence’s western – actor:
Hawkeye and the Last of the Mohicans (TV) – 1957 (Murfrey)
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