He first appeared on stage at the Stratford Festival during its inaugural season in 1953, and remained closely associated with it until his retirement in 2005, at the age of 85. Over the years, he played numerous roles including Brutus, Macbeth, Hamlet, Falstaff, King Lear, and Prospero. He was said to be the first actor at Stratford to insist on delivering Shakespeare's lines in "pure, unadulterated Canadian".