Gordon Sheppard

Writer, Photographer, Filmmaker

Born Montréal, April 9, 1937.

• University of Toronto (B.A. specialising in Political Science and Economics 1957); Oxford University (M.A. History 1960).
• Produced and directed public affairs programs and documentaries for CBC-TV and CTV, including The Most, about Playboy’s Hugh Hefner (1962), *winner of numerous international film festival awards (San Francisco, Melbourne, Mannheim, Florence, Montréal etc.)
• Special Assistant to the Secretary of State for Canada (1963); Special Consultant on the Arts to the Federal Government (1965). *Author of A Special Report on the Cultural Policy and Activities of the Government of Canada 1965-66 (1966).
• Produced and directed film documentaries for Canadian TV. Hosted CBC radio program on the arts (1967–70). *Feature writer and reviewer for Toronto Telegram.
• Wrote children’s book, The Man Who Gave Himself Away, published by Harlin Quist Books, New York and Paris (1971).
• Wrote, produced and directed feature film, Eliza’s Horoscope, for Warner Bros. Starring Academy Award winners Tommy Lee Jones and Lila Kedrova. *Winner of five Canadian Film Awards (1975), including an award to Sheppard as “Outstanding Canadian Filmmaker of the Year”. *Special Jury Award, Festival of the Americas 1975. Represented Canada at Teheran International Film Festival 1975.
• Produced and hosted TV specials for CFCF-TV, Montréal, 1977-87.
• Co-wrote Signé Hubert Aquin 1977–85 (Les éditions du Boréal Express 1985), an investigation of the suicide of Canadian writer Hubert Aquin.
• Began photography 1986.
• Collaborated with singer Marie-Claire Séguin on the music and lyrics of her album Une femme une planète, 1990.
• Artist Residency (photography), Banff Center for the Arts, winter 1995.
• Research, writing and preparation of HA! A Self-Murder Mystery, an expanded investigation of the suicide of a Hubert Aquin, 1977-1999. Published by McGill-Queen's University Press, 2003.
• One child, a daughter, born 1989.

Publications

Books

2003 – HA! A Self-Murder Mystery, McGill-Queen’s University Press., pp 870 (fiction)

1985 – Signé Hubert Aquin, Éditions du Boréal Express, Montreal, pp 357 (non-fiction)

1971 – The Man Who Gave Himself Away, Harlin Quist Books, New York, pp 28 (children’s book)

1966 – A Special Report on the Cultural Policy and Activities of the Government of Canada 1965-66, Government of Canada

Articles

2005 – “The Wondrous World of Prostate Cancer”, article to appear in an anthology of writings by Canadian male authors, edited by Ian Brown.

1989 – “Referendum Blues” in Le Syndrome postréférendaire, Editions Alain Stanké (ironic essay about 1980 Quebec referendum)

1989 – “Le Sacre profane” in Liberté (June issue) (a fantasy about Quebec)

1970 – “Violence and the French-Canadian Male” in A Guide to the Peaceable Kingdom, an anthology edited by William Kilbourn, Macmillan of Canada (essay)

1957-70 – Divers articles and reviews in Canadian newspapers

Films and Screenplays

1989 – Le mort moqueur (feature film recounting episodes in the life of filmmaker Claude Jutra for which a 10 minute presentation film was made)

1985 – Ile d'Orléans, documentary.

1976 – Eliza’s Horoscope (feature film starring Elizabeth Moorman, Tommy Lee Jones and Lila Kedrova).

1967 – The Stormy Clovers, documentary about a Canadian musical group.

1967 – Love, documentary.

1964 – Dreamgirl, documentary about Elaine Bédard, Québec model and TV host.

1962 – The Most, documentary about Hugh Hefner of Playboy.

1961 – Three Canadian Provincial Premiers of the Thirties, four part documentary about William Aberhart (Alberta), Maurice Duplessis (Québec), and Mitch Hepburn (Ontario).

Songs

1990 – Une femme, une planète, album of songs co-written with Marie-Claire Séguin.

1975 – "Marilyn" – sung by Jaye P. Morgan.

1970 – "Mr. Plum" on Version originale, album by Robert Charlebois.

Photography

Exhibitions

Archives personnelles / Personal Archives, comprising photos by Sheppard and poetry by Gérald Godin, presented at Galerie Pink (Montréal) June 22–29 1992; at Les Galeries du SAC, Université de Montréal, September 1993 as part of Le mois de la Photo, Montréal, 1993; and at the Maison des écrivains, Montréal, May 15 – June 15, 1994.

Étapes / Stages, at Les Galeries du SAC, Université de Montréal, September 1993 as part of Le mois de la Photo, Montréal 1993; and at La Galerie de l’UQAM ( University of Québec at Montréal) May – June 1994.

The Rowing Pictures, Cote St-Luc Library, Montreal, April 2000. Watervisions, currently exhibited at Sheppard's studio.

Collections

Loto Québec; Bank of Montréal; Fédération des caisses populaires; private collectors.

In Preparation

Comparisons: Photographs of the same people taken in the same physical attitude, at different times in their lives.

Auras: Photographs and painted canvases mounted together.

Gold Rush: Multi-image interpretaions of photographs taken in the Yukon 1908-14.

Sacred Portraits: Photographic portraits of Quebecers of various ethnic origins and faiths wearing Catholic vestments.

Associations, Memberships

Directors Guild of America

Canadian Independent Film Caucus

Writers Union of Canada

External Links

http://www.gordonsheppard.com