Tony Van Bridge

Valentine Anthony Neil "Tony Van" Bridge CM (28 May 1917 – 20 December 2004) was a British television and theatre actor and director.

Early life

Bridge was born in London, England. He first appeared as a child actor at the age of ten, and enrolled aged 19 at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.^[1]

He married Kippe Cammaerts just before World War II.^[2] They had two children, Pieter Morpurgo and writer Michael Morpurgo. While he was away during World War II, his wife met Jack Morpurgo and started a relationship with him. Bridge returned to England in 1946 and shortly thereafter decided to emigrate to Canada.

Bridge had three further children in Canada – Shona Bridge, David Cheyne and Peter Cheyne.^[3]

Career

Bridge worked for 15 years with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, and 30 years with the Shaw Festival. He was interim artistic director at Shaw for the 1974–1975 season.

On 27 April 2000, Bridge was made a Member of the Order of Canada for his services to the performing arts.

Bridge died 20 December 2004 in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. He was survived by his ex-wife Stacey and predeceased by his second wife Elizabeth Bridge.

Television (partial)

• The Quatermass Experiment (1953), producer
• The Avengers (TV series) (1961), Henry Burge
• Playdate (CBC TV series) (1961–62)
  • Masterpiece (1961), Raiyler
  • Love Story 1910 (1962), Inspector Dew
  • Great Expectations (1962), Magwitch
  • The Old One (1962) (and writer)
• Mission: Impossible (1969), Erhard Poltzin

References