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Bill Adkins

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For the political candidate see United States House of Representatives elections in Kentucky, 2012#District 4

William 'Bill' Adkins, CM (died March 28, 1982) was a Canadian noted for his 50 plus years service to amateur theatre.[1]

Early life[]

Adkins was born in Winslow, Buckinghamshire,[2][3] circa 1889.[3] He left England for Canada circa 1911,[2] farming near Edmonton[2][3] and working for the Hudson's Bay Company.[2] During World War I, he served with the Canadian Field Artillery in Europe.[2][3] After the war, he returned to Canada, settled in Ottawa, and married Gertrude Helen Green, with whom he had two children.[3] He joined the Department of Indian Affairs, where he met Duncan Campbell Scott through whom he became involved in the theatre.[2][3]

Theatre work[]

Adkins worked backstage on every production of the Ottawa Drama League (later the Ottawa Little Theatre) after 1920.[4][5] Over many years, he worked as electrician, carpenter, scene shifter,[4] scene painter,[2] lighting operator, set designer,[6][7][8] set builder,[9] and, from 1927, stage manager.[2][3][4][10] During World War II, Adkins arranged and stage managed shows for troops.[2][11] Adkins continued as stage manager of the Ottawa Little Theatre after the war, travelling with it to the Dominion Drama Festival and other regional performances.[12][13] He also supervised visiting stage managers when Ottawa hosted drama festivals,[11] and managed the stage and lighting for the outdoor theatre at a summer drama school for children.[14] Adkins was still stage manager at the time that the Ottawa Little Theatre burnt down in 1970,[15] and when it reopened after rebuilding in 1972, with improved stage facilities.[16] He retired from the theatre in 1979,[3] and died in Ottawa on 28 March 1982.[3]

Awards[]

Adkins received a 1960 Canadian Drama Award, in recognition of outstanding contributions to Canadian theatre.[17][18][19][20] In 1973, the first year it was awarded, he was invested with the Member of the Order of Canada,[21][22] "for his 50 years' service to the amateur theatre movement in Ottawa and to the Dominion Drama Festival".[1] In 2013, during their 100th season celebrations, the Ottawa Little Theatre named him as a Cornerstone Inductee, an honor instituted for volunteers who made an extraordinary contribution to the development of the theatre.[23]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Honours - Recipients - Mr. William Adkins, C.M.". http://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-14255. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 Ketchum, W.Q. (24 August 1963). "Faces of Ottawa: William Adkins". The Ottawa Journal. p. 16. https://www.newspapers.com/image/42956340/?terms=%22William%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Ashley, Audrey M. (29 March 1982). "Former OLT manager dies". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 46. https://www.newspapers.com/image/463038420/?terms=%22William%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Alford, Walter (30 November 1935). "Back Stage Staff Work Hard For Drama's Success". The Ottawa Journal. p. 25. https://www.newspapers.com/image/46473235/?terms=%22Bill%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  5. ↑ "Bill Adkins at L. Theater for 39 Years". The Ottawa Citizen. 15 October 1960. p. 20. https://www.newspapers.com/image/457008453/?terms=%22Bill%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  6. ↑ Frankham, Roger (3 January 1942). "Look For Man Behind Scenes When Play Is Great Success". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 26. https://www.newspapers.com/image/456497061/?terms=%22Bill%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  7. ↑ Thistle, Lauretta (26 April 1960). "Does Agatha Christie Despise Her Audience?". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 13. https://www.newspapers.com/image/457077363/?terms=%22William%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  8. ↑ Daley, Frank (7 January 1967). "Ottawa Little Theatre". The Ottawa Journal. p. 34. https://www.newspapers.com/image/46463914/?terms=%22Bill%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  9. ↑ Devlin, Edward "Ted" (1998). "3. "The Stanley Cup was a Centrepiece on our Dining-Room Table"". In Finnigan, Joan. Tallying the Tales of the Old-timers. GeneralStore PublishingHouse. p. 33. ISBN 9781896182957. https://books.google.com.au/books?id=BnBbjOKJ98gC&pg=PA33&dq=%22Tallying+the+tales+of+the+old-timers%22+Adkins&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwihzvrfvLjgAhVaWX0KHfVOAzcQ6AEIKjAA#v=onepage&q=%22Tallying%20the%20tales%20of%20the%20old-timers%22%20Adkins&f=false. Retrieved 13 February 2019. "Above all there was Bill Adkins, the English-born stage manager and set-builder, who put it all together and made it happen on stage." 
  10. ↑ Meiklejohn, J.M.C.; Johnston, edited by Denis W (Fall 1989). "THEATRE IN OTTAWA IN THE 1930s: A MEMOIR". https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/TRIC/article/view/7312/8371. Retrieved 13 February 2019. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 "Teen Corn Festival May Not Be So Corny". The Ottawa Citizen. 12 May 1949. p. 11. https://www.newspapers.com/image/456563189/?terms=%22Bill%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  12. ↑ Coates, Richard (21 March 1951). "Set Delivery Delay Sweats ODL Director". The Ottawa Journal. https://www.newspapers.com/image/48800245/?terms=%22Bill%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  13. ↑ "Pinocchio Packs His Bag And Marks It 'DDF, Rush'". The Ottawa Citizen. 12 May 1951. p. 24 (S3). https://www.newspapers.com/image/456706015/?terms=%22Bill%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  14. ↑ Cooper, Philip (12 July 1958). "Manotick Farm Is Now School For Thespians". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 21. https://www.newspapers.com/image/456914992/?terms=%22Bill%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  15. ↑ McIndoe, Jane (4 July 1970). "The History of the Ottawa Little Theatre - A Tradition to Rebuild On". The Ottawa Journal. p. 6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/41478827/?terms=%22Bill%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  16. ↑ "Curtain goes up on Ottawa Little Theatre". The Ottawa Citizen. 29 January 1972. p. 25. https://www.newspapers.com/image/460181690/?terms=%22Bill%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  17. ↑ "Bill Adkins Honored". The Ottawa Journal. 3 December 1960. p. 52. https://www.newspapers.com/image/41532055/?terms=%22Bill%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  18. ↑ "Here and There: Award For Stage Manager". The Ottawa Citizen. 3 December 1960. p. 26. https://www.newspapers.com/image/457008940/?terms=%22William%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  19. ↑ "Conversation Piece". The Gazette. Montreal, Quebec. 7 December 1960. p. 25. https://www.newspapers.com/image/420590185/?terms=%22William%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  20. ↑ "Little Theatre Play Tops Drama Festival". The Ottawa Journal. 20 March 1961. p. 9. https://www.newspapers.com/image/41536692/?terms=%22William%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  21. ↑ Grantham, Ronald (9 April 1973). "Canadian honors system enters fourth stage". The Ottawa Citizen. p. 16. https://www.newspapers.com/image/462931956/?terms=%22William%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  22. ↑ "Appointments made to Order of Canada". The Leader-Post. Regina, Saskatchewan. 23 December 1972. p. 35. https://www.newspapers.com/image/495511930/?terms=%22William%2BAdkins%22. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
  23. ↑ "Cornerstone Inductees". http://www.ottawalittletheatre.com/cornerstone-inductees/. Retrieved 12 February 2019. 
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