Prominent Canadian Actor Dubbed Serial Sex Predator After Four Actresses Claimed He Harrassed Them

It has been a period of revelation over the past six months in various entertainment industries around the world.

It all started back in September when powerful studio director and film executive Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual assault by many prominent actresses.

This opened floodgates of sexual allegations against the multiple Oscar-Award-winning film executive, a floodgate that culminated with him resigning from his Harvey Weinstein studios.

The next person whose skeletons were revealed was ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ director Brett Ratner who had allegations of sexual assault also leveled against him.

Apparently, the revelations are not yet over as somewhat shockingly, Toronto actor Albert Schultz, 54, was named in four lawsuits filed this week.

The  Soulpepper Theater company actor was accused by former actresses whom he had worked with of groping, harassing, and otherwise humiliating them in rehearsals.

Schultz is known for his directorial efforts on Soulpepper’s productions of ‘Death of a Salesman’, ‘Twelfth Night’, ‘As You Like It’, and ‘Oh What a Lovely War’.

Before joining up with the production company, Albert Schultz who turned fifty-four late last year had initially made his name appearing in the series ‘Shade of Black’.

Schultz is also known more recently for appearing in Netflix’s Alias Grace and BBC America’s Copper.

The veteran actor and producer was accused in suits filed this week by Patricia Fagan (Murdoch Mysteries), Hannah Miller (Dark Matter), Kristen Booth (Orphan Black) and Diana Bentley (Frontier), who all agreed to be named publicly.

Hannah Miller who filed her claim at the Ontario Supreme Court accuses Albert Schultz of harassing and sexually assaulting her when she was a performer with Soulpepper and as a member of Soulpepper’s academy.

The actress was quoted as stating in her claim,

‘Albert is a serial sexual predator who… had well-developed methods for targeting actresses and luring them into situations that he considered optimal for harassing and assaulting them’.

In the same vein, Patricia Fagan alleges in her claim that Schultz assaulted her during a rehearsal of ‘Twelfth Night’ in 2000 when he tried to show an actor what he wanted by ‘pushing his penis against her buttocks.’

All of the actresses who have the same lawyer have also included Soulpepper Productions in their claim.

Their lawyer was quoted as saying,

‘Mr. Schultz abused his power for the year. My clients fully intend to hold him and Soulpepper Theatre Company accountable. Their brave lawsuit is the first step towards righting this incredible wrong.’

The claims have not been proven in court though and representatives of Albert Schultz have remained mum on the issue despite repeated efforts to get a comment.

However, Soulpepper’s board of directors said it had begun investigating the allegations and had instructed Schultz to give up all his Soulpepper responsibilities pending its outcome.

A spokesman for the company was quoted as saying,

‘He has stepped down for the duration of the investigation,’

In the interim, Schultz’s wife and the theater company’s executive director, Leslie Lester, have also volunteered to step aside during the investigation according to a statement released by the board.