Obituaries

Anne of Green Gables Adapter Don Harron Dies at Age 90

The Canadian performer had a half-dozen Broadway credits to his name.

New York City Toronto
Canadian performer and Broadway veteran Don Harron has died at age 90.
Canadian performer and Broadway veteran Don Harron has died at age 90.

Canadian comedian, actor, and writer Don Harron, who garnered a number of Broadway credits throughout his career, died in his Toronto home on Saturday, January 17, after reportedly forgoing cancer treatment. He was 90 years old.

Harron is best known for his comic character Charlie Farquharson, which he created in 1952 on an episode of the variety series The Big Revue. He went on to enjoy an 18-season stint performing as Farquharson on the hit U.S. variety show Hee Haw.

Harron made his Broadway debut in 1954 in Home Is the Hero and went on to perform in Broadway productions of The Dark Is Light Enough (1955), Separate Tables (1956), The Tenth Man (1959), and Everybody Loves Opal (1961). He also adapted Heinrich von Kleist's The Broken Jug for a 1958 Broadway production and cowrote the script for the 1956 television musical Anne of Green Gables.

He is survived by his partner, Claudette Gareau, and his three daughters, Martha, Kelley, and Mary, who is a Canadian filmmaker best known for her films I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho, and The Notorious Bettie Page.