Cecil Broadhurst

Cecil Arthur Broadhurst (May 8, 1908 – December 16, 1981) was a Canadian artist, songwriter, actor, and playwright born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. A relative of George Broadhurst, the New York theatrical producer who founded the Broadhurst Theatre, Cecil developed wide-ranging creative interests that spanned visual art, music, film, and the stage over the course of his life.

Broadhurst began painting at the age of fifteen, studying under LeMoine FitzGerald and Frank Franz Johnston, both members of Canada's Group of Seven. He struck out independently in 1932, but the economic pressures of the Great Depression drew him into other pursuits, including work as a bush pilot, radio, theatre, and a period of formal study that included a year at the Detroit Art Academy. His return to the arts was prompted in part by a Canadian producer who commissioned him to paint a stage set, an experience that redirected his focus toward theatre and songwriting.

He went on to write more than a hundred cowboy songs. Among them was "There'll be a New World Beginning from Tonight," which became a recurring closing number at the Christmas concerts of Malcolm Sargent held at London's Royal Albert Hall. In 1940, Broadhurst appeared in the film Susan and God, starring Joan Crawford, performing one of his cowboy songs on screen.

Broadhurst aligned his creative work with the Moral Re-Armament movement, known today as Initiatives of Change. That association led to his most prominent theatrical achievement: in 1951 he wrote the book for and co-starred in Jotham Valley, a musical that reached Broadway. The production was subsequently filmed in England in 1952, with at least one member of the original Broadway cast participating. Another stage work, The Cowboy Christmas, was produced in multiple countries in connection with Moral Re-Armament campaigns.

In the 1960s, Broadhurst returned to painting as his primary occupation, establishing a studio in Arivaca, Arizona, where he built a reputation as a painter of the American West. His work entered galleries and private collections across North America as well as in Europe and South America. He died on December 16, 1981.