Harold Kaplan

Toronto-based and Romanian-born Canadian architect Harold Kaplan worked with his partner Abraham Sprachman, and Sprachman’s son Mandel, designing more than 300 art deco and art moderne movie theaters and cinemas from the 1920s to the 1960s. They also designed many synagogues for the Jewish community. In addition Kaplan & Sprachman worked on retail stores, warehouses and factories, apartment buildings, and single family residences. Their design for the Oakdale Golf & Country Club was chosen as a Canadian entrant in the Arts Competition of the 1948 Olympic Games.

Kaplan first moved to London at the age of three and then in 1902 to Toronto with his widowed mother. Kaplan attended Toronto Technical School where he took courses in architecture and building construction. He was a member of the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, the Ontario Association of Architects, and the Province of Quebec Association of Architects.