Adrian Pecknold (1920–1999) was a Canadian

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, and author of the book ''Mime: The Step Beyond Words''. He is popularly known for his creation and depiction of Poco the Clown in the popular Canadian children's television program ''

Mr. Dressup ''Mr. Dressup'' is a Canadian children's television series, starring Ernie Coombs, a former understudy of Fred Rogers, in the title role. It originally ran on CBC from 1967 to 1996, soon becoming an iconic presence in Canadian media. Producti ...

''. Pecknold studied mime at L'École Jacques Lecoq in

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from October 1962 to April 1963. Following this, he joined Toronto Workshop Productions as an actor and instructor of mime. In 1968, he founded Canada's first professional mime company, the

Canadian Mime Theatre Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

, in

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. In 1974 he began the Canadian Mime School, the first Canadian professional mime school. From 1982 to 1988 he taught at the

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, and from 1982 to 1999 he taught at the Ryerson Theatre School,

Ryerson Polytechnical Institute Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

, in

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada.

Awards and honors

Pecknold was awarded the Queen's Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977 in recognition of his contribution to theatre and theatre education in Canada.

References

* Pecknold, Adrian. (1982). Mime: The Step Beyond Words. Beaverbooks. *(1998)
Carte Blanche. The Canadian Mime Theatre: A Thirty-Year Retrospective
Canadian Theatre Review, Issue 96. {{DEFAULTSORT:Pecknold, Adrian Canadian mimes 1920 births 1999 deaths L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq alumni Canadian expatriates in France