George Bloomfield

George Norman Bloomfield (December 2, 1929 – May 13, 2011) was a Canadian director, producer and actor in film and television, mostly in Canada. He was the director of the sketch comedy television series Second City Television (SCTV) from 1977 to 1979, the comedy series Fraggle Rock from 1983 to 1987, and the comedy series Due South from 1994 to 1999. He directed feature films, beginning with Jenny in 1970. He directed several television feature films, such as Riel. He also was a stage director, such as the premiere of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe in 1967.

Personal life Bloomfield was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 1929, the youngest of four children in a Jewish family. His father Charles Bloomfield dressed the windows of The Seagram Company. His mother Bessie was a pianist who accompanied silent films and played for opera singers. He had two sisters, Clarice and Joy, and a brother Sunny. Clarice had a son, Maury who became an actor on the recommendation of George.

He attended McGill University, where he joined the college review and the player's club. He wrote a play at college and ended up directing it himself "because nobody else could understand it". He graduated and entered law school. He left law school after one year and he went to work at the National Film Board. He was fired after three years and he spent the next year in England following actors to learn their craft. He returned to law school for second-year law but quit law for good after three weeks.

Bloomfield was married twice. His first wife was journalist Barbara Amiel, ending in divorce in 1971. He married Louisa Veralta in 1977 and they stayed married for the rest of Bloomfield's life. Louisa and George had a daughter Daccia Bloomfield, who is an actor and author.

Career Bloomfield was considered a pioneer in Canadian film and television. In 1958, he was a co-star in The Rainmaker with Sylvia Gillespie at the La Poudriere theatre in Montreal.

Also in the 1950s, he worked on films for the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) as an assistant director. After being fired from the NFB, he helped found a stage production company in Montreal. In 1960, he helped found the National Theatre School of Canada, where he was one of its first teachers. In the theatre audience was Robert Alan, head of drama at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Alan invited Bloomfield to do a dry run of a production. Bloomfield produced 20 minutes of Death of a Salesman and was hired on contract. This led to directing television drama and comedies, starting with six episodes of stage adaptations for the "Festival" anthology series. He would go on to work on CBC projects for most of his professional career.

Bloomfield did not completely leave stage direction behind. Bloomfield directed the premiere of the stage play The Ecstasy of Rita Joe at the Vancouver Playhouse in 1967. This was a very political and timely play about indigenous issues, written by George Ryga, whom Bloomfield befriended.

Bloomfield then left Canada, moving to New York where he worked in movie direction.

Beginning in 1977, he directed 39 episodes of Second City Television sketch comedy series, better known as SCTV, which became widely successful. Several of the actors in SCTV would make appearances in small parts in his two movies in 1980, including John Candy, Joe Flaherty, Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara, some making their film debuts. Two sequel series, SCTV Network and SCTV Channel with many of the same actors were produced from 1981 to 1984, Bloomfield directing the latter.

In 1979, Bloomfield directed the controversial Riel television movie for the CBC, about Louis Riel and the Red River and North-West Rebellions in western Canada. As the movie was based on historical events, and the actors were portraying real-life characters, he had each actor research the history of their characters, and adapt the script to match what they learned. Bloomfield himself stated that he learned a lot about the distinctive Métis culture.

Bloomfield returned to stage direction in 1982, directing Talley's Folly at the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Toronto. He also directed Memoir about Sandra Bernhardt at Toronto Free Theatre, and a revival of The Ecstasy of Rita Joe at the St. Lawrence Centre.

Bloomfield was a prolific director of television series and films in the 1980s, 1990s and early 2000s. He was the primary director of several series, including Fraggle Rock and Due South. He directed episodes of several Canadian series, including Street Legal, North of 60, La Femme Nikita, The Campbells, and The Jane Show.

Filmography Source: IMDB unless otherwise referenced.

+ Feature Movies Year Name Role 1959 Threshold: The Immigrant Meets the School NFB director 1966 Henry V TV director 1970 Jenny director 1972 To Kill a Clown director 1974 Child Under a Leaf director 1976 Paradise Lost TV director 1976 The Rimshots TV director 1978 Hedda Gabler TV director 1978 Nelly McClung TV director 1978 Love on the Nose TV director 1979 Riel TV director 1980 Nothing Personal director 1980 Double Negative director 1989 St Nicholas and the Children director 1990 African Journey TV director 1990 African Journey 2 TV director 1992 The Argon Quest director 1992 Wojeck: Out of the Fire TV director 1994 TekWar: TekLords TV director 1995 The Awakening TV director 1999 Jacob Two Two Meets the Hooded Fang director 2000 Deadly Appearances TV director 2000 Love and Murder TV director

+ Television Year Name Type Role 1956 Guest Stage series director, 1 episode "Etc." 1958 Midsummer Theatre series actor, 1 episode "The Equalizer" 1959 Frontiers series director, 1 episode 1964 Quest series director, 1 episode 1965 The Serial series director, 4 episodes 1964–1967 Festival series director, 6 episodesactor, 1 episode "Heloise and Abelard" 1967 The Way It Is series director, 1 episode "Carpenter by Trade" 1975–1976 Performance series director, 2 episodes "The Good and Faithful Servant" and "Portrait of a Mask" 1976 Peep Show series executive producer 1977 Custard Pie series director, 13 episodes 1977 The King of Kensington series director, 1 episode 1977–1979 SCTV series director, 39 episodes 1978 Sidestreet series director, 1 episode 1983–1984 SCTV Channel series director 1983–1987 Fraggle Rock series director, 29 episodes 1986 Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show series director, 3 episodes 1986–1988 The Campbells series director, 12 episodes 1987 Adderly series director, 1 episode 1988–1989 Blizzard Island series director, 6 episodes 1988–1989 War of the Worlds series director, 6 episodes 1989 Friday the 13th: TV Series series director, 1 episode 1989–1991 My Secret Identity series director, 4 episodes 1990–1991 Street Legal series director, 6 episodes 1990–1992 Neon Rider series director, 6 episodes 1990–1993 E. N. G. series director, 11 episodes 1991 Max Glick series director, 1 episode 1992 Road to Avonlea series director, 2 episodes 1993 North of 60 series director, 3 episodes 1994–1999 Due South series director, 24 episodes 1994 Lonesome Dove: The Series mini-series director, 1 episode 1995 Tekwar series director, 1 episode 1995 Hawkeye series director, 1 episode 1995 Kung Fu: The Legend Continues series director, 1 episode 1997 The Outer Limits series director, 1 episode 1997 La Femme Nikita series director, 3 episodes 1998–2000 Emily of New Moon series director, 3 episodes 1999–2000 Beggars and Choosers series director, 2 episodes 2001 Doc series director, 4 episodes 2001–2002 The Associates series director 2002 Tracker series director, 1 episode 2002 A Nero Wolfe Mystery series director, 2 episodes 2004 Wild Card series director, 1 episode 2006–2007 The Jane Show series director, 8 episodes