Desmond Steven McAnuff was born on June 19,1952 and is the American-Canadian former artistic director of Canada's Stratford Festival and director of such Broadway musical theatre productions as Big River, The Who's Tommy and Jersey Boys.
17 Facts About Des McAnuff
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Des McAnuff lived briefly in Guelph, Ontario, attending grade 4 at St George's Public School.
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Des McAnuff attended Ryerson Polytechnical Institute, but never completed his degree.
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Des McAnuff worked with the Toronto Free Theatre as a director, and after several plays that had limited success, he left the Canadian scene for New York City, where he co-founded the Dodger Theatre Company in 1978, where he directed the first production, entitled Gimme Shelter.
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Des McAnuff is a former faculty member of the Juilliard School.
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Des McAnuff was artistic director of the La Jolla Playhouse, which he revived in 1983, during which time the theatre won more than 200 awards.
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Des McAnuff turned over his leadership of the playhouse in 2005 to Michael Greif in order to take a position of leadership at Canada's Stratford Shakespeare Festival.
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In 2008, after a year sharing power with Don Shipley and Marti Maraden, Des McAnuff became the sole artistic director at Stratford.
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Des McAnuff has directed two motion pictures, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Cousin Bette, both of which failed critically and at the box-office.
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On Sunday, October 23,2011, a tribute for Des McAnuff was given by staff and students from Ryerson's Theatre School.
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Des McAnuff married actress Susan Berman in 1984; the couple has one daughter, Julia Des McAnuff, who played a young Karen Sympathy in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle.
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Des McAnuff has won two Tony Awards: as Best Director in 1985 for Big River and again in 1993 for The Who's Tommy.
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Des McAnuff was nominated in 1993 for Best Book, with Pete Townshend on The Who's Tommy, and in 1995 as Best Director for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.
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Des McAnuff was nominated again in 2006 for Best Direction of a Musical, for Jersey Boys, based on the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.
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Des McAnuff was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Director of 1996 for The Who's Tommy at the Shaftesbury Theatre.
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In May 2012, Des McAnuff received the National Arts Centre Award, a companion award of the Governor General's Performing Arts Awards, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts.
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Des McAnuff was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada in 2013.