{{Short description|Canadian stage actor}} '''John Starcevic''', known by the stage name '''John Stark''', is a Canadian stage actor and producer most noted for his long-running one-man show which he performed in character as writer Stephen Leacock.<ref>Carole Corbeil, "Stark as Leacock is skillful and witty". ''The Globe and Mail'', April 23, 1980.</ref> Originally from Rossland, British Columbia, he is an alumnus of Simon Fraser University,<ref name=currie>Rod Currie, "Leacock heads to Edinburgh". ''The Globe and Mail'', July 28, 1981.</ref> He began performing as Leacock in the 1970s, and toured the show extensively throughout Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.<ref name=successful>"Stark is successful". ''The Globe and Mail'', September 22, 1980.</ref> His show was also filmed for broadcast by CBC Television and PBS; his performance at the National Arts Centre was recorded for release on Tapestry Records in 1981,<ref name=successful/> and received a Juno Award nomination for Comedy Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 1982.<ref>Liam Lacey, "McKenzies vs. Rush for best album Juno". ''The Globe and Mail'', March 2, 1982.</ref>
In the 1980s, Stark moved into film production, trying for over ten years to produce a historical drama film about the Doukhobors.<ref>"B.C. film is stymied by delayed funding, loss of director". ''Montreal Gazette'', August 18, 1989.</ref> His other film projects included a television film of Leacock's ''Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town'',<ref>"Movie maker says second feature film planned for Vernon". ''Edmonton Journal'', November 10, 1989.</ref> and the theatrical films ''Chekhov and Maria'' and ''A Play on Words''. He has also continued to produce and direct in theatre; he most commonly stages the plays of playwright Jovanka Bach, who was his wife for 28 years until her death in 2006,<ref>Mike Boehm, [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-jan-21-me-bach21-story.html "Jovanka Bach, 69; Her Plays Were Staged in L.A., New York"]. ''Los Angeles Times'', January 21, 2006.</ref> but has also created the original autobiographical show ''Me Myself And I, by Himself''.<ref>[https://www.broadwayworld.com/los-angeles/article/John-Starks-Me-Myself-and-I-By-Myself-opens-1013-Odyssey-Theater-20131001 "John Stark's 'Me, Myself and I, By Myself' opens 10/13 - Odyssey Theater"]. ''Broadway World'', October 1, 2013.</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{IMDb name|2714302}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20190620001044/http://www.johnstarkproductions.com/ John Stark Productions] <small>(copy archived June 2019)</small>
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Stark, John}} Category:20th-century Canadian male actors Category:20th-century Canadian male writers Category:20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century Canadian screenwriters Category:21st-century Canadian male actors Category:21st-century Canadian male writers Category:21st-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights Category:21st-century Canadian screenwriters Category:Canadian theatre directors Category:Canadian male stage actors Category:Film producers from British Columbia Category:Canadian theatre managers and producers Category:People from Rossland, British Columbia Category:Simon Fraser University alumni Category:Male actors from British Columbia Category:Living people Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:Screenwriters from British Columbia