Betty Jane Wylie | |
|---|---|
| Born | Betty Jane McKenty February 21, 1931 Winnipeg, Manitoba |
| Occupation | Screenwriter, playwright, author |
| Alma mater | University of Manitoba |
| Notable awards | Order of Canada |
| Spouse | William Tennant (Bill) Wylie |
Betty Jane Wylie, CM (born February 21, 1931) is a Canadian writer and playwright.
Born Betty Jane McKenty in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1951 and a Master of Arts degree in 1952 from the University of Manitoba. [1] Soon after graduation, she married William Tennant (Bill) Wylie and the couple raised a family of four children. [1] The family moved from Winnipeg to Stratford, Ontario where her husband took up a position with the Stratford Festival. With his sudden death in 1972, Wylie took up writing professionally to support herself and her family. [1]
In her book "The Write Track" she discusses how to succeed as a freelance writer in Canada. Betty Jane Wylie was a published poet first, then a puppet playwright, then a live-stage playwright for both children and adults before shifting to writing and screenwriting for television and film. She later shifted her focus to screenplays and books. Her stage plays have been produced at the Manitoba Theatre Centre, St. Lawrence Centre, National Arts Centre, Stratford Third Stage (now the Tom Patterson Theatre), Factory Theatre, Theatre Passe Muraille and Theatre Direct in Toronto, and other theatres in Canada (Saskatchewan, Alberta, NW Territories, etc. as well as various fringe festivals; in New York (AMAS Repertory Theatre), [2] Minneapolis and Waterloo, Iowa, and in New Zealand, London, England, and South Africa. In the course of her career, she has had 36 stage plays (and musicals) produced and published about 40 books of non-fiction, biography, belles letters, poetry and cooking.
Her first TV movie, Coming of Age (co-written with Donald Martin) won two Geminis (for best supporting actors) in 1995. [3] She was a Bunting Fellow at Radcliffe, has been named a Woman of Distinction by the YWCA, and given an Alumni Jubilee Award by the University of Manitoba where she received an honorary doctorate (D.Litt.) in May 2003. [1]
In 2003, she was made a Member of the Order of Canada, Canada's highest civilian honor. [4] [5]
Wylie worked as a freelance journalist and columnist and published widely in the Canadian press and national magazines. Her work has appeared in MacLean's, Chatelaine, Homemakers, Toronto Life, Miss Chatelaine (now Flare), Calgary Magazine, Canadian Living, Performing Arts, Canadian Theatre Review, Recipes Only, Fiddlehead, Forum, Fifty Plus, Gourmet (USA), Today, The Canadian, The Icelandic Canadian, Prairie Fire, Quest, City Woman, City Magazine, Ontario Living, Leisureways, the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Winnipeg Free Press, and the Boston Globe. In 1978, she wrote a series on single women living in the city for the Toronto Star. [24] [25] In 1979, she wrote a series on the cost of living for widows and old age pensioners. [26] [27] [28] [29] In 1981, she wrote an investigative series "Underground in Parkdale" for the Toronto Star focusing on the living conditions of discharged psychiatric patients living in the boarding houses in the Parkdale neighborhood of Toronto. [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35]
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