Biography
Walter Learning was born in the small village of Quidi Vidi in the independent nation of Newfoundland. At the age of eleven, along with 321,000 of his fellow Newfoundlanders, he became a citizen of Canada. At about the same time, he was saved from drowning by an American serviceman, who was fishing off the village pier. It is very likely that the young soldier never realized his great contribution to the future of Canadian theatre.
Before beginning his career path, Walter Learning honed his work experience as a plumber's apprentice and a used car salesman. These skills, especially the latter, would prove valuable when he settled on a career in the performing arts. In 1957, Walter went to the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, New Brunswick. After receiving his BA, Walter was awarded a Teaching Fellowship to pursue his MA, and a Commonwealth Scholarship to work on his PhD at the Australian National University in Canberra. Walter returned to Canada in May of 1966. He was Director of Drama at the UNB Summer Session,and in the Fall returned to Memorial University of Newfoundland. He became a Lecturer in the Philosophy Department where he remained for two years.
In May of 1968, Walter moved back to Fredericton to become the General Manager of the Beaverbrook Playhouse. There he founded Theatre New Brunswick which presented its first production in January of 1969. TNB was, and is, Canada's only full time touring regional theatre. Walter remained as General Manager of The Playhouse and Artistic Director of Theatre New Brunswick for ten years. During that time TNB produced more than 85_productions. In June of 1978 he left Fredericton for Ottawa to take the position of Head of the Theatre Section of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Walter remained at the Canada Council until 1982 when he moved to the West Coast to become Artistic Director of the Vancouver Playhouse. After five years, he returned back East to Prince Edward Island where he became the Artistic Director of the Charlottetown Festival.
During his career, Walter also guest directed at many theatres including the Stratford Festival, the Dallas Theater Center, Persephone Theatre, Festival Antigonish, Lighthouse Theatre, Bastion Theatre and others. He has also been a frequent director at Australia's Canberra Repertory Theatre. He also appeared as an actor at many theatres across Canada and has guest-starred in a number of television shows and films.
From 1992 to 1995 Walter was a freelance broadcaster, writer, actor and director. Then in 1995 he returned to Theatre New Brunswick as Executive Producer. He left this position in 1999, and concentrated on freelancing as an actor and director.
