Tony and Eleanor and the Order of Canada

It was a great pleasure to find on this year's list of persons admitted to the Order of Canada (or elevated to a higher rank) many from the arts community; among them David Cronenberg, Gerald Finley, Victor Davies, Alex Pauk, Jim Munro, and Rick Mercer (who next should be elected Prime Minister).

We were especially pleased to find the names of two outstanding nonagenarians: Antony Holland and Eleanor Collins. Tony Holland, an actor of wide range and a director of great originality, is best known for his founding of Studio 58 at Langara Community College, one of Canada's leading theatre schools. What many may not know is that during WWII, as part of Montgomery's army during the North African campaign, he staged plays for troops all across the desert, including a performance of "Night Must Fall" at the Cairo Opera House. After the war, he was vice-principal of Olivier's Bristol Old Vic, but then, happily for us, and for him, too, we hope, he came to Canada. Tony Holland, still on stage, is now 94.

Eleanor Collins was the jazz diva of choice for Vancouver musicians in the days of Ray Norris, Fraser MacPherson, Chris Gage, Dave Robbins, Doug Parker, et al. She had her own CBC television program, and she was a frequent guest on many others, including the long-running "Some of Those Days," with, among others, Bill Bellman and Lance Harrison. But we remember her best for a scene off-camera. She had brought her four young children to a recording studio to sing a jingle for Malkin's Fresh-Pack Strawberry Jam. She coached the pre-teen quartet, and then, when they began to sing, she joined in, as a backup vocalist. Ad-man Tom Huntley ad-libbed "Oh, what a jam to be in!" Eleanor Collins, new member of the Order of Canada, is 99.