John Starcevic, known by the stage name John Stark, is a Canadian stage actor and producer most noted for his long-running one-man show which he performed in character as writer Stephen Leacock.[1] Originally from Rossland, British Columbia, he is an alumnus of Simon Fraser University,[2] He began performing as Leacock in the 1970s, and toured the show extensively throughout Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.[3] His show was also filmed for broadcast by CBC Television and PBS; his performance at the National Arts Centre was recorded for release on Tapestry Records in 1981,[3] and received a Juno Award nomination for Comedy Album of the Year at the Juno Awards of 1982.[4]
In the 1980s, Stark moved into film production, trying for over ten years to produce a historical drama film about the Doukhobors.[5] His other film projects included a television film of Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town,[6] and the theatrical films Chekhov and Maria and A Play on Words. He has also continued to produce and direct in theatre; he most commonly stages the plays of playwright Jovanka Bach, who was his wife for 28 years until her death in 2006,[7] but has also created the original autobiographical show Me Myself And I, by Himself.[8]