William Needles

George William Needles (January 2, 1919 – January 12, 2016) was an American-born Canadian actor and teacher whose Broadway appearances spanned from 1962 to 1970. Born in Yonkers, New York, he was raised in Kitchener, Ontario, where his father, Ira Needles, served as president of B.F. Goodrich Canada, a founder and later chancellor of the University of Waterloo, and a founder of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

Needles has said he turned to acting out of a desire to avoid business school. His father, after warning him about the difficulties of the profession, directed him toward rigorous training at the Goodman School of Drama in Chicago. In 1943, Needles enlisted in the United States Army and served in the Pacific theater, first with the 7th Infantry Division during the Aleutian Islands Campaign and later with the New York 27th Infantry as a chaplain's assistant during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945. He later recalled reciting soliloquies from Hamlet and Henry V as a means of maintaining his composure during that campaign. Following the war, he returned to Canada and began performing in Toronto, initially in radio drama and subsequently in television.

Needles became a member of the Stratford Festival acting company at its founding in 1953, beginning his tenure under artistic director Sir Tyrone Guthrie and going on to work under eight artistic directors over the course of his career. He accumulated more than one hundred roles with the company, among them Albany in King Lear in 1964 and again in 1972, the Duke of Venice in The Merchant of Venice in 1996, the White King in Alice Through the Looking-Glass in 1996, the Lord Mayor in Richard III in 1997, the Shepherd in Oedipus Rex in 1997, Merriman in The Importance of Being Earnest in 2000, and Mortimer in Henry VI: Revenge in France in 2002. His performances as the Inquisitor in Shaw's Saint Joan and as the Chaplain in Brecht's Mother Courage were among those that drew particular attention during his time with the Festival. Actor Colm Feore recalled Needles's generosity during the 1986 production of A Winter's Tale, in which Feore, playing Leontes, was required to physically throw Needles's character Antigonus across the stage. When Feore apologized afterward, Needles told him that he must do whatever is necessary to find the character. Feore also credited Needles with conveying to younger actors a sense of continuity and shared theatrical history on the Stratford stages.

His Broadway credits include The Cherry Orchard, Moby Dick, and Hadrian VII. In 1969, he appeared in Hadrian VII alongside Alec McCowen. Beyond Stratford and Broadway, Needles performed at venues including the Manitoba Theatre Centre, South Coast Repertory in Southern California, and stages across the North American continent. He also appeared in more than twenty motion pictures, among them the CBC's production of Macbeth, in which he played Banquo opposite Sean Connery in the title role.

During periods between Stratford seasons, Needles earned a certificate as a Master Teacher cum laude from the University of California, Irvine, where he taught acting for many years at the Claire Trevor School of the Arts. One of his students there was Jon Lovitz, who described Needles as the nicest teacher he ever had and stated that he based the Saturday Night Live character Master Thespian on him.

Needles was also among the founders of the Actors' Fund of Canada. In the mid-1950s, he joined Jane Mallett, Barbara Hamilton, Donald Davis, and Barry Morse in each contributing a symbolic dollar to establish the organization, which provides financial support to actors and other members of the theatrical professions in Canada.

On November 15, 2000, the Governor General of Canada appointed Needles a Member of the Order of Canada, citing his nearly fifty years of leadership and inspiration at the Stratford Festival. He received an honorary doctorate, an LL.D., from the University of Waterloo, and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002 and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012. A Stratford company star bearing his name is located in front of Knox Presbyterian Church in Stratford. He had five children, including arts administrator Jane Needles and playwright Dan Needles, as well as fifteen grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.