Howard Ryshpan

Howard Ryshpan (born December 5, 1932, in New York City) (son of Reuben Ryshpan (1887-1977) and Cecilia Nathanson) is a Canadian anglophone screen and voice character actor, in radio, film, television and theater. He also taught theater. He has directed numerous plays, notably at festivals. As an artist, Howard Ryshpan is one of the pioneers of Black & White English television in Montreal which started in September 1952.

His father Reuben was born in Poland from Hungarian origin parents, having arrived in Connecticut at the age of 9. His mother Cecilia who was born in Ottawa was a musician and music teacher successively in Ottawa, Toronto and New York. Howard's parents moved from New York City to Montreal in 1934.

Howard Ryshpan studied at Strathcona Christian Academy in Outremont, until grade 9 (until 1947); one year at Montreal Technical School (1947-48), which was run by the Jesuits on Sherbrooke Street; and three years at Bishop's College (1948-51). In June 1951, Howard received his study certificate from Bishop's College School (B.C.S.) at Lennoxville, Québec. After Bishop College, Howard was a student from Sept. 1951 to April 1952 in a baccalaureate of arts at Sir Georges William University (which merged with Loyola University in 1974) in Montreal.

His mother wanted him to become a musician. His father Reuben wanted him to get over the family business in textile in Montreal; the factory that produced ladies and children wears, as well as military clothing during the Second World War (1939-1945), was located on Dowd Street. This stock company ("Advance Scarf Mfg. Co., Limited") in Montreal had been owned since 1935 by his father Reuben and his uncle Meyer; the latter was also a painter, engraver and watercolorist. Howard started working there at the age of 9 during school holidays; he tied the bundles of linen for shipment. But Howard preferred to start a career in performing arts. Theater was a dream for him. In summer 1948 (at 16), Howard was an animator in a Laurentian summer camp. Then he worked briefly at his father’s textile factory.

After graduating from Bishop, Ryshpan accepted an offer to enlist in the Canadian Army. He took initial courses in the handling of arms with the Montreal Blackjack regiment. However, he did not have to participate in the Korean War (1950-53).

He married Virginia Rae Burns on November 23, 1956, in Montreal. The couple sailed on the next morning on the RMS Ivernia for a crossing of the Atlantic, from Montreal to the city of Le Havre, France. Following an extended stay in Paris, Ryshpan studied in private school, under one of Europe’s most famous dramatic teachers, Étienne Decroux (1898-1991) who formulated the art of mime. Then the couple Ryshpan-Rae extended the summer 1957 travelling on the Continent and in the British Isles.Howard Ryshpan has been living in semi-retirement since 2009 on a farm in the municipality of Bristol in the Pontiac Regional County Municipality, in Quebec, in Canada.