Shirley Jean DouglasOC (April 2, 1934 – April 5, 2020) was a Canadian television, film and stage actress and activist. Her acting career combined with her family name made her recognizable in Canadian film, television and national politics.
Douglas's acting career began in 1950 with a role in the Regina Little Theatre entry at the Dominion Drama Festival,[3] where she won the best actress award. In 1952 Shirley graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and stayed in England for several years, performing for theatre and television, before returning to Canada in 1957.
Douglas was the mother of three children: Thomas Emil Sicks from her marriage to Canadian prairie brewery heir Timothy Emil Sicks[4] and twins Rachel Sutherland and Kiefer Sutherland from her second marriage to Canadian actor Donald Sutherland (1966–70).[1]
Our jobs, we move around a great deal … and that is the reality that my children grew up with — is being left, and not happily.[2]
By 2009, Douglas was in a wheelchair due to a degenerative spine condition that caused her severe pain.[2]
Douglas died on April 5, 2020 due to complications from pneumonia after she contracted Covid-19.[5]
Activism
Douglas moved to Los Angeles, California, in 1967 after marrying actor Donald Sutherland. She became involved in the American Civil Rights Movement, the campaign against the Vietnam War, and later on behalf of immigrants and women. She helped establish the fundraising group "Friends of the Black Panthers". In 1969, she was arrested in Los Angeles, for Conspiracy to Possess Unregistered Explosives, after she allegedly attempted to purchase hand grenades for the Black Panthers. She claimed that the FBI was trying to frame her and spent five days in jail.[4] Subsequently, the U.S. government denied her a work permit based on this incident. Douglas, by then divorced from Sutherland, was forced to leave the U.S. in 1977. She and her three children moved to Toronto.[2][6]
Douglas’ co-founded the first chapter in Canada of the Performing Artists for Nuclear Disarmament.[2][7]
(2004) received the "Distinguished Canadian Award" by the Seniors’ Education Centre at the University of Regina, an award first presented to her father almost 20 years before
(2006) In November, Shirley gave an honorary lecture at Trent University
(2009) Shirley Douglas was awarded the International Achievement Award at the 2009 Crystal Awards presented in Toronto by Women in Film & Television - Toronto, November 30, 2009
