Hilda Hooke Smith
BornHilda Mary Hooke
3 October 1898
Odcombe, Somerset, England
Died1978
Comox, British Columbia, Canada
Occupationwriter
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Genre
  • dramas
  • poetry
Spouse
Richard Tapscott Smith
(m. 1925)
Signature

Hilda Mary Hooke (after marriage, Smith; 3 October 1898 – 1978) was an English-born Canadian writer of dramas, poetry, and prose. Her 1938 play, Here Will I Nest was adapted into Canada's first colour feature-length motion picture, Talbot of Canada,[1] for which she wrote the screenplay.[2] Hooke died in 1978.

Biography

Hilda Mary Hooke was born at Odcombe, Somerset, England, 3 October 1898. Her parents were Oswald Edgar Smith and Louisa Elizth (Tapscott) Smith.[3] She came to Canada in 1902.[4]

For some years after her arrival, she was engaged in musical and dramatic work.[4] Hooke was affiliated with the Little Theatre in London, Ontario, since the 1920s as producer, director, and playwright. Here Will I Nest, first performed in 1938, became the first Canadian play to be adapted into a motion picture.[5] She wrote three plays around the central figure of Lord Talbot and another three centered on Dr. John Troyer.[6]

Later in her writing career, she became a poet.[4] She also wrote a book about folklore (Thunder in the Mountains: Legends of Canada).[7]

While serving as secretary to the Chief Inspector of Public Schools, London, Ontario, she published less.[4] In 1946, she also served as secretary to Canon Quintin Warner.[8]

On 26 September 1925, she married Richard Tapscott Smith.[3] She died in Comox, British Columbia, 1978.[9]

Selected works

Plays

  • Here Will I Nest, 1938[9]
  • A Time of Grace: A Play in Three Acts, 1941[9]
  • One-Act Plays from Canadian History, 1942[9][6]
  • The Streamlined Madonna, 1946[9]
  • Legend, 1949[10]

Screenplays

  • Here Will I Nest (alt. Talbot of Canada), 1942[2]

Prose

  • Thunder in the Mountains: Legends of Canada, 1947[9]

Song lyrics

  • "The challenger. A part song for mixed voices.", 1919 (music by Peter C. Lutkin)

References

  1. Loiselle, André (16 October 2003). Stage-Bound: Feature Film Adaptations of Canadian and Québécois Drama. McGill-Queen's Press – MQUP. ISBN 978-0-7735-7146-4. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  2. 1 2 Canadian Film Project (1996). Canada and Canadians in Feature Films: A Filmography, 1928–1990. Canadian Film Project, University of Guelph. p. 27. ISBN 978-0-88955-415-3. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Canada, Ontario Marriages, 1869-1927," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QKMR-SW7W : 8 March 2021), Richard Tapscott Smith and Hilda Mary Hooke, 26 Sep 1925; citing registration , London, Middlesex, Ontario, Canada, Archives of Ontario, Toronto; FHL microfilm 2,413,315.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Caswell, Edward Samuel (1925). Canadian Singers and Their Songs: A Collection of Portraits, Autograph Poems and Brief Biographies. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. p. 238. Retrieved 13 February 2022.
  5. "Here Will I Nest – Canada's first feature colour movie". dotydocs.theatreinlondon.ca. Archived from the original on 2010-08-27. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  6. 1 2 "HISTORICAL PLAYS". The Gazette. Montreal. 24 July 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 14 February 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  7. "ONTARIO WOMAN RELATED CANADIAN LEGENDS". The Windsor Star. Windsor. 29 November 1947. p. 32. Retrieved 14 February 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  8. "FOLKLORE TONIC FOR A JADED GENERATION". The Vancouver Sun. Vancouver. 31 January 1948. p. 50. Retrieved 14 February 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Hilda Mary Hooke". dhil.lib.sfu.ca. Database of Canadian Early Women Writers. Archived from the original on 2022-03-14. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  10. "MRT STUDIO PRESENTS". The Gazette. Montreal. 18 April 1949. p. 10. Retrieved 14 February 2022 via Newspapers.com.
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