Sally Crooks, who taught, wrote and performed on stage and screen, died recently at age 84. (Courtesy Joanne Skidmore)

Sally Crooks, a noted Saskatchewan teacher, writer, actor and contributor to CBC Radio, has died in Regina.

Crooks was 84.

Crooks was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, in 1927. As a young woman she trained in music and theatre arts at the prestigious Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London, England.

Beginning in the early '50s, she pursued a professional singing career in Britain. But, by the mid-'60s, a decision by her family to move to Regina pushed her career in a new direction.

Soon after arriving in Canada, Sally obtained a bachelor of education degree and started a teaching career in Regina that lasted until 1988.

She also kept active in the fine arts.

Acting and directing stints with the Regina Little Theatre, the Regina Lyric Light Opera Society and Regina Summer Stage led to a late-blooming career as a TV and movie actress.

She had roles in the feature films Just Friends and Tideland and on the TV shows Corner Gas and Little Mosque on the Prairie.

Crooks also turned her hand to writing her memoirs and poetry.

In 2007, she was honoured by the Saskatchewan Writers' Guild with the John V. Hicks Manuscript Award for About Jim and Me: A Love Story.

The book traces the author’s experiences as a Scot who immigrated to Canada with her beloved husband. He was a physiotherapist 16 years her senior.

A 2006 book of memoirs, That Saturday Night, was also nominated for a Saskatchewan Book Award.

Crooks was also a talented radio performer and writer.

She acted over the years in CBC Radio programs. An account written by her of the early days of her marriage and a chance wartime encounter with her absentee father, called Honeymoon In Dieppe, was featured on the CBC Radio program Outfront.

As well, an excursion in audio art that she contributed to in 2007, called Train Dreams, was heard on Outfront and CBC’s Ideas. The show was nominated for awards and performed at international radio events, including The Third Coast Festival, the Prix Italia and Deep Wireless.

A memorial service will be held at First Presbyterian Church, 2170 Albert St., Regina, on Saturday, Oct. 1, at 1:30 p.m.