Jack Creley (March 6, 1926 – March 10, 2004) was an American-born Canadian actor.^[1] Although most prominently a stage actor, he also had film and television roles.

Creley was born inChicago,Illinois, on March 6, 1926.^[1] During theGreat Depression, his family moved toCalifornia, where he acted in amateur theatre as a teenager, until he was old enough to enlist in theUnited States Army late inWorld War II.^[1] He was shot in the shoulder during theBattle of Okinawa, and spent the rest of his life telling the story that he knew he was destined to become an actor when he realized he was responding to the injury like a character in aJohn Wayne film.^[1]

After the end of the war, he went toNew York City to study acting underErwin Piscator at theDramatic Workshop, where he was a classmate ofHarry Belafonte,Tony Curtis andRod Steiger.^[1] He moved toMontreal in 1951 to take a job with the Mountain Theatre Company, and remained there until 1954, when he moved toToronto.^[1] Soon after moving to Toronto, he met David Smith, who would be his partner for the remainder of his life.^[2]

In Toronto, he acted on stage,^[3] including frequent performances at theStratford Festival,^[4] and often appeared inCBC Television anthology series, includingScope,Playbill,CBC Summer Theatre,Encounter,Folio,Startime,Horizon,Playdate and severalWayne and Shuster sketches, as well as performing incabaret shows.^[5]

In 1956, Creley starred in the Canadian production ofSalad Days,^[6] and in 1958 he starred in the Canadian production ofVisit to a Small Planet.^[7] In 1960, he played two roles at the Stratford Festival, as Lord Capulet inRomeo and Juliet and as King Philip inKing John.^[8]

Creley had his first major film role in 1961, in the Western filmThe Canadians.^[9] After completing a run as Holofernes in a Stratford Festival production ofLove's Labour's Lost that summer,^[10] he returned to New York to appear in aBroadway production ofA Man for All Seasons as Cardinal Wolsey.^[11] After completing his run in New York, he appeared in a Stratford Festival production ofThe Gondoliers,^[12] and then went toLondon to appear alongsideCorinne Conley,Dave Broadfoot,Eric House andEric Christmas in the musical revueClap Hands at theHammersmith Theatre.^[13] Following the end of that show's run, most of the cast returned to Canada, although Creley remained in London to take a role as Mr. Staines in the filmDr. Strangelove.^[14]

After returning to Canada, he appeared in productions ofEdward Albee'sThe Zoo Story andAnton Chekhov'sSummer in the Country.^[15] During this time, he also became a popularvoice-over artist for television commercials, recording at least 18 commercial spots in 1965 and 1966.^[16] He directed a musical revue,The Decline and Fall of the Entire World As Seen Through the Eyes of Cole Porter, in 1965 and 1966, and when he stepped in for several shows in the absence of lead performerLouis Negin, it was his first time singing on stage since the end ofClap Hands in 1963.^[16]

In 1966, he appeared asWilfrid Laurier in the CBC Television miniseriesReluctant Nation,^[17] and in 1969 he appeared in the television seriesStrange Paradise as Laslo Thaxton.

In 1970, he starred in the musicalOh, Coward! at Theatre in the Dell, alongsidePatricia Collins andGordon Thomson. Charles Pope from theToronto Star called his performance "magnificent".^[18]

In 1972 he had his second and final Broadway role, appearing in a production ofThere's One in Every Marriage as Roubillon,^[19] and in 1974 he had his last role at Stratford in a production ofThe Imaginary Invalid.^[20] In this era, he began to appear more often in film and television roles, most notably in the filmVideodrome^[21] and the television sitcomSnow Job.^[22] His final role was a guest appearance onE.N.G. in 1990.

Creley and Smith shared ownership of an antique store, The Green Dolphin, beginning in 1955,^[23] and later of a clothing store, Mr. Smith.^[2] They also had a widespread reputation among actors as being excellent hosts of parties; performers such asVivien Leigh,Sean Connery,Richard Burton,Bea Arthur andBilly Dee Williams were frequent houseguests of the couple.^[2]

Late in life, Creley suffered two strokes, and began to developaphasia.^[1] He died on March 10, 2004, in Toronto.^[1]

• Jack Creley atIMDb

• 1926 births
• 2004 deaths
• American male film actors
• American male television actors
• American male stage actors
• American male musical theatre actors
• United States Army personnel of World War II
• American theatre directors
• Canadian male film actors
• Canadian male television actors
• Canadian male stage actors
• Canadian male musical theatre actors
• Canadian theatre directors
• LGBTQ people from Illinois
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• Male actors from Chicago
• Male actors from Toronto
• Musicians from Chicago
• Singers from Toronto
• American emigrants to Canada
• American gay actors
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• 20th-century Canadian male actors
• 20th-century Canadian male singers
• 20th-century American male actors
• 20th-century American male singers
• 20th-century American singers
• 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people
• 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people

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