Film Director, Producer, Cinematographer, Screenwriter. He is best known and best remembered for being one of the first film directors in Canada to specialize in dramatic films, including the Walt Disney produced adventure, "Nikki, Wild Dog Of The North" (1961), and "Drylanders" (1963). He was born Donald Alexander Haldane in Edmonton, Alberta, and raised in Olds, Alberta. He was educated locally and later attended the prestigious Banff School of Fine Arts in Banff, Alberta, from 1936 to 1937, the Yale University Drama School (he was the first Canadian Graduate of this school) in New Haven, Connecticut, from 1938 to 1941, and the New School of Social Research in New York City from 1946 to 1947. Following his education, he made several important sponsored films in New York from 1947 to 1954. He then joined the National Film Board of Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, where he made several interesting educational documentary films for the On The Spot/Sur Le Vif, Perspective, and For The Record film series including "Alcoholism" (1955), "Saskatchewan Traveller" (1956), and "Case Of Conscience" (1956). Besides, "Alcoholism" (1955), "Saskatchewan Traveller" (1956), and "Case Of Conscience" (1956), his many other documentary film credits include, "Montreal Fire Department" (1954), "Backstage At Parliament" (1955), "Child Guidance Clinic" (1955), "Coal At the Crossroads" (1955), "Forest Wardens" (1955), "L'ambassadeur recoit" (1956), "Canadians Abroad" (1956), "Case Of Conscience" (1956), "Curtain At Noon" (1956), "Elder Citizen" (1956), "Embassy" (1956), "Fighter Wing" (1956), "Is It A Woman's World?" (1956), "Night Shift" (1956), "Railroad Town" (1956), "Ship In Harbour" (1956), "Win, Place Or Show" (1956), "Crossroads" (1957), "Fires Of Envy" (1957), "The Ghost That Talked" (1957), "Howard" (1957), "Joe And Roxy" (1957), "Who Is Sylvia?" (1957), "The Whole World Over" (1957), "Mystery In The Kitchen" (1958), "Eternal Children" (1959), "The Gifted Ones" (1959), and "U.N. In The Classroom" (1959). He left the National Film Board of Canada and formed Westminster Films in Toronto, Ontario, in 1959. He later turned to television and freelanced as a director on several episodes of classic Canadian television programs including, "R.C.M.P.," "The Forest Rangers," "The Collaborators," Sidestreet," "The Swiss Family Robinson," "The Beachcombers," "The Edison Twins," and "The Campbells." His other credits include the television episode of Walt Disney's "Nikki, Wild Dog Of The North (1964, remade for television that year), and the films, "Expo 67: A Preview" (1966), a documentary short about the International and Universal Exposition which was held in Montreal, Quebec, from April 27 to October 29, 1967, "Jake And The Kid: Political Dynamite" (1962),"Reincarnate" (1971), "Drylanders" (1974, remade that year in four episodes), and "Someday Soon" (1977). He also founded a professional Black Theatre in Canada. He was considered a pioneer in his field and it was later determined that he was the director of more films than anyone in the history of the National Film Board of Canada. He was also the founder of the largest and most influential union of creative artists in the Canadian Film Industry - the Director's Guild of Canada. For his many contributions to entertainment, he was awarded the Distinguished Service Award (which was later renamed the Don Haldane Distinguished Service Award in his honor) from the Directors Guild of Canada in 2003. He was also a recipient of the Queen's Silver Medal and Gold Jubilee Medal. He passed away on September 21, 2008, at the age of 93, in Toronto, Ontario. At the time of his death funds were being raised for a Dramatic Arts Award in his name on the island of Nevis, West Indies.