John Hirsch arrived in Winnipeg in 1947, a 17-year-old Hungarian orphan of the Holocaust, knowing no English. Ten years later, he co-founded the Manitoba Theatre Centre, establishing a model for regional theatres across North America. He went on to direct award-winning productions in Los Angeles, New York, Stratford and Toronto – everything from Guys and Dolls to The Tempest–and to work with actors like Len Cariou, Martha Henry, Anthony Hopkins, and Maggie Smith. Notorious for his fiery temper, budget–blowing sets, and artistic risk-taking, he had a stormy four years as CBC’s head of TV drama in the 1970s (high and low points include King of Kensington and Peter Lougheed’s lawsuit over The Tar Sands), and an even stormier tenure as Artistic Director at the Stratford Festival from 1981 to 1985. He died in 1989 of AIDS.