John Ross McLean (1905-1984), the 11th of 12 children of a Northern Manitoba minister and farmer, was born in the small prairie village of Ethelbert in 1905.

[4] During the turbulent postwar years, McLean succeeded Grierson as Commissioner, initially on an interim basis but from January 1947 as an official appointment.

[5] McLean was faced with several problems during his time in charge, including budget cuts, a reduction in staffing and conflicts with the dominant United States film industry.

[6] In an atmosphere of heightening Cold War tensions with a government minister suggesting that certain NFB employees were engaged in Communist activities, a Royal Canadian Mounted Police investigation was instigated into communism at the Board.

Grant, whose own NFB career spanned nearly three decades, described his uncle as a very philosophic person who believed very much in the concept of film and public information.

[7] In 1950, McLean moved to Paris with his wife and young son to head the film division at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), a position he was to hold until 1957.

[1] In an interview with the Toronto Star, Digby was reported as saying that his father was intensely nationalistic, and that he was perhaps best known for having stood up to U.S. film interests during his NFB tenure.