Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
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Description area
Dates of existence
History
Kenneth McClure Leach, 1890-1985, was born in Iowa, USA. His family came to Canada in 1907 and homesteaded near Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. He and his wife, Edna, married in 1914, had two children. In 1917 they moved to Calgary, Alberta and Leach took over the Regent Theatre. In 1926 he became a partner in Famous Players, closed the Regent and bought the Strand Theatre. Originally opened as the Allen Theatre in 1913, it was renamed the Strand in 1924 and operated as a movie theatre until its demolition in 1972. Leach acquired the Variety Theatre in 1938. It was built as a live show house called the Princess Theatre in 1914, but was renamed the Variety in 1923 when it became a movie theatre. It closed in 1962. The Empress Theatre, opened as a live show house in 1906, was acquired by Leach in the 1940s and renamed the Hitchin' Post. It closed in 1957.