Hollywood North

In addition to their theatrical success with the British Guild Players, David and Fay were at the vanguard of Vancouver being known as “Hollywood North” by also working regularly in the film industry and in Hollywood itself from the mid-1930s onwards, appearing in over 120 movies.

David Clyde appeared in the musical Rose-Marie, the first full-length talkie filmed in Vancouver. He was the son of John Clyde, Scotland’s first film star and his brother Andy was a member of Mack Sennett’s acting team and featured in Hopalong Cassidy films popular at the time.

Fay Holden found fame playing Mickey Rooney’s mother in the Andy Hardy films.

Their extensive credits include some of the highest profile Oscar winning movies of their day: “The Philadelphia Story”, “Mrs. Miniver”, “Now Voyager”, “You Can’t Take It With You”, and they appeared with stars such as: W.C. Fields, Jean Harlow, Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Ava Gardner, Greer Garson, Vivien Leigh, Judy Garland, Cary Grant, David Niven and James Stewart.

Touchwood: Insulated with 1930s Theatre Posters

David and Fay lived in East Vancouver near Main Street, and insulated their home with theatre posters, which were not discovered again for more than 50 years. They ran the theatre company from 1929 to 1938 before permanently moving to Hollywood, as their film careers were becoming more demanding. The Empress Theatre itself was dismantled in 1940.




Touchwood was not only insulated with old theatre posters but also with the posters advertising the candies that would have been sold at the Empress Theatre. These posters advertise products such as Moonlight Mellos, Wildfire, Patterkrisp and the Toronto Nut Bar (many jokes to be made there) that were all made by the Patterson Chocolate Company of Toronto. The Pattersons factory on Queen Street in Toronto still stands but has been converted into apartments called the Chocolate Company lofts

On the 1929 opening night of their first Vancouver show, telegrams of congratulations were received from key figures of the era, such as Laurel and Hardy, and J.M. Barrie. The productions proved to be big hits, attracting mass audiences at the same time that talking pictures were revolutionizing cinema and Vancouverites were seeking an escape from the post-Wall Street crash and the subsequent Depression.

A 1933 Vancouver Sun article on the Empress notes that, between the stage hands, electricians, designers and actors, the Empress Theatre had a payroll of $1,500 a week, which qualified it as a significant employer in Vancouver. The British Guild Players’ Vancouver productions were usually frothy comedies that had been hits in London and Broadway including:

The Bachelor Father
Parlour Bedroom and Bath
The Plays The Thing
The Adventurous Age
Innocent Ann
Tomorrow And Tomorrow
Easy Come Easy Go
A Cuckoo In The Nest
Are You A Mason
When Knights Were Bold
Peter Pan
Rip Vancouver Winkle
Bunty Pulls The Strings
Almost a Honeymoon
A Damsel In Distress
Nancy’s Private Affair
The Man In Possession
Little Bit Of Fluff
The Sport Of Kings
That’s Gratitude

Fay Holden and David Clyde History

David Clyde Born: March 27, 1885 in Blairgowrie, Perthshire, Scotland.
Died: May 17, 1945 (age 60) in San Fernando Valley, California, USA

Fay Holden Born: Dorothy Fay Hammerton September 26, 1893 in Birmingham, England
Died: June 23, 1973 (age 79) in Los Angeles, California, USA

They were married in 1914. After a successful career on the stage in Scotland and England in the early 1920s with the Garrick Theatre players, Fay (then known as Gaby Fay) and David acted in Boston and in New York, on Broadway, between 1925 and 1928.

In 1929, in partnership with playwright and actor Norman Cannon, with whom they had acted in Boston, they moved to Vancouver, bought and refurbished the Empress Theatre and launched the British Guild Players. The British Guild Players featured many high profile actors such as Dorothy Somerset, who initiated the UBC Theatre program, Sidney Risk, who created the Everyman Theatre in the 1940s, and such stars of the period as Basil Radford.

British Guild Players

Vancouver’s leading professional theatre company pre-WWII was the British Guild Players. Their productions were all performed at the Empress Theatre, which stood at the corner of Hastings and Gore Streets, and was the largest stage west of Chicago at the time. The leaders of the company were the husband and wife team of David Clyde and Dorothy Hammerton, who became better known as Fay Holden. They owned our house from April 11, 1930 to March 28, 1938

Touchwood History: Those Hollywood People

Over the years we have delved into the history of Touchwood, notably its role in the 1930s as the home of the Vancouver's most prominent professional theatre company and the evolution of the city as "Hollywood North".

We thought it worth posting what we have found out to date so there is a public record

the Big Reveal - at last!

Sorry about that. No really, sorry for the delay. We got a little swept up in the Games. Perhaps you know of them? They come along every four years and this year they were here in our city. We attended seven Olympic Winter Games events: women's hockey, men's hockey (2), curling, long track speed skating and figure skating practice (women's and dance) and a victory ceremony (got to sing our national anthem thanks to gold medal won that day). I was lucky enough to perform in both the Opening and Closing ceremonies so also had quite a few rehearsals to attend. We wandered with the hordes of happy people mingling in downtown Vancouver one day and spent two nights partying in pavilion pubs. Our bodies ache. Our throats are raw. Our ears still ring.

But how better to alleviate post-event depression than in a newly renovated space!

And here it is, room by room:

Mud room/entry way:

Looking into the new office from the mud room:

The office area:

The workroom and bar kitchen:

The fireplace and media wall:

The bathroom:

The laundry and storage area:

New stairway:

Even the mechanical room looks good:

7 months of toil. 4,352 decisions made (more or less). 30% over budget (well over six figures). House remortgaged. Office desks and work table purchases on hold. Several sleepless nights.

Having it all done to our complete satisfaction: Priceless.

And now to work!