Susan Douglas Rubeš obit

Children's theatre pioneer Susan Douglas Rubes dies

 

She was not on the list.

Susan Douglas Rubes, a pioneer of children’s theatre who founded the Young People’s Theatre of Toronto, has died. She was 87.

Rubes died in Toronto on Jan. 23, according to a release from YPT.

An actor, producer and director, Toronto, Rubes founded YPT in 1966 and developed and produced numerous Canadian works for children. She ushered the theatre into its permanent home in 1977 and was its artistic director until 1979.

In the 1980s, Rubes was head of CBC Radio Drama and later president of Family Channel.

"We are so grateful for the life and work of Susan Rubes," Allen MacInnis,  artistic director of YPT, said in a statement.

"I feel truly blessed to have had her advice and presence since I was appointed to this incredible job. YPT thrives today because it has the indomitable spirit of Susan in its DNA."

Rubes led the fight to convince Toronto it needed a theatre for young people. She believed that children should be exposed to professional productions of the highest quality, including classic and contemporary works from Canada and around the world.

"It’s for children – it has to be the best," she is quoted as saying in a history on the YPT website.

Her first production for children in Toronto was The Looking Glass Revue in 1966, which opened in the Colonnade Theatre.

Her children’s productions bounced around to different theatres, until YPT opened in its own building, a converted power plant, on Dec. 22, 1977. The first production there was an adaptation of Laterna Magika's The Lost Fairy Tale.

Born Zuzka Zenta in Vienna, Austria, in 1925, she emigrated to the United States at age 14 to escape the Second World War. She completed high school in New York and began an acting career soon after, choosing the name "Douglas" at random from a phone book. Susan is an adaptation of her given name.

Rubes earned the first Donaldson Award for best debut on Broadway for her performance in the 1945 revival of He Who Gets Slapped by Leonid Andreyev. She appeared in films and television shows, including 10 years on radio and TV versions of the soap opera The Guiding Light.

While filming Forbidden Journey in Montreal in 1950, she met her husband Jan Rubes, an actor and singer. The couple married the same year, had three sons and moved from New York to Toronto in 1959. They were together until Jan’s death in 2009.

Rubes moved from YPT to CBC television in 1980 and was head of CBC radio drama from 1982–86. She was president of the Family Channel when it debuted on Canadian pay TV in 1987.

She was named woman of the year by B'Nai Brith in Toronto in 1979 and made a member of the Order of Canada in 1975.

Actress (40 credits)

 1999 Black and Blue (TV Movie)

Mrs. Levin (as Susan Rubes)

 1997 Due South (TV Series)

Ruth Henry

- Spy vs. Spy (1997) ... Ruth Henry (as Susan Douglas)

 1994 Boozecan

Braston's Mum

 1993 Street Legal (TV Series)

Dr. Rosenberg

- Best Interest of the Child (1993) ... Dr. Rosenberg

 1990-1991 Max Glick (TV Series)

Bryna Glick

- This Half-Hour Has 2 1/2 Days (1991) ... Bryna Glick

- Dear Sarah (1991) ... Bryna Glick (credit only)

- Of Mice and Max (1991) ... Bryna Glick

- Das Winnebago (1991) ... Bryna Glick

- Anybody Feel a Draft? (1991) ... Bryna Glick

Show all 26 episodes

 1990 The Last Best Year (TV Movie)

Mrs. Zagorski (as Susan Rubes)

 1990 The Thriller (TV Movie)

Hazel Levinson

 1989 Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop (TV Series)

- A Family Affair (1989)

 1988 Something About Love

Doctor

 1988 The Outside Chance of Maximilian Glick

Bryna Glick

 1987 Haunted by Her Past (TV Movie)

Karen's Mother

 1987 Adderly (TV Series)

Janice

- Mirror Man (1987) ... Janice

 1986 The Edison Twins (TV Series)

Dorothy Haines

- Invitation to a Mystery (1986) ... Dorothy Haines

 1982 Jen's Place

 1974 The ABC Afternoon Playbreak (TV Series)

Grace Fletcher

- Last Bride of Salem (1974) ... Grace Fletcher (as Susan Rubes)

 1972 Norman Corwin Presents (TV Series)

- Bingo Twice a Week (1972)

 1971 Winter Comes Early

Mrs. Hunter

 1968 Targets

Other at the Drive-In (as Susan Douglas)

 1966 Seaway (TV Series)

Lorna Fischer

- Rx for Murder (1966) ... Lorna Fischer (as Susan Douglas)

 1963 Festival (TV Series)

Eunice

- The Labyrinth (1963) ... Eunice (as Susan Douglas)

 1959-1960 R.C.M.P. (TV Series)

Jean Standing / Mabel Bullmeyer

- The Extortionist (1960) ... Jean Standing (as Susan Douglas)

- Poison Pen (1959) ... Mabel Bullmeyer (as Susan Douglas)

 1959-1960 The Unforeseen (TV Series)

Doris

- The Voice (1960) ... Doris (as Susan Douglas)

- Cabin B-13 (1959) ... (as Susan Douglas)

 1959 Encounter (TV Series)

Dora Sanborn

- Wall of Fear (1959) ... Dora Sanborn (as Susan Douglas)

 1955 Omnibus (TV Series)

Andromache (segment)

- Iliad (1955) ... Andromache (segment) (as Susan Douglas)

 1952-1955 Guiding Light (TV Series)

Kathy Grant / Kathy Roberts

- Episode dated 28 January 1955 (1955) ... Kathy Grant

- Episode dated 27 January 1955 (1955) ... Kathy Grant

- Episode dated 26 January 1955 (1955) ... Kathy Grant

- Episode dated 25 January 1955 (1955) ... Kathy Grant

- Episode dated 24 January 1955 (1955) ... Kathy Grant

1953 Campbell Summer Soundstage (TV Series)

Noli

- Something for an Empty Briefcase (1953) ... Noli (as Susan Douglas)

 1948-1953 Studio One (TV Series)

- The Paris Feeling (1953) ... (as Susan Douglas)

- Let Me Do the Talking (1948) ... (as Susan Douglas)

 1952 Lights Out (TV Series)

- Night Walk (1952) ... (as Susan Douglas)

 1950-1952 Suspense (TV Series)

Rosa Bud / Zita Bradford

- The Mystery of Edwin Drood: Part 2 (1952) ... Rosa Bud (as Susan Douglas)

- The Mystery of Edwin Drood: Part 1 (1952) ... Rosa Bud (as Susan Douglas)

- The Bomber Command (1950) ... Zita Bradford (as Susan Douglas)

 1951 Cosmopolitan Theatre (TV Series)

- Last Concerto (1951) ... (as Susan Douglas)

 1951 Faith Baldwin Romance Theatre (TV Series)

- Success Story (1951) ... (as Susan Douglas)

 1951 Somerset Maugham TV Theatre (TV Series)

- The Narrow Corner (1951) ... (as Susan Douglas)

 1951 Five

Roseanne (as Susan Douglas)

 1950 Forbidden Journey

Mary Sherritt (as Susan Douglas)

 1950 Starlight Theatre (TV Series)

- The M.P. and the Mouse (1950)

 1950 Robert Montgomery Presents (TV Series)

Pila

- Ride the Pink Horse (1950) ... Pila (as Susan Douglas)

 1950 Actor's Studio (TV Series)

- Telas, the King (1950) ... (as Susan Douglas)

 1949 Theatre of Romance (TV Series)

- The M.P. and the Mouse (1949) ... (as Susan Douglas)

 1949 Lost Boundaries

Shelly Carter (as Susan Douglas)

 1947 The Private Affairs of Bel Ami

Suzanne Walter (as Susan Douglas)