Noted actor Mary Morter dies at 83

Canadian theatre companies such as the Barn Players in Toronto, as well as Instant Theatre, Pendulum Theatre and the Centaur Theatre in Montreal, were the more important projects during her life.

Morter, who was active in local theatre activities in Westmount in the last few years, also accumulated a significant number of casting credits in films and television programs shot in Canada from the early 1970s until last year.

According to the Internet Movie Database, which is one of the world's largest online collections of movie and television information, Morter played her first film role in The Apprentice, a 1971 romantic drama starring Susan Sarandon, which was directed by independent Montreal filmmaker Larry Kent.

In 1974, she had a minor role in Why Rock the Boat?, which was based on the novel by Westmounter William Weintraub, who also wrote the screenplay.

Two years later, she landed a bit part in The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, which starred a young Jodie Foster, who was relatively unknown then. In 1978, Morter appeared in Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang, based on the children's book by the late Mordecai Richler.

Morter also appeared extensively in television commercials, including spots for Loto Quebec last October. She played her last role in a TV production when she was cast in an episode of the CBC series Sophie, which was broadcast this past February.

Children returned for funeral

Morter's daughter, Jennifer, who returned from her home in Spain in order to attend her mother's funeral, spent her childhood in Westmount, along with her brother, Michael, who also arrived this week from British Columbia.

"They had always been involved in theatre and arts," she said, describing how Morter and her husband shared the same interest.

"And so when they came to Canada, we started off in Toronto … and then we moved to Montreal, where she began Instant Theatre. She was the producer of it. It was in Place Ville Marie at lunchtime. It consisted of doing one-act plays for businessmen."

According to Jennifer Morter, Mary played a key role promoting English-language theatre in Montreal, which was almost non-existent when she arrived. "There were no other full-time English theatre companies here, and that gave birth to things like the Playwrights' Workshop and Centaur Theatre," she said.

In recent years, Morter remained quite sprightly and would sometimes attend music and dance evenings organized at the NDG Legion on de Maisonneuve Boulevard. Some years back, she was featured in a photo on the cover of the West End Chronicle (the Examiner's sister publication) dancing enthusiastically with a male partner.

"She liked her line dancing and enjoyed a good social get-together," said Jennifer.