In 1934 he met and became friends with Norman Bethune. In February 1937 Allan joined Lincoln Battalion of the International Brigades to fight against fascism in Spanish Civil War. At the direction of the Brigade, Ted worked as a reporter — he broadcast to America from Madrid — and worked again with Bethune. In 1939 he published his first novel, This Time a Better Earth, drawing on his experiences in the War.[1]
In 1952, Allan and Sydney Gordon published Bethune's biography, The Scalpel, The Sword. Allan battled for nearly 40 years to make a movie about the Canadian surgeon who became a larger-than-life hero of the Chinese revolution. The film, Bethune: The Making of a Hero, for which Allan wrote the screenplay, was the first official Chinese co-production, shooting in China, Montreal and Spain was released in 1990. It starred Donald Sutherland and Helen Mirren.
He died of respiratory failure on June 29, 1995 at the age of 79.[5] He is the subject of the 2002 National Film Board documentary Ted Allan: Minstrel Boy of the Twentieth Century.[1]
Work
Ted Allan's credits include:
Plays
The Ghost Writers (Toronto 1952) retitled The Money Makers (London 1955)
Double Image with Roger MacDougal (London 1955 ) reworked, with Gabriel Arout, as Gog et Magog (Paris 1959/62)
^In February 1966, the Associated Press had reported that Connery was planning to direct a revival of Allan's 1958 play, The Secret of the World, which was to star Shelley Winters, but the production never materialized.[2][3][4]
References
^ abcBoyd, Colin (4 March 2015). "Ted Allan". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Canada. Retrieved 9 October 2018.
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