NORMAN MCLAREN'S COLLABORATORS

GUY GLOVER (1910 – 1988)

Guy Glover was Norman McLaren’s life partner from 1937 until McLaren’s death. Glover was an actor and director in theatre and television in London in the 1930s and would be a significant influence on McLaren’s knowledge of and feelings about dance. Often a judge at ballet festivals, he played an important role in the establishment of Canada Council funding for professional dance in Canada. Glover became a senior producer at the National Film Board of Canada and would be the key sounding board for McLaren in the making of his three dance films: Pas de deux, Ballet Adagio and Narcissus

JEAN-PAUL LADOUCEUR (1921 – 1992)

Jean-Paul Ladouceur, a graduate of l'École des beaux-arts de Montréal, was one of the first young artists hired by Norman when he founded the NFB Animation Studio in January 1943. He would become famous as one of the two protagonists, along with Grant Munro, in McLaren's celebrated Neighbours. He held many positions at the National Film Board of Canada and CBC Radio-Canada, including animator, designer, presenter and screenwriter and was also a celebrated visual artist.

GRANT MUNRO (1923 – 2017)

Grant Munro was a Canadian filmmaker and animator. He was a protégé of Norman McLaren and collaborated closely with him on several of his films, most famously in Neighbours where he played one of the two protagonists. He was one of the earliest and longest-serving members of the National Film Board of Canada, making films full of innovation and wit, which have influenced other filmmakers.

JOHN GRIERSON (1898 – 1972)

Scotsman John Grierson is known as the father of the social documentary and he also coined the term “documentary”. In 1938, Grierson came to Canada to advise the Canadian government on film policy. One consequence was the National Film Board of Canada and Grierson would be the first commissioner. In the war years, Grierson created the ethos that still drives the National Film Board of Canada and has made it a major world force in documentary and animation film. Grierson believed that one could be both “a public servant and an artist.” He discovered McLaren as a student in Glasgow and brought him to Canada in 1941.

EVELYN LAMBART (1914 – 1999)

Evelyn Lambart was a Canadian animator and director with the National Film Board of Canada. She was Norman McLaren’s filmmaking partner for 21 years, collaborating on films such as Begone Dull Care, A Chairy Tale, Rythmetic and Mosaic. She also made several of her own films and perfected the animation technique of hinged metal cut-outs made from lithograph plate which she would then paint and animate. Lambart used this technique in seven award-winning films.

Maurice Blackburn

(1914 – 1988)

Maurice Blackburn was a Canadian composer, who composed a multitude of scores for the National Film Board of Canada films, some for Norman McLaren. Experimental by nature, his soundtracks took many forms including musique concrete. Blackburn composed the music for McLaren’s animation film Blinkity Blank in 1954 which won the Short Film Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. In this, the score was built around the element of chance in the performance.

LUDMILLA CHIRIAEFF (1924 –1996)

Ludmilla Chiriaeff is popularly considered the godmother of ballet in Québec. A dancer, choreographer and teacher, she founded Montréal’s Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and Académie des Grands Ballets Canadiens in 1958, followed by l'École supérieure de danse du Québec in 1966. She choreographed for several shows on CBC Television in the 1950s and was the choreographer of Norman McLaren’s ground-breaking film Pas de deux in 1966. Of collaborating with McLaren, Chiriaeff memorably said, “When you work with McLaren, you enter Norman’s Land.”

OSCAR PETERSON (1925 – 2007)

Oscar Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He released over 200 recordings, won eight Grammy Awards and received numerous other awards and honours. He is considered one of the world’s greatest jazz pianists and played thousands of concerts worldwide in a career spanning more than 60 years. Norman McLaren’s 1948 film Begone Dull Care was created, to quote McLaren as “a visual expression of the spirit of Peterson’s music.”

RENÉ JODOIN (1920 – 2015)

René Jodoin, whom Norman McLaren labelled “the National Film Board of Canada philosopher” joined the Board in 1943. Another protégé of McLaren, he was an animation director who worked in the Board’s original animation unit and Science Unit, until he founded the Frenchlanguage animation studio of the National Film Board of Canada in 1966. A teacher by temperament, he made vibrant films on geometry and the jet engine that fulfilled John Grierson's dictum of being both public service and art. Jodoin also produced the first computer-made films at the Board.

MARGARET MERCIER (1937 – )

Margaret Mercier is a celebrated Canadian actress and ballet dancer and was featured in Norman McLaren’s film Pas de deux. She danced with London’s Sadler’s Wells (later The Royal Ballet), Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and The Joffrey Ballet among others. She is also a renowned teacher and has taught at the Royal Ballet School, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and The Royal Danish Ballet.