{{short description|Canadian actor}} {{Use Canadian English |date=August 2025}} {{Infobox person |birth_date=November 22, 1921 |birth_place=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |death_date={{death_date_and_age |2004|3|21|1921|11|22}} |death_place=Toronto, Ontario, Canada |occupation=actor }} '''Eric House''' (November 22, 1921 – March 21, 2004) was a Canadian actor.<ref name=obit>"Eric House, veteran stage actor and director, dies of emphysema at 82". ''Canadian Press'', April 8, 2004.</ref> Although he appeared in film, television and stage roles throughout his career, he was most famously associated with stage roles at the Stratford Festival, particularly its productions of musical comedies by Gilbert and Sullivan,<ref name=canenc>[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/eric-house/ "Eric House"]. ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', August 14, 2013.</ref> and as Dean Drone in ''Sunshine Sketches'', the first Canadian television drama series.<ref name=canenc/>
House was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario.<ref name=canenc/> After serving in the Canadian military during World War II, he enrolled as a geography student at the University of Toronto, and began acting with the Hart House Theatre.<ref name=canenc/> He joined the Canadian Repertory Theatre in 1951, and subsequently acted at Stratford and with the Toronto-based Crest Theatre.<ref name=canenc/> He was a founding member of the Canadian Actors' Equity Association.<ref name=canenc/> He also worked in theatre across Canada, both as an actor and a director,<ref name=canenc/> and had a number of roles on Broadway in New York City, appearing in productions of ''Tamburlaine'', ''The Makropulos Affair'', ''Two Gentlemen of Verona'', ''Soldiers'' and ''H.M.S. Pinafore'',<ref>[https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/eric-house-108114 Eric House]. Internet Broadway Database.</ref> and at least one role in London's West End, in a production of ''Mrs. Gibbons' Boys''.<ref name=obit/> In 1962, he appeared alongside Corinne Conley, Dave Broadfoot, Jack Creley and Eric Christmas in the musical revue ''Clap Hands'' at London's Hammersmith Theatre.<ref>"Clap Hands Finds London Home". ''The Globe and Mail'', October 13, 1962.</ref>
His film roles included ''Anne of Green Gables'' (1956), and ''Oedipus Rex'' (1957),<ref name=canenc/> while his television roles included frequent appearances in the CBC Television drama anthology series ''Playdate'', ''Folio'' and ''Festival'',<ref name=enough>"'Are you getting enough?'" ''The Globe and Mail'', April 15, 2004.</ref> ''A Gift to Last''<ref name=enough/> and the shortlived comedy series ''Delilah''. He received a Canadian Film Award nomination for Best Actor in 1969 for his performance in "The Night Nothing Happened", an episode of the drama series ''Quentin Durgens, M.P.''.<ref>"'Best Damn Fiddler' Wins Film of the Year Award". ''Ottawa Journal'', October 6, 1969.</ref>
In later years he returned to Stratford, appearing in productions of ''Hamlet'' and ''Troilus and Cressida''.<ref name=obit/> His final television role was a small appearance as a judge in two episodes of ''Street Legal''.<ref name=enough/>
He died of emphysema on March 21, 2004.<ref name=enough/>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- |1957 || ''Oedipus Rex'' || Shepherd / Old Priest || |- |1961 || ''Jake and the Kid'' || Repeat Golightly || |- |1970 || data-sort-value="Act of the Heart, The" | ''The Act of the Heart'' || Choirmaster || |- |1974 || data-sort-value="Star Is Lost!, A" | ''A Star Is Lost!'' || Alfred E. Sydney || |- |1978 || ''High-Ballin''' || Slater || |- |1982 || ''Highpoint'' || Rico || |- |1983 || ''Strange Brew'' || John Elsinore || |- |1987 || ''Candy Mountain'' || Doctor || |}
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== *{{imdb name|0396654}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:House, Eric}} Category:1921 births Category:2004 deaths Category:Canadian male film actors Category:Canadian male television actors Category:Canadian male stage actors Category:Canadian male musical theatre actors Category:Canadian male Shakespearean actors Category:Canadian theatre directors Category:Deaths from emphysema Category:Male actors from Toronto Category:20th-century Canadian male actors Category:20th-century Canadian male singers Category:Canadian military personnel of World War II Category:Canadian expatriate male actors in the United States Category:University of Toronto alumni