Leon Marr

Leon Marr (May 26, 1948 – July 22, 2019) was a Canadian film and television director and screenwriter, who won a Genie Award for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 8th Genie Awards in 1987 for Dancing in the Dark.[1] He was also a nominee, but did not win, for Best Director.[2]

Early life

Marr was born in 1948 in Toronto, Ontario, the son of a Jewish Polish father and a Catholic mother. The family name, before emigration to Canada, had been Marijinsky.[3] Before becoming a notable film director, Marr attended both the University of Toronto and the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.[4]

Career

Marr directed several short films, including Flowers In The Sand, the theme music for which was composed and performed by Dan Hill. He wrote several unproduced screenplays and worked as an assistant to Norman Jewison on the 1982 film Best Friends.[5] The first longer film Marr worked on was known as Flyaway Paul, for which he wrote the screenplay in 1980.[6] After the director decided to turn the movie into a comedy, production was cut and it was never released.

He first read Joan Barfoot's novel Dancing in the Dark in 1983,[6] and worked for three years to get the film made after securing the rights.[6]

Following Dancing in the Dark, Marr optioned the film rights to Judith Thompson's play I Am Yours;[7] however, the financing didn't come through and the film was never made.

Marr subsequently worked primarily in television, directing episodes of Forever Knight, The Hitchhiker and The Hidden Room and taking a guest acting role in the pilot episode of Saving Hope. His second feature film, The Second Time Around,[8] starring Linda Thorson and Stuart Margolin, was released in 2018.

Marr died on July 22, 2019, in Toronto.[9]

References
  1. "Empire strikes 8 Genies It's on to the Oscar for Quebec comedy". Toronto Star, March 19, 1987.
  2. "Arcand's Decline tops Genie nominations with 13". The Globe and Mail, February 5, 1987.
  3. personal communication
  4. Jay Scott, "Canadian film dances darkly into spotlight". The Globe and Mail, May 16, 1986.
  5. Taylor, Noel (December 12, 1986). "A thriller of the hearth that compels without suspense". The Ottawa Citizen.
  6. "Leon Marr's a word-of-mouth success story". Toronto Star, October 11, 1986.
  7. "Thomson play heads for screen". Toronto Star, June 9, 1988.
  8. "Telefilm Canada to fund the production of 14 English-language films for a total of $8.1 million" Archived 2015-09-10 at the Wayback Machine. Telefilm Canada, July 28, 2015.
  9. "Director Leon Marr passes away". Playback, August 1, 2019.
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