William Needles dead at 97

Canada’s oldest working actor, William Needles, has died at the age of 97.
The stage veteran passed away on Tuesday (12Jan16) at a hospice in Ontario.
The New York-born star, who studied at the Goodman School of Drama at the Art Institute of Chicago, began his professional career with the Stratford Festival in a 1953 production of Richard III, and continued working with the Shakespearean theatre organisation until 2006.
Needles, known as Billie Noodles, also took his talents to Broadway, and appeared in Hadrian VII in 1969. He also worked with Sean Connery, who took on the title role in a 1961 TV film adaptation of Macbeth.
“The Stratford Festival has lost one of its pioneers, a gifted actor and a favorite uncle,” Stratford’s artistic director Antoni Cimolino states. “Bill Needles was the embodiment of grace and generosity. His humour, humanity and sense of fun infused his work on and off the stage.”
Needles also taught his craft to students at the University of California at Irvine, and he inspired Jon Lovitz’s Saturday Night Live comic creation Master Thespian.