An Artist Through and Through

Benjamin Wright

The big moment was Pagliacci. The exhibition Toller gave in Munich in 1974 was the greatest exhibition of interpretive figure skating ever seen. It was a complete surprise. No one expected an exhibition of that quality. When you Google Pagliacci, they should have Toller right there.

Dick Button

Toller Cranston! The most exotic skater that I think I have ever seen. If John Curry is the most elegant, this is the most exotic, the most bizarre, and the most unusual and extraordinary style that I have ever seen.

Jeanne Beker

I’d go over to his house and he’d be there with paint under his fingernails, paint-splattered chinos and a sweatshirt, just doing his thing—dragging his hands through his hair as he always did, being inspired, and gleaning inspiration from everything around him. An artist, truly an artist through and through. It just saturated every fibre of his being that artistry and that desire to express something deeper and larger-than-life.