TORONTO – The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) is among those mourning the February 23, 2017 passing of Jack Gray, in his 90th year.
Gray committed 25 years of his life to working on behalf of Canadian screenwriters, and is being remembered by the WGC as “the driving force” behind the organization’s creation in 1991. The WGC now represents more than 2,200 professional English-language screenwriters in Canada.
He was also the first writer-president of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), serving two terms from 1978-81, and was the last chair of the ACTRA National Writers Council. In addition, Gray was also one of the founders of the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds in 1986, an organization that now works on behalf of 50,000 writers.
A statement issued by the WGC said that Gray believed that screenwriters needed to be represented by a writer-driven organization, and that he galvanized fellow screenwriters, resulting in writers leaving ACTRA and forming the WGC. “What we got was complete control over the craft affairs that mattered most to writers,” Gray was quoted as saying last year on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the WGC.
In 2002, Gray was awarded the WGC’s ‘Writers Block Award for Service to Canadian Screenwriters’.
“Jack cared deeply about writers and was a leader in the international community of screenwriters”, said WGC president Jill Golick, in the statement. “He will not be forgotten.”
