John Juliani (March 24, 1940,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

– August 21, 2003,

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

) was a

Canadian 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 ...

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

, producer,

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and educator. His career spanned four decades in a number of different media, including radio and film. In addition to his artistic contributions, Juliani was a strong advocate of Canadian theatre and the arts. He is the father of actor

Alessandro Juliani Alessandro Juliani (born July 6) is a Canadian actor and singer. He is notable for playing the roles of Tactical Officer Lieutenant Felix Gaeta on the Sci-Fi Channel television program ''Battlestar Galactica'', Emil Hamilton in ''Smallville'', Jac ...

Career

Juliani trained at the

National Theatre School of Canada The National Theatre School of Canada (NTS, french: École nationale de théâtre du Canada) is a private institution of professional theatre studies in Montreal, Quebec. Established in 1960, the NTS receives its principal funding from grants ...

and was the first alumnus of that school to serve there as a guest teacher. Early in his career, Juliani performed at the

Stratford Festival of Canada The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...

and was a member of the Stratford Shakespearean Festival Company. In 1966, Juliani joined the theatre department of

Simon Fraser University Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia, Canada, with three campuses, all in Greater Vancouver: Burnaby (main campus), Surrey, and Vancouver. The main Burnaby campus on Burnaby Mountain, located ...

as an instructor. At that time, he also established the Savage God Theatre Company. Juliani took the name from a comment made by

William Butler Yeats William Butler Yeats (13 June 186528 January 1939) was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer and one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the Irish Literary Revival and became a pillar of the Irish liter ...

after Yeats had seen a production of Alfred Jarry's ''

Ubu Roi ''Ubu Roi'' (; "Ubu the King" or "King Ubu") is a play by French writer Alfred Jarry, then 23 years old. It was first performed in Paris in 1896, by Aurélien Lugné-Poe's Théâtre de l'Œuvre at the Nouveau-Théâtre (today, the Théâtre de ...

'' to signify literary and theatrical revolution. During 1973 and 1974, under a

grant Grant or Grants may refer to: Places *Grant County (disambiguation) Australia * Grant, Queensland, a locality in the Barcaldine Region, Queensland, Australia United Kingdom * Castle Grant United States * Grant, Alabama * Grant, Inyo County, ...

from the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the fede ...

, Julian traveled and studied world theatre. Afterwards, in 1974, Juliani established the

graduate studies Postgraduate or graduate education refers to academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachelor's) degree. The organization and stru ...

program in theatre at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

. In 1976, Juliani moved to

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

where he produced work with Savage God in both that city and

Toronto 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 anch ...

. In 1978, he received a

Canadian Film Award The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

nomination for Best Actor at the 29th Canadian Film Awards, for his performance as Jean-Baptiste Lagimodière in the film '' Marie-Anne''."Four films nominated for Etrogs". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', August 24, 1978. In 1982, Juliani joined radio drama department of the CBC in Vancouver, where he was the executive producer of special projects until 1997. In 1983, Juliani and

Sharon Riis Sharon Riis (1947 - May 20, 2016) was a Canadian novelist, short story writer and screenwriter.

earned a Genie Award nomination for

Best Original Screenplay The Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay is the Academy Award for the best screenplay not based upon previously published material. It was created in 1940 as a separate writing award from the Academy Award for Best Story. Beginning with the ...

for the film ''

Latitude 55° ''Latitude 55°'' is a 1982 Canadian drama/ adventure film. Plot Wanda Woodsworth ( Andrée Pelletier), a field worker for the Department of Culture, is on her way home to the city after a winter assignment in the northern part of Alberta. H ...

'', which Juliani also directed. That film earned a total of six Genie nominations. Juliani was an active member of artists’ unions and organizations, including Equity, serving on its West Coast Advisory Committee, and

ACTRA The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has 25,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. The orga ...

. He was the National President of the

Directors Guild of Canada The Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) is a Canadian labour union representing more than 5,500 professionals from 48 different occupations in the Canadian film and television industry. Founded in 1962, the DGC represents directors, editors, assist ...

for 1986–1987 and later spent a decade as chairman of the B.C. District Council of the DGC. Juliani also served as President of the Union of British Columbia Performers (ACTRA) from 1998 until his death. Juliani was also a founding member of the editorial board of the Canadian Theatre Review. In Vancouver, under Juliani’s guidance, Savage God undertook a number of projects, including ''The Shakespeare Project'', a programme of

staged reading A stage reading, also known as a staged reading, is a form of theatre without sets or full costumes. The actors, who read from scripts, may be seated, stand in fixed positions, or incorporate minimal stage movement. There is an overlap with t ...

s of the entire works of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

. The project commenced in January 2000, and had been intended to span a number of years. With Juliani’s sudden death after a short battle with liver cancer, Savage God produced the remaining plays in a three-day "Bard-a-Thon" in June 2004, ending with a production of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

''. In addition to founding Savage God, Juliani was a co-founder and co-artistic director of "Opera Breve", a self-styled "micro" company.

References

External links

*
Savage God biography

Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juliani, John 1940 births 2003 deaths Canadian theatre directors Canadian male screenwriters Canadian male radio actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male television actors Canadian people of Italian descent Deaths from liver cancer Film directors from Montreal National Theatre School of Canada alumni Male actors from Montreal Writers from Montreal 20th-century Canadian screenwriters