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Brundage, John Herbert
John Herbert Brundage, pen name John Herbert, writer and theatre director (b at Toronto 13 Oct 1926, d at Toronto 22 June 2001). After studying at Toronto's New Play Society School for Drama and the National Ballet School 1955-60, Brundage founded and ran 3 pioneering alternate theatres in Toronto, including the Garret (1965-70).
Under the name John Herbert, Brundage wrote the play for which he is best known, Fortune and Men's Eyes, in 1963. An autobiographically based prison drama, it premiered in 1967 off-Broadway and from there went on to international success still unmatched by any other Canadian dramatic work.
Fortune won the DOMINION DRAMA FESTIVAL's Massey Award in 1968, which Brundage refused, and the Chalmers Outstanding Play Award in 1975. Brundage had little success with subsequent plays, but Fortune remains one of the few true classics of the Canadian theatre.
