Dawn Greenhalgh, the Canadian actress who provided the voice of the spirited Queen Celeste for two animated series that centered on the beloved children’s character Babar the elephant, has died. She was 93.
Greenhalgh died Nov. 6 at her home in Toronto, her family announced.
Survivors include her youngest daughter, actress Megan Follows, who starred as Anne Shirley in three Anne of Green Gables miniseries and as Catherine, Queen of France on the 2013-17 CW series Reign.
Greenhalgh started out on the stage, where she was a founding castmember of the renowned Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario. Later, she studied with Uta Hagen, Herbert Berghof and Mira Rostova in New York and appeared in theaters from Manhattan to the West End.
On the big screen, she portrayed the agent who reps actress Havana Segrand (Julianne Moore) in David Cronenberg’s Maps to the Stars (2014) after working in such other films as Sophia Coppola’s The Virgin Suicides (1999), Avenging Angelo (2002) and Welcome to Mooseport (2004).
Greenhalgh voiced Celeste over five seasons (1989-91) on Babar, the CBC-Nelvana series based on the books by French writer-illustrator Jean de Brunhoff (her husband the king was played by Gordon Pinsent). The show also aired on HBO in the U.S. and in more than 150 other countries.
She and then Pinsent returned in 2010-11 with the computer-animated sequel Babar and the Adventures of Badou.
Hazel Dawn Greenhalgh was born to British parents, Elizabeth and Laurence, on Sept. 25, 1933, in Shanghai, China. She and her family were held in a prisoner of war camp during the Japanese occupation of the city.
“It was there she discovered that in the midst of such abject misery, her love of music, theater and dance could offer happiness, purpose and temporary respite, both to herself and to her audience,” her family noted.
At age 14, she came to Canada accompanied only by her guardian, Albert Mah, and attended Montreal High School. She joined the fledgling Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario, five years later and was a founding member of the Neptune Theatre in Halifax and Theatre Plus in Toronto as well.
In 1969-70, Greenhalgh was a regular on the syndicated-CBC soap opera Strange Paradise, and she portrayed Mrs. Cadbury alongside her daughter on the 1985 CBC miniseries Anne of Green Gables, which attracted huge viewership numbers in Canada.
She was married to fellow actor Ted Follows from 1958 until their 1979 divorce.
In addition to Megan, survivors include two other daughters, Samantha Follows, also an actress, and Edwina Follows, a screenwriter and producer; her son, Laurence Follows; and grandchildren Lyla, Aaron, Russell, Samuel, Mikayla and Rowan.
A celebration of life is being planned.
Original Article on Hollywood Reporter