An officer of the Order of Canada and a Knight of the National Order of Quebec, the man for whom The Harold Greenberg Fund is named was a passionate Canadian cultural figure with a larger-than-life personality.

Astral chair André Bureau and Telefilm Canada’s Dan Lyon still comment with awe at Greenberg’s ability to call up Hollywood studio heads and be treated as an equal. It should come as no surprise that American moguls knew they had met their match when they encountered the charismatic former chief of Astral Media, who executive produced box-office successes Porky’s and In Praise of Older Women.

The eldest son in a family of eight that lived near Montreal’s legendary ‘Main’ (Boulevard Saint-Laurent), Greenberg left school at 13 to work at an uncle’s clothing store, which the young man eventually transformed into a camera shop. Greenberg’s brother Ian, who took over the reins of Astral from Harold in 1995, and who remains its president and CEO, recalls the impact of both their parents dying in the early 1960s.

‘We asked, ‘What can we do to keep the family together?’ Harold said, ‘The best thing we can do is go into business together,’ Greenberg recollects.

And so they did, along with brothers Harvey and Sidney. From one camera store, the Greenbergs talked their way into handling photo concessions for the Miracle Mart department store chain. That was followed by the lucrative gig of running all photo finishing shops at Montreal’s Expo ’67.

By 1973, the Greenbergs had become the largest shareholders in film and TV distribution company Astral Bellevue Pathé (today Astral Media), with Harold as its president and CEO, and the family never looked back.

Over the next 20 years, Greenberg’s reputation – and that of Astral – kept growing.

Lyon, who worked as executive VP for distribution at Astral, recalls: ‘He was a true wave-the-flag Canadian. Harold was a street fighter, but with a soft touch. At the American Film Market party, which Astral would host, Harold would sit or stand by the door and personally greet and talk to every guest… And he wasn’t exclusive. He would give great dinners, and everyone would be given time to talk. He had tremendous generosity of spirit.’

Bureau, a former CRTC chief, recalls the Astral offices at the unusual locale of Montpelier Street.

‘His office was approximately 20 by 30 feet,’ Bureau says. ‘Beside his desk, he had a red sofa. Two of his brothers would be sitting there. In front of his desk, there would be three rows of chairs. People would be there, in the rows. Coming in, you felt like you were getting an audience with the Pope. I would find myself surrounded by people who were just sitting there, learning by watching and listening to Harold.’

Tales of Harold’s generosity are legion. Don Carmody, who would produce Porky’s and eight other projects with Greenberg, hasn’t forgotten their first meeting.

‘I met Harold when I was a student,’ Carmody recalls. ‘I came to him to beg for free lab services for my student film. While I was in the office, we chatted. I couldn’t believe how much time Harold was spending with me, a 20-year-old kid. He asked me, ‘What else do you need?’ and I said, ‘Basically, I have nothing.’ Harold asked, ‘Do you need raw stock?’ and I said, ‘Yeah,’ so he got on the phone and called Kodak and got me stock. He got me gear. Within 15 minutes, he’d set up my whole film shoot.’

Producer Robert Lantos’ first major encounter with Harold was equally memorable.

‘I was in the process of putting together my first film, In Praise of Older Women,’ Lantos begins, on the phone from the Greece set of his feature Fugitive Pieces. ‘Every time I thought I had the financing down, one little corner would curl up, and the jigsaw puzzle would fall apart. After one such occasion, I requested a meeting with Harold. I told him he was my last source – that I couldn’t pull it off without Astral. Lo and behold, he agreed. He came to the rescue – but he did get Canadian distribution rights and Astral did rather well [with it] as a result. It wasn’t a gift, but it was something that no one else was prepared to do.’

Given his history of helping fledgling producers get their formative projects made, it’s hardly surprising that he would be the driving force behind the creation of the Foundation to Underwrite New Drama for Pay Television (FUND) in 1986, and only right that, 20 years later, the initiative should bear his name.

Greenberg passed away in 1996 after a long struggle with cancer, at which time FUND was renamed in his memory and Le Fonds Harold Greenberg, the French-language funding program, was launched.