The Board and Nomination Committee of the CCHOF have voted to acclaim writer and humourist Stephen Leacock and the legendary TV comedy writer/producers Frank Peppiatt & John Aylesworth into the Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame.

The vote was unanimous for Canada’s greatest humourist and the writing duo that dominated and changed television comedy. Every year the Board and the Nomination Committee of the CCHOF has the ability to acclaim two Legacy acts into the Hall.

There is no question that Quebec supports it’s artists and one of it’s favourites Ti-Zoune Jr. (Olivier) Guimond was a natural.   His parents were pioneers in the wave of burlesque that swept Quebec in the 1920’s. He convinced his parents to let him perform as Olivier “Ti Zoune jr.” His performance and characters fueled the rise of comedy on radio and on television (Music Hall), but they were honed live in burlesque.  Guimond was physical, charming, and often compared to Charlie Chaplin.   He worked with the legendary Rose Ouellette and many others.  In the sketch Trois Heures de Matin, perfected in the live burlesque shows, is one of the most famous sketches to come out of Quebec.  Guimond played the lead in the series Cre Basile and released several comedy albums. In 1966 he was crowned Monsieur Radio- Television at the Gala Des Artist. One of his last performances was Bye Bye the New Year’s special on Radio Canada.  He plays a French soldier guarding a rich white home in Westmount on New Year’s during the October Crisis – topical, poignant and legendary.

Mordechai wrote novels, plays, screenplays and essays most note able The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, Barney’s Version and the Jacob Two Two series of childrens’ books.  He was versatile but always gave insight into the Canadian Identity and the sensitivities of Quebec and the separatist movement, from an Anglophones perspective.   He has won many awards among them:

• 2 Governor Generals awards for Cocksure and Tigers Under Glass
• A Giller Prize for Barney’s Version
• A Writers Guild of America Awards for the screenplay The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
• A Canadian Library Association Book of the year for Jacob Two Two meets the Hooded Fang.
• Stephen Leacock Award for Barney’s Version
• A star on Canada’s Walk of Fame.

In its hay day two million Canadians tuned in to hear the ‘knock-knock ‘on the door, the voice that answered, “Who’s there?”  The response “It’s the Happy gang” and the warm welcome, ”Well Come on in!”  And the variety show entertained, boy did it entertain.

During WWII the Happy Gang records were played on trans-Atlantic crossings, and back home the song “There’ll Always Be an England” was performed nearly every day by The Gang to give all hope.  Bert Pearl was the band leader and Master of Ceremonies, trumpeter Bob Farnon, violinist Blain Mathe and Kathleen (Kay) Stokes rounded out the original four-member troupe/band. In 1975 they did a special show at the CNE with many of them now in their ‘80s.  They were so delighted as over 20,000 people showed up to remind The Happy Gang they will never be forgotten.

The cast of Wayne and Shuster were an ensemble that brought to life the famous sketches of the first inductees into the CCHOF, including the famous Rinse the Blood Off My Toga sketch which was performed on Ed Sullivan multiple times.  Who can forget Sylvia Lennick’s immortal words as Julius Casers’ wife “I told him, I said Julie don’t go!”

Cast members included:

Ben Lennick, Don Gillies, Eric Christmas, Paul Kligman, Peggie Loder, Don Cullen, Lorraine Thompson, Larry Solloway, Jack Merigold, Don Cullen, Jack Duffy, Bill Kemp, Tom Harvey, and many other special guests over the years including inductee David Broadfroot.

Beatrice Lillie came naturally to performing, touring Ontario in a trio with her mother and older sister while Dad was running their home as a boarding house in Toronto. The actor moved to England performing in West End revues until 1922.

Lillie developed her own style and her debut on Broadway in 1924 was met with lavish reviews. Not limited to the stage, she starred with fellow Canadian Jack Pickford (brother of Mary Pickford) in Exit Smiling,  but retuned to Broadway and Vaudeville at the Palace Theatre.

She was soon deemed the funniest woman in the world. Her friends: Noel Coward and Cole Porter, wrote for her and she performed some of their works including: This Year Grace and Mad Dogs and Englishmen.

She continued wowing audiences on both sides of the Atlantic and was known as the Queen of the double entendre.  She perfected the double entendre over her career and that skill was highlighted in her Broadway epic “An evening with Beatrice Lillie”.

Mack Sennett was born and lived in the eastern townships until he was seventeen, then it was off to Connecticut where he tried Opera singing before moving to New York Coty and became an actor.

In New York he received the financial backing he needed to move to California to pursue film making.  In California he built the First film stage studio and he named it Keystone Studios.  It was the home to Marie Dressler, Charlie Chaplin, the Keystone Cops and many more. It was called the Fun Factory and Mack was the King of Comedy. He created fast-paced slapstick comedy including pie throwing and car chases.

Sennett made over 1000 silent films, 25 ‘talkies.’  He won two Academy Awards and was given a third in 1938 for his contribution to film comedy.  He is on both Canada’s Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Mark Breslin (Toronto 1952)

A member of the Order of Canada, Mark Breslin founded the Yuk Yuk's comedy club chain – a booking network for comics to perform on stages nationally.  These venues were the launching pads for countless comics including: Jim Carrey, Russell Peters, Howie Mandell and Norm Macdonald. A veteran TV producer and writer (The Joan Rivers Show, Friday Night! With Ralph Benmergui, Kenny vs. Spenny), he was artistic director of the Humber College Comedy Program and a founder of The Canadian Comedy Awards.

 

Sandra Faire (Edmonton died Feb 27, 2019)

The late Sandra Faire’s four-decade TV producing career spanned comedy, music and dance (So You Think You Can Dance Canada). She began in the ‘70s as associate producer for a Toronto-filmed series starring U.S. comic George Kirby. She went on to nurture many Canadian comics with Comedy Now!, Comedy Inc. and The Holmes Show (starring future Air Farce member Jessica Holmes). With 199 episodes, each showcasing a single stand-up, Comedy Now! gave national exposure to Canadian comics. Episode stars included: Brent Butt, Russell Peters, Gavin Crawford and Shaun Majumder.

 

Keith Johnstone/ Loose Moose Theatre (Founded 1977)

Chicago gets most of the credit for modern improv comedy. But far away, in the unlikely mecca of Calgary, a contrarian British educator and playwright named Keith Johnstone decided to apply his theories of acting spontaneously to the stage. The Loose Moose Theatre, co-founded in 1977 by Mel Tonkin, gained an international reputation, and inspired long-running improv shows like: Theatresports, Maestro and Gorilla Theatre. Loose Moose alumni include: Kids in the Hall’s Mark McKinney and Bruce McCulloch, Pat Kelly & Peter Oldring, SNL and King of the Hill writer Norm Hiscock, and comedian Roman Danylo.

 

Ivan Reitman (October 27,1946 – February 12, 2022)

The late Ivan Reitman’s career defined big-budget comedy for decades, and served as a launching pad for legends, including Canadians like John Candy and Dan Aykroyd. After producing National Lampoon’s Animal House, he directed some very funny films including: Meatballs, Stripes, Ghostbusters, Kindergarten Cop and Dave. His heart never far from home, the Czech-born Canadian produced The Trailer Park Boys Movie, and he donated the land in Toronto’s Entertainment District where his parents’ car wash had been, to create the Toronto International Film Festival’s TIFF Bell Lightbox.

 

Andy Nulman, Bruce Hills/Just for Laughs  (1985 – present)

What started in Montreal as a festival of entirely francophone comedy became the world’s most Hollywood-connected comedy festival with the introduction of an English component. Under the directorship of JFL co-founder Andy Nulman, Canadians like Andre-Philippe Gagnon and Norm Macdonald launched their careers from the Gala stage.   International comics like Tim Allen saw their “bits” become sitcoms overnight. His successor Bruce Hills, who began as a JFL driver in 1986, expanded the brand, launching Just For Laughs festivals in Toronto, Vancouver; Sydney, Australia; Austin, Texas, U.S.A.; and in London, U.K.

 

Joanna Downey (Montreal February 1, 1967 – December 1, 2016)

A comic’s comic, and a comic who nurtured comics, the late JoAnna Downey was funny, insulting and warm in equal measure. Her legendary Wednesday night open mike at Toronto’s Spirits nightclub had a wide reputation, attracting major stars like  Robin Williams (who received a tongue-lashing from Downey for hogging the stage). On any given night, you could see top Canadian comics trying out new material, drop-ins like Lewis Black and Patton Oswalt, or then-future stars like Ryan Belleville and Debra DiGiovanni. Canadian comedy was her extended family, and that family mourns her still.

 

Andrew Alexander (March 24, 1944)

A sometime journalist, marketer and publicist, Andrew Alexander had the good fortune to take a job at Chicago’s Ivanhoe Theatre, where he met Second City co-founder Bernie Sahlins, whose attempts to expand to Toronto had failed miserably. Alexander assumed its debts for ownership and turned Second City Toronto into a comedy machine, whose cast – particularly the stars of SCTV – would become household names. In 1985, Alexander and partner Len Stuart, bought the entire franchise including the Chicago company and produced or executive produced hundreds of shows. Under Alexander’s aegis, Second City-trained names spanned generations, from Eugene Levy to Mike Myers to Chris Farley to Steve Carell to Stephen Colbert to Tina Fey.

 

Robert Gravel/Yvon Leduc, Ligue Nationale d’improvisation (1977)

In 1977, two members of the Experimental Theatre of Montreal, Robert Gravel and Yvon Leduc, came up with a novel way to inject entertainment into the art of improv. They created a hockey themed Ligue National D’Improvisation, with an “ice surface,” two teams of six actors, coaches, a referee, and an audience with noise-makers and scoring cards. This unique approach to improv utilized referees – complete with a regular season and playoffs – became a viral francophone phenomenon, catching on in France, Belgium, Switzerland and Franco-African nations. At home, the Ligue was televised for years, with a generation of Quebec’s top comics and actors “playing.” Famed playwright Robert Lepage was Rookie of the Year in 1984 and credited it as a major influence in his theatrical approach.

Lorne Michaels (Toronto November 17,1944)

Canadians with very long memories may recall Lorne Michaels’ early ‘70s stint with partner Hart Pomerantz in CBC’s very funny Hart & Lorne Terrific Hour. Its cancellation was a loss to comedy, but Michaels’ decision to pivot to masterminding comedy behind the camera would change everything. His live comedy gamble, Saturday Night Live has been on the air nearly a half-century, giving us generations of break-out comic genius, from John Belushi to Eddie Murphy to Mike Myers to Tina Fey.  The show and its stars ignited an ongoing boom in movie comedies. Outside of SNL, Michaels’ keen eye for comedy saw him produce Kids in the Hall and 30 Rock. He holds the record for the most Emmy nominations by one person, with 94.

Norm rose out of the Ottawa Yuk Yuks comedy club to become a true star of stage and screen.  From his deadpan stage delivery to the most irreverent turns on numerous talks shows (including his own), or the SNL news guy that loved skewering OJ; Norm was always Norm.  He progressed very quickly from amateur nights to JFL showcases, to getting a writing gig on Roseanne to appearing on SNL.  Norm had his own television sitcom, more than one talk show, acted in over 20 feature films and we haven’t even mentioned about his voice work.  Among his many voice performances Norm was the voice of the cranky lion in DR Doolittle and also Death on the Family Guy!  Comics loved him, fans loved him and this clip from Conan is an insight onto his mind.  He takes the whole interview spot to tell one joke.

The television show and its characters that we all fell in love with evolved from the stage show and improv phenomenon The second City.  It featured a cast that had spent time honing their craft on Lombard St at the old Firehall.  Created as its own network, SCTV had a station manager Guy Caballero, and a stable of ‘stars’ including Bobby Bittman, Johnny LaRue and Lola Heatherton to name a few. SCTV launched the careers of John Candy, Eugene Levy, Catherine O’Hara, Joe Flaherty, Andrea Martin, Martin Short, Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas.   The show also featured recurring characters played by Tony Rosato, John Hemphill, Robin Duke, Harold Ramis and Jayne Eastwood as well as many special guest appearances.

It’s hard to believe that so many influential comedy ideas and comedy greats came from the east coast and Codco was the main reason.  Formed from a 1973 stage show about Newfoundland stereotypes written by Tommy Sexton and Diane Olsen, Codco was performed by: Sexton, Olsen, Cathy Jones, Mary Walsh, Greg Malone and Paul Sametz. By 1974 Andy Jones had joined the cast and in 1976 Olsen left the cast. CODCO continued to grow in popularity with new shows like “The Root Seller” and “The S & M Comic book”. In 1986 a CODCO reunion show caught the eye of the CBC, and they commissioned a TV show CODCO ran until 1993; sadly, in the same year one of the original members, Tommy Sexton, died.  The series was largely performed by Walsh, Sexton, Cathy Jones and Andy Jones with Greg Thomey and Robert Joy.

The humour was often satirical, political and often controversial.   The CBC originally refused to air their sketch about the Mount Cashel Orphanage where priests discussed their sexual experiences.

That biting satire and commentary of CODCO evolved into the 1993 show This Hour has 22 Minutes starring Codco founders Cathy Jones and Mary Walsh, regular Greg Thomey and newcomer Rick Mercer.  The rest as they say is history!

A writer, actor and comedian, Steve Smith, created the iconic character Red Green.  Smith began in a rock band with his wife Morag. They left the band to form the duo Smith & Smith.  Hamilton station CHCH gave the Smiths their own show which ran from 1979-1985.  At that time, they took a year off to do a family sitcom, Me & Max.  They recreated Smith & Smith as The Comedy Mill which ran till 1991.  The Comedy Mill also featured Linda Kash, Meg Ruffman and Peter Keleghan.  At this point Morag decided to focus on the family so Steve focused on the character Red Green.   Red Green got its TV debut in 1991 and it ran until 2006.  During this time Smith also wrote the television show Laughing Matters and a full-length feature Duct Tape Forever.  When the TV show ended Steve toured Canada and the US with his one man shows both in character as Red Green and as himself. He received the order of Canada in 2006.

A pioneer of the vaudeville/burlesque movement that dominated Quebec theatre from 1920 until the 1960’s, Rose ran the Theatre Nationale in Montreal 1936-1953.  She got the nickname La Poune from her stage show with Olivier Guimond Senior (Ti Zoune Sr.).  She is known to be the Queen of Comedy in Quebec and sold out the Nationale Theatre for evening and matinees for seventeen years straight!  She recorded albums and was the first Quebecoise artist at RCA Victor.  She performed on stage, television and in movies.  Roses contribution to and impact on francophone comedy is immense. She was rewarded with the Félix Tribute in 1983, the Prix Victor at JFL in 1991 and Knighted into the National Order of Quebec in 1990.

Catherine is the recipient of many awards: Emmy’s, Genies, Golden Globes, Screen Actors Guild Awards and more.  She has won awards as part of the sketch ensemble SCTV as both a writer and performer, as the loving mother in Home Alone and Moira in Schitt’s Creek.  Catherine O’Hara has been the leading lady in comedy since she stepped on the stage and began writing sketches for The Second City in 1974.  She started as the understudy to Gilda Radner and got her break when Gilda went on to SNL. One of her first television roles was in a sketch on a Wayne And Shuster Special. She worked with John Candy in a sitcom called Coming up Rosie. Her characters are not just hilarious but touch us with their humanity.

Using only a newspaper as a prop, Mort Sahl revolutionized comedy and took political satire to a new level.  The first Tonight Show host Steve Allen said Sahl “was the only real political philosopher we have in modern comedy”.  Mort’s live-onstage raw performance inspired a whole new direction in comedy and influenced a host of comedians which included:  Jonathan Winters, Lenny Bruce, George Carlin and Lewis Black. Mort’s intelligent wit was far reaching even landing him a job writing for John F. Kennedy.  Kennedy’s death created a lifelong obsession for Mort, as he strove to find the truth behind Kennedy’s assassination.

Funny and a trailblazer that’s Elvira Kurt.  The first openly lesbian performer on Canadian television, Elvira was the first winner of the Best Stand up Female at The Canadian Comedy Awards. As a stand-up she blazed a trail for LGBTQ rights and created the term “fellagirlly” describing a blend of feminine and masculine traits.  She hosted the game show Spin Off and had her own social commentary show called Popcultured that ran for two years on the Comedy Network.  She has written and performed on numerous television shows but is known as one of the funniest stand-up comics in Canada.

Michael is one of those entertainers whose characters are so strong it’s hard to not see him as:

Alex P Keaton on Family ties, or Marty McFly in the Back to the Future trilogy or Mike Flaherty the deputy Mayor in Spin City or even as himself on Curb Your Enthusiasm. If you just hear that voice, you probably recognize it from movies like Stuart Little or countless other voice performances.  A comic actor with a tremendous sense of timing and delivery, Fox turned his attention to the cause of Parkinson’s when he was diagnosed with the disease at 29, in 1991.  He has written several books and has won countless awards including:  several Screen actors Guild Awards, several Emmys, Golden Globes, People’s Choice, Nickelodeon, American Comedy Awards and a Grammy!

Al Waxman was the pioneer of the Canadian comedy sitcom and best known for the character The King of Kensington. Larry King was his character, and the show drew over one million viewers an episode for its run 1976-1980.  Al was multidimensional, appearing in Shakespeare in Stratford, the US series’ Cagney and Lacey and Twice in a lifetime.  He was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2016 and has a statue in Toronto’s Kensington market with the inscription “There’s a lot to do down the road, there’s always more.  Trust your gut instincts. In small matters trust your mind, but in the important decisions in life – trust your heart.

Phil was an actor, comic, writer and a graphic designer. He even designed albums for Poco, America and Steely Dan.   In 1975 he got the comedy bug when he joined the legendary Groundlings sketch and improv comedy group.  It was there he met and worked with Paul Reubens creating Pee Wee’s Playhouse. Most remember his eight-year stint at SNL or the TV sitcom he left the show to do, News Radio.  And that voice?  Yes, he voiced Simpsons’ characters Troy McClure and Lionel Lutz.    He won an Emmy for his work on SNL and is on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame.

“Surely you can’t be serious?” “I am serious and quit calling me Shirley.”

Leslie Nielsen portrayed over 220 characters over 60 years and most of them were funny.  As Paul Gross once said of his Due South Co-star “He always brought his fart machine with him.” From the ‘50s to the ‘70s it was mostly drama and romance but that changed when the Zucker brothers cast him in Airplane! Then it was all the deadpan comedy he could handle in The Naked Gun films and the TV series Police Squad. Nielsen is on both the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame.

David Steinberg has had several careers in one lifetime bringing humour with him to each life. He just released a book called Inside Comedy and has directed multiple episodes of the very funny show Curb Your Enthusiasm and that is in the past two years! David started his comedy at The Second City Chicago and was a fan of stand-up Lenny Bruce. He received notoriety as a stand up and appeared on The Tonight Show 130 times (second only to Bob Hope).  He had his own television show, The David Steinberg Show, where he built a cast that included, Dave Thomas, John Candy, Joe Flaherty and Andrea Martin; but the show only lasted one season. He won two Emmy Awards for writing the Academy Awards, was nominated for several Directors Guild Awards for Seinfeld and Mad About You.   A man of many skills, David hosted a show where he interviewed comics, Travelling with Comics and released several comedy albums.  A living legend, David Steinberg.

Actor, comic, musician writer and excellent at all of them.  He’s been nominated for an Academy award and won an Emmy.  An original member of SNL Dan started doing comedy at The Second City and was recognized early on as being a little different and brilliant. Dan and SNL cast mate, John Belushi branched out from SNL to do the Blues Brothers movie and tour as the Blues Brothers. Dan loves music so much started his own chain of clubs The House of Blues.    His dad researched paranormal activity and Dan was able to turn that knowledge into Ghostbusters, one of the biggest block buster movies of all time.  Fellow Second City Alumnus Dave Thomas once said, “Danny he was brilliant and funny, he always made the scene work.”