Biography

William Weintraub is an author and filmmaker who was born in Montreal and whose work has often dealt with Montreal's past, present and future. His book City Unique: Montreal Days and Nights in the 1940s and '50s, won the 1997 QSPELL award for non-fiction, was on The Gazette's best-seller list for 73 weeks and was taken up by three different book clubs. His documentary film The Rise and Fall of English Montreal has been widely seen on television. Also, he has published three novels set in Montreal.

His 2001 book Getting Started: a Memoir of the 1950s, deals with the beginnings of his career and the careers of three of his literary friends - Mordecai Richler, Mavis Gallant and Brian Moore. Weintraub's papers, which are held in the Rare Books and Special Collections Division of the McGill Libraries, contain hundreds of letters written to him, during half a century, by Richler, Gallant and Moore.

After graduating from McGill (Arts '47), Weintraub joined the staff of The Gazette as a reporter. Later he became a staff writer for the now-defunct Weekend Magazine, this being followed by a period as a free-lance writer for magazines, radio, film and television in Canada and Europe. In 1966 he joined the National Film Board where, in his capacity as writer, director and/or producer, as well as being a consultant and "script doctor," he was involved in the making of some 150 documentary and dramatic films.

Weintraub's films often reflected his interest in history. Turn of the Century tells of Canada from 1894 to 1914. Between Two Wars is a series of three television films about life between 1918 and 1939. Salute to Flight is a series of three films about the history of aviation. Struggle for a Border is a series of nine films about the history of Canada-U.S. relations.

In 1955, Weintraub was Canadian delegate to the UNESCO Conference on Films and Television in Tangier, Morocco. In 1967 he addressed a convention of the American Historical Association on the use of films about history in schools. In 1973 he was a member of the jury at the Cracow Film Festival in Poland. In 1975 he began a seven-month residence in Nairobi, Kenya, where he set up a studio to help African film makers from various countries. In 1976 he began a two-year term as Director of English Programming at the National Film Board. In 1977 he was a member of a delegation visiting the film industry in China. In 1986 he took early retirement from the National Film Board and resumed working as a freelance.

Weintraub's first novel was Why Rock the Boat? a satire on journalism which was made into an award-winning movie. His second novel, The Underdogs, a satire on life in the Republic of Quebec after separation, was a selection of the Book-of-the Month Club and was widely praised by critics across Canada. Weintraub later wrote a play based on this book and it played to sold-out audiences during Montreal's Just For Laughs Festival.

His most recent book, Crazy About Lili, was published in September 2005. It's a comic novel, set in the Montreal of 1948, about a college student who falls in love with a famous striptease queen. It was on The Gazette's best-seller list for 18 weeks, a few times as No. 1.

Weintraub has served on the Canadian pre-selection jury for the Cannes Film Festival, as well as the awards jury of QSPELL (the Quebec Society for the Promotion of English-Language Literature). He has lectured or conducted seminars on script-writing at Ryerson Institute, Toronto; Memorial University, Newfoundland; McGill University, Montreal; St. Cloud University, Minnesota; Algonquin College, Ottawa; NFB Workshop, Winnipeg; Irish Studies Conference, Montreal; Vanier College, Montreal; John Abbott College, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Que.; Dawson College, Montreal; Concordia University, Montreal.

In 2004, when Weintraub was inducted into the Order of Canada as an Officer, his citation read, in part: " As a journalist, author, filmmaker and lecturert, William Weintraub has played a major role in our country's artistic and intellectual life. "

The formal dinner at the Governor General's residence in Ottawa, after the medals were awarded, featured Quebec Hare, Quail Leg and Sage Rillettes with a Pomegranate Lacquered Quail Breast, followed by Pan-seared Pacific Snapper Fillet on a Pickerel, Lobster Sausage, Riopelle de l'Isle Cheese, Niagara Walnut and Rideau Hall Maple Sugar Tart. After dinner, Weintraub and his wife Magda were able to inform Her Excellency that they found her repast very tasty.