Don Harron, Canadian actor and writer, best known for his role in a variety show as Charlie Farquharson, died on Saturday at the age of 90. His eldest daughter, Martha, was the one which confirmed the sad information, according to CBC News. He died in Toronto, in his home and surrounded by family. Harron was suffering from cancer, but he refused to get hospitalized and undergo treatment, but death met him calmly in the arms of his dear family.
In her statement to the Canadian Press, Martha declared that although in a precarious state due to his illness, her father managed to keep his spark and wit and never ceased to resort to comedy: “He was still sharp. He was still capable of being funny even though his voice was barely above a whisper.’’ As a conclusion of her declaration, the daughter of Don Harron put a silver lining to the dramatic event: “It’s horribly sad, but it’s beautiful too.’’
According to CBC News, it was during a 1952 television revue entitled The Spring Thaw when Don Harron portrayed Farquharson and thus introduced the character to the Canadian public: ‘’the country bumpkin from rural Ontario known for his incessant puns and decrepit grey cardigan sweater.’’ Years later, in 1969, Harron turned his Charlie Farquharson into a recurrent and now worldwide acclaimed figure of comedy in the variety show Hee Haw. Don Harron was a symbol of the show for 18 seasons, until 1982.
Apart from his television comedy character, the work of Don Harron spread also to theater, including both on-stage acting and dramatic writing. As an actor, he was a recurrent figure in Broadway plays and also shared parts in London’s West End. He exercised his writing skills with five musicals, for which he wrote numerous lyrics. Probably the most notable was his contribution to an on-stage version of Anne of Green Gables in 1965, adapted from a television version.