Grant Macdonald was born in Montreal and raised in Galt, Ontario. He studied at the Ontario College of Art in Toronto, the Art Student’s League in New York and at Heatherly’s Art School in London. Macdonald is best known for his portraits of the great stage actors of the 1930’s and 1940’s. Working for a number newspapers, Macdonald travelled to London and New York, producing portraits of the actors in full costume to serve as illustrations for theatre reviews. In 1953 he was commissioned by the Globe and Mail to record the first season of the Stratford Festival and he continued doing so every season until 1963, providing a valuable visual record of these early years. Macdonald had a remarkable ability to depict actors as the characters they portrayed on the stage.