Screed Was Here
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Greg Kramer
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Forever Knight Fanfic
Greg Kramer
b. 11 March 1961 — d. 8 April 2013
In April 2013, Greg Kramer passed away just as his newly penned play about Sherlock Holmes was going into rehearsals in Montreal. His sudden passing was a shock to family, friends, and the Canadian theatre community to which he'd dedicated so much of his life and which holds him in high esteem.
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Greg Kramer. I want to email him about something I'm writing, find a fun little something to send him, or just have to tell him about yet another student film in which I've been cast.
But he's not in Canada or visiting the UK. He won't answer the Facebook message, or send an email. I won't get a surprise in the mail from him ever again.
Months have passed and it is still hard to believe. I've lost someone whose talents I admired, a friend, and my biggest an.
I first discovered him while I was recovering from a bad car wreck. Visiting friends asked if they could watch this show called Forever Knight. We did. This character named Screed ate a rat. I thought it was the coolest thing I'd ever seen, absolutely brilliant!
A few days later I discovered my body can't handle Valium and I was basically overdosing. You can say I first became aware of Greg while on the high of a life time.
That's fitting.
We met when I happened to recognize his writing style in a 'News on Greg Kramer' update on a friend's webpage. I asked her if she was in contact with him as I'd love to do an interview. I emailed her questions which she forwarded, he replied with his answers, and there was a definite connection.
Shortly after, he invited us to see him in a play. Off we went to Vancouver, Canada. He met us in the theater's bar after the show, his first words being, 'Which one of you is Libs?' I raised my hand. 'You write comic books!!!!' Later, he asked to see the prop rat I own, the very one that 'killed' him off Forever Knight. He took it from the bag and ran through the bar telling the rest of the cast, 'This is the ratsie wot killed me!'
A friendship was born.
We truly were each other's biggest fans. He even sent me fannish 'I loved this' emails for some of my stories.
I wish I still had them.
We hadn't chatted on-line in years, both too busy and not willing to face how short life can be, I guess, but I will cherish the memories of those long ago conversations which sometimes lasted hours. We'd talk about our activities, Dr. Who, our latest stories, auditions, bills, and the wonderful weirdness of life in general.
The few people who knew us both have wondered what would have happened if we'd ever gotten to act together or had tried writing together. Who knows. Though I believe that for the rest of my life, when I act it is with him beside me and when I write he's the muse in my ear.
Whenever I audition now, I hear him saying, 'Fling yourself against the wall to get their attention! Drop to the floor, Libs. Scream that line and whisper the next...'
How can Greg Kramer be gone when he's standing beside me?"
- Libby A Smith, friend & kindred spirit
"Many of Greg's friends, colleagues and family have been deeply touched by his sudden passing. He was a marvelous artist, a man of great depth and scope. He is sorely missed. We appreciate the outpouring of many letters, stories and notes. Tributes have been held both here in Montreal and in Ottawa - England, Toronto and Vancouver follow."
- Mollye Reisler, friend & agent
"He was a generous, funny, kind, massively talented man and a pure joy to work with. We spent hours over the dining room table discussing his manuscripts - conversations fueled by caffeine and his wit, and filled with laughter over his outrageous imagination and love of words ... His positive outlook on life and his wonderful creativity will be missed."
- Attila Berki, friend & publisher
"Greg was, without a doubt, the most remarkable man I have ever met and I know there are many, many people who are feeling his loss."
- Bonnie Pardoe, friend & fan
"We're poorer without him, and richer for having had him while we did."
- Amy R., Forever Knight fan
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Articles:
Montreal English Theatre Awards (METAS), October 2013: Greg Kramer's production of Sherlock Holmes won five awards including Outstanding Production and Outstanding Director, plus lighting, costume and sound design awards. Greg himself won Outstanding Supporting Male Actor for his performance as blind seer Teiresias in The Bacchae.
READ MORE
We are very sorry to hear of the passing of Greg Kramer. READ MORE
So began Kramer’s distinguished career performing on stages right across the Great White North, from the Vancouver Playhouse to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa READ MORE
In addition to being a fine actor, an excellent director, and an award-nominated author of novels and short stories, Kramer was also a magician of considerable expertise. He was hired as a consultant by the Stratford Festival to help create the special effects for their recent production of The Tempest starring Christopher Plummer as Prospero. READ MORE
Montreal's close-knit theatre community is still reeling from the shock of losing Greg Kramer ... playwright, actor, director, songwriter and magician. READ MORE (text & video)
"He was a punk-rock renaissance man," says Andrew Shaver, a friend and colleague of Kramer’s who is directing Sherlock Holmes. "He had such an irreverent spirit to whatever he did." READ MORE
The widely revered Kramer performed on stages across Canada, from the historic Vancouver Playhouse to the venerable Centaur Theatre in Old Montreal. READ MORE
The Player's Advice to Shakespeare, a New Theatre of Ottawa production, swept the English theatre category at the Rideau Awards Sunday night, taking a total of four prizes. They included Outstanding Performance Male awarded posthumously to the late Greg Kramer. READ MORE
"Theatre is my religion," [Kramer] declared. "There is nothing quite like the communion between an actor and an audience to keep you on your toes. We are all artists, so there is need for much forgiveness." READ MORE
Canada lost its own luminary with the sudden passing of actor / director / playwright / bon vivant Greg Kramer. It was impossible to work in Montreal English theatre without tripping over Kramer, who seemed to be everywhere. READ MORE
Actor, musician, writer and musician Greg Kramer passed away earlier this month, just as rehearsal on his last play, Sherlock Holmes, was set to begin.
The show will go on... at the Segal as planned, with another actor stepping into Greg's cameo as Inspector Lestrade. Segal artistic director Paul Flicker remembered Greg a few days after his passing. READ MORE
An actor with 29 roles under his belt, Kramer's last role was as Mississippi Gene in On the Road opposite Kristen Stewart. Prior to that, he was the voice of Nemo in the Arthur cartoons from 1999 to 2010 and also starred in the series John Woo's Once a Thief (as cleaner Mr. Murphy) and Screed in Forever Knight. He also had small roles in I'm Not There, 300 and The Day After Tomorrow. READ MORE
The guests [at his memorial in Ottawa] were invited to speak if they wanted or show how they felt. It was clear to see how much he meant to so many people. He will be sorely missed. READ MORE
The arts community is mourning the loss of Greg Kramer, a United Kingdom-born writer, director, and performer who called Vancouver home in the early days of his career. READ MORE
Websites, Interviews, Articles:
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Gregory James Dowlen was born March 12, 1961, in the village of Codicote, north of London, England, to Edward Mark Dowlen, a research engineer, and Rosemary Philippa Craven Midgley, an artist and teacher...." READ MORE
- Actor, director, author and magician Greg Kramer, 51, has died after a long battle with cancer...." READ MORE
- At first, it seemed like the playwright had merely overslept. But when it turned out that Greg Kramer was actually dead, the entire Sherlock Holmes team was shaken...." READ MORE
- When he isn't acting, multi-talented Greg has plenty of other creative pursuits to keep him occupied. He's a musician, magician, artist, playwright, novelist, stage director, and can spew Jell-O out of his nose. He attributes this diversity to his childhood...
READ MORE: "WITH RAT IN HAND: an interview with greg kramer" by Libby A. Smith
- So began Kramer’s distinguished career performing on stages right across the Great White North, from the Vancouver Playhouse to the National Arts Centre in Ottawa READ MORE
- Clearly Kramer – happiest when he is on the stage – doesn’t need Hollywood to make his dreams come true. "You can still make money in theatre," Kramer says. "You can. Just obviously not quite so much." READ MORE
- Greg's Personal Website
- Resumes & Demo Reel
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