Toller Cranston

"If something is worth doing, it’s worth overdoing" – Toller Cranston

His best international finish was bronze at the 1976 Montreal Olympics, yet Toller Cranston, with his extreme body shapes and theatrical presentation, singlehandedly transformed men’s figure skating from an athletic competition to an art form. He went on to skate professionally, starring in television specials in Canada and the US, as well as in Broadway shows and a Radio City Music Hall. He made videos with Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell and was fired for the CBC for being too honest as a commentator on figure skating competitions.

In middle age, he detoxed and decamped to San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where he produced most of his 20,000 paintings that have been exhibited 250 times in galleries and museums around the world. On his death in 2015, he was celebrated for his many accomplishments as a skater and an artist a pioneer in the LGBTQ community. 

Toller Cranston: Ice, Paint, Passion by Phillippa Baran, is a one-of-a-kind book that uses biography, interviews, letters, photography, and original artwork to bring to life the accomplishments and influences of one of the most compelling and inspirational people Canada has ever produced.