Garth Drabinsky - Biography

Biography

Born in Toronto, Ontario, Drabinsky graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1973. He was the producer for a number of films, including The Disappearance (1977), The Silent Partner (1978), The Changeling (1980), Tribute (1980), The Amateur (1981), Losin' It (1983), The Gospel of John (2003), Half Light, (2004). In 1979, he and Nat Taylor co-founded Cineplex Odeon, a predecessor company of Cineplex Entertainment. In 1995, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

He also helmed the publicly traded theatre production company, Live Entertainment Corporation of Canada, Inc., also known as Livent. The company also built or refurbished several theatres (including the Oriental Theatre in Chicago and the Pantages Theatre in Toronto), and entered into management deals with others in Toronto, Vancouver, and New York.

Livent made a splash in New York City after acquiring the Lyric and Apollo Theatres and remodelling them into what was originally called the Ford Center for the Performing Arts (later renamed the Hilton Theatre, now the Foxwoods Theatre). Drabinsky and Livent produced the inaugural production of the 1996 musical version of E. L. Doctorow's Ragtime, which had a long run but was not financially successful. Drabinsky's productions won 19 Tony Awards.

In November 1998, Livent sought bankruptcy protection in the US and Canada, claiming a debt of $334 million, and securities regulators in both Canada and the US began investigating Livent's books. In January 1999, Livent reached an administrative settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, while civil and criminal proceedings were simultaneously pursued.

On March 25, 2009, Drabinsky and Livent co-founder Myron Gottlieb were found guilty of fraud and forgery in Ontario Superior Court for misstating the company's financial statements between 1993 and 1998. Drabinsky was sentenced to seven years in jail on Wednesday August 5, 2009 for his role in the case.

Drabinsky filed an appeal in the Ontario Court of Appeal with respect to his sentence on September 3, 2009. During that appeal, he remained free on bail. On September 13, 2011, the Court of Appeal, while upholding the convictions, reduced Drabinsky's sentence to 5 years. The ruling was appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada, and the application was dismissed without costs on March 29, 2012. Drabinsky was originally held at Millhaven Institution, for assessment. In December 2011, he was transferred to serve out his sentence at Beaver Creek Institution, a minimum security prison, located in Gravenhurst, Ontario.

Administrative proceedings were initiated against Livent, Drabinsky and others by the Ontario Securities Commission in 2001, and they were suspended in 2002 until all outstanding criminal proceedings had been completed. Arrest warrants are also outstanding with respect to the US criminal proceedings, but double jeopardy rules prevent US extradition proceedings from taking place, because of the conviction in Canadian courts.

Show Stopper: The Theatrical Life of Garth Drabinsky, a documentary film about Drabinsky, produced and directed by Barry Avrich, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2012.