Chris Doty - Death

Death

The date of Doty's death is believed to be Thursday, February 2, 2006, although he wasn't found until a day later on Friday, February 3, 2006, after apparently hanging himself in the attic of his home on Trevithen Street in south London — twenty-four hours before the final performance of Citizen Marc, which was playing downtown at the London Arts Project on Dundas Street.

Shortly before his death, Doty had talked about taking his play about Marc Emery on the road to Vancouver, British Columbia. Plans were also in the works to re-stage The Donnelly Trial, which first ran in the spring-summer of 2005 and was an artistic and box-office success.

At the premiere in January 2006, Chris Doty escorted Marc back to the hotel after watching what Marc regarded as an outstanding play, Doty asked, "What did you think, Marc?" Marc replied, "It's perfect Chris. I like everything about it. Even the Bernard Herrmann score that was sampled and played at key times. It needs no improvement at all."

Chris responded, "That's great, Marc. If I died today, I could die knowing that you were happy with this play. That means a lot to me." Five nights later, Chris hanged himself in his mother's home. Marc recalls, the only tip-off to a state of mind was at the dinner he had with Doty, hours before the play's premiere, when he spoke up close to Marc when they were alone, "No one cares about the values of history, of morality, of the old traditions, like you and I, Marc. I do my documentaries and plays and television programs about the past, but no one cares anymore. The people have no sense of history any more. They don't know what's valuable. I am frightened they will give you up to the Americans. I worry about you, Marc."

Doty's funeral home visitation at Donahue Funeral Home on February 6 and funeral service at Metropolitan United Church in London on February 7, 2006, were both attended by several hundred mourners, including members of London's media, arts-and-heritage communities.

In June 2006, The Donnelly Trial was reprised by producer Grant Doty, Chris' younger brother, at the Old Middlesex County courthouse in memory of Chris Doty.