Canadian actor Richard Donat died at the South Shore Regional Hospital in Bridgewater, Nova Scotia, on March 28, after a two-year-long illness. He was surrounded by his longtime partner Maggie Thomas and his two sons, Owen and Morgan. Richard Donat was 84.
According to the obituary posted by Sweeney’s Funeral Home Ltd. on the Tribute Archive website, the Star Wars: Ewoks voice artist was a:
“brother to actor Peter Donat and nephew to actor Robert Donat.”
In fact, he “decided to try acting” thanks to influences inside his family.
The obituary further described Richard Donat as:
“A passionate gardener, a loving and supportive partner, a devoted father and an extremely proud grandfather of Charlize, Nadia, Mira and Taran. He will be missed, but his presence will always be with us. He was a good man.”
All we know about Richard Donat’s family
According to a 2009 profile on Robert Donat by The Guardian, he was born in Manchester, England, in 1905, to a Yorkshire-born mother and a German-Polish father. Originally, he ventured into acting to cure his stammer and took elocution lessons.
Bob Donat rose to fame with his fourth movie, The Private Life of Henry VIII, in 1933, opposite Catherine Howard. The following year, he appeared in his only Hollywood film, The Count of Monte Cristo, as Edmond Dantes.
In one of his interviews from the time, Bob Donat said:
“I never found any security in life until I discovered the false security of stardom… The chief thing in my mind was that I must appear dashing.”
About his varied roles, he added: “I like my pickles mixed.”
From there, Richard Donat’s uncle went on to star in Alfred Hitchcock’s British spy thriller dramedy, The 39 Steps, in 1935. Robert also impressed viewers and critics alike in his dual role on René Clair’s The Ghost Goes West.
Bob Donat turned heads with his appearance in the 1937 movie, Knight Without Armour, opposite Marlene Dietrich. However, his next two roles for the MGM Studio, in The Citadel (1938) and Goodbye, Mr Chips, earned him two Oscar nominations and one win.
Around this time, author Graham Greene said of Robert Donat:
“Mr Donat is the best actor we possess: he is convincing, his voice has a pleasant roughness, and his range is far greater than his chief rival for film honours, Mr Laurence Olivier.”
Robert Donat’s wartime projects included The Adventures of Tartu, Perfect Strangers, and The Winslow Boy. He made a cameo in Captain Boycott and directed himself in The Cure for Love. From there, Bob did three more movies, including The Inn of the Sixth Happiness in 1958, opposite Ingrid Bergman. He passed away later that year, making his iconic dialogue as Gladys Aylward in his final movie memorable.
“It is time to go, old friends. We shall not see each other again, I think. Farewell, Jan-Ai,” Robert told Ingrid’s character.
Following his demise, Charles Laughton called him the “most graceful actor of our time.” Meanwhile, Peter Sellers described him as “God.” As for screen veteran King Vidor, he noted:
“Bob Donat was the most helpful and cooperative star with whom I ever worked, as well as one of the finest actors.”
Richard Donat’s older brother, Peter Donat, was also born and raised in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Their parents were Canadian-born Marie Bardet and British-born Philip Ernst Donat, a landscape gardener.
Following his brief stint at the Yale School of Drama, Peter had his breakthrough in the off-Broadway production of Cyrano de Bergerac. His other notable stage projects were The First Gentleman in 1957 and The Canvas Barricade in 1961.
Peter Donat’s two most prominent television roles were as Elmo Tyson and Willaim Mulder in Flamingo Road (1981-82) and The X-Files (1995-99), respectively. He was also known for the 1984 film, The Bad Boy, for which he was nominated for a Genie Award.
However, Richard Donat’s brother is perhaps best known for co-founding the American Conservatory Theater and being the pioneer of the Stratford Festival.
Peter’s lifelong collaboration with Francis Ford Coppola is also worth noting. He was first cast as Tom Hagen in The Godfather, with the role later going to Robert Duvall. Peter was recast as a lawyer in the sequel and appeared as Otto Kerner in the 1980 Coppola blockbuster movie, Tucker: The Man and His Dreams.
Peter Donat died of diabetes-related complications at his home in Point Reyes, CA, in September 2018. He was 90. Peter was survived by his wife Maria, sons Caleb, Christopher, and Lucas, stepson Malcolm, stepdaughters Barbara and Marina, and 11 grandchildren.
As for Richard Donat, he studied at the National Theatre School of Canada in the 1960s, before finding acting opportunities on TV, films, stage, and radio.
He is perhaps best remembered for lending his voice to Deej on the Star Wars television spin-off Ewoks for ABC in the 1980s and in Michel Tremblay’s 1973 classic play, Hosanna.
Richard Donat famously appeared as Gallagher in Mira Nair’s 2009 Amelia Earhart biopic, Amelia, and had a recurring role as Vince Teagues in the supernatural drama, Haven, from 2010 to 2015.
Edited by Pallavi K