WHELAN, Raymon William - August 7, 1941 - June 13, 2021
Ray Whelan started at the age of 10, in his native Dublin, Ireland, as a singer-impersonator and later played child parts in movies such as James Cagney's 'Shake Hands with the Devil.'
He moved to Canada in 1960 where he became a leading actor for over a decade at Toronto Workshop Productions, one of Canada's most respected theater companies.
By 1971, Ray, along with his wife, Sylvia Tucker, co-founded Open Circle Theatre and served as its artistic director from 1971-1979.
Bryan Johnson, a theater critic for The Globe and Mail, Canada's leading national newspaper, described Whelan as one of the busiest directors in the country.
In 1981, Ray and Sylvia were amicably divorced, and in 1982, Ray moved west to California, settling in San Francisco, where he married Afreen Wahab, and despite a separation and divorce six years later, together they raised two devoted sons, Shea and Liam, who cared for Ray daily during the last year of his final illness, despite the difficulties imposed by the pandemic.
He will be mourned by his beloved sons and step-daughter, Tamara Tucker, his family in Ireland and California, many friends from the Toronto theater community, and dear friends in San Francisco, including Sylvia Tucker and her husband, Bob Feinglass, Afreen Wahab and family.
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