Theatrical director, playwright.
Born at Winnipeg on 7 June 1929, he attended Kelvin High School and the University of Manitoba but was expelled from an Arts program in 1947. Eight years later, he graduated as a chartered accountant. In 1958 he was Manager of Winnipeg Little Theatre when it merged with John Hirsch’s Theatre 77 to form the Manitoba Theatre Centre, Canada’s first English-speaking regional theatre company. Hirsch became MTC’s first Artistic Director, and Hendry was its first Business Manager. In 1964 Hendry left for Ontario where he co-founded the Playwrights Guild of Canada and the Toronto Free Theatre and was the first literary manager of the Stratford Festival. He wrote 29 plays. In 1995, he was inducted into the Order of Canada. In 2008, the 50th anniversary of MTC, the MTC Warehouse Theatre was renamed the Tom Hendry Theatre and a statue of Hendry and Hirsch was unveiled outside the entrance of the Manitoba Theatre Centre. He died in December 2012.
See also:
Historic Sites of Manitoba: Manitoba Theatre Centre, 50th Anniversary Sculpture and Plaque (174 Market Avenue, Winnipeg)
Thomas B. Hendry, Canadian Encyclopedia.
University of Manitoba Distinguished Alumni.
“RMTC co-founder Tom Hendry dies at the age of 83”, CBC.
This page was prepared by Christian Cassidy and Gordon Goldsborough.
Page revised: 17 February 2018
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