Eva Langbord was born in Toronto circa 1910. She was the eldest of the six children of
Morris and Rebecca Langbord. She attended school at the Clinton Public School, Peretz Shule,
and Harbord Collegiate. Langbord met Emma Goldman when she was a child and Goldman came to
the Langbord house, as many radicals did, to visit or stay. A great friendship developed
between the two, and Emma began to show a strong interest in Eva's budding acting skills, as
well as taking Eva to all of her lectures and other radical events. Langbord began her stage
career at the Standard Theatre and Hart House, in Toronto. Goldman, who also had a strong
interest in theatre, encouraged her. Langbord won a scholarship to the Neighborhood
Playhouse in New York in ca. 1933, and also studied dance under Martha Graham. She spent
most of the 1930s and 1940s in New York, working to establish a career in theatre. After
appearing opposite Burgess Meredith in Panic, her first lead role came in 1935 in Winterset
at the Martin Beck Theatre. In 1945 she was assigned a role opposite Orson Welles in
Suspect, and worked in summer stock with Lillian Gish in 1948. In the early 1950s Langbord
returned to Canada to work at CBC television, setting up their casting and script bureau,
which she ran until her retirement in 1974. She remained in the family home in Toronto until
her death on May 5, 1999. Langbord's personal and professional papers are held by the
National Archives of Canada in Ottawa.
