In Memoriam
Total 1808 Posts
George Chuvalo was a five-time Canadian heavyweight champion and two-time world heavyweight title challenger who wasn't knocked down in any of his 93 fights. His personal life was riddled with tragedy, as he lost three children and his wife to suicide and/or drug abuse. Here's my lengthy conversation about
Barry Melrose was the former Toronto Maple Leaf best known for being the coach of the Los Angeles Kings in their run to the 1993 Stanley Cup Final. I'll never forget that Campbell Conference Final the Leafs lost to the Kings in 7.
Otto Jelinek, along with his sister Mariea, won the 1962 World Figure Skating Championships and represented Canada at the 1960 Winter Olympics. He went on to a successful career in politics where he was elected to the House of Commons in 1972, becoming Minister of National Revenue in 1989.
Gloria Steinem was the feminist crusader who galvanized the modern women’s movement, challenged sexist assumptions and fought for gender equality.
Cassandra Wilson was a two-time Grammy Award-winning jazz singer, songwriter and producer.
While with Citytv, Jay Levine created and produced Fashion Television, a success in over 120 countries and one of Canada's longest running TV series.
Jacques Doucet was the French radio broadcaster of Montreal Expos games for every year of the team's existence, from 1969 to 2004. He was also the French play-by-play voice of the Toronto Blue Jays from 2011 until his retirement in 2022.
Peter Cullen was the Canadian voice over actor best known for providing the voice of Optimus Prime on Transformers.
Tim Curry was the actor best known for playing Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the cult classic "The Rocky Horror Picture Show."
Dolly Parton got her big break on The Porter Wagoner Show writing "I Will Always Love You" as a goodbye as she left to become a country music superstar and actress. She wrote many hit songs, but for my money, it's "Jolene" all the way.
Soraya Roberts was a culture writer who wrote the book In My Humble Opinion: My So-Called Life and who has contributed to Harper's, Vanity Fair, The L.A. Review of Books and other publications.
Perry Rosemond, an unsung hero of Canadian television, has passed away. Perry came up on Toronto Mike'd during my conversation with John Byner as he produced the first two seasons of Bizarre. As Ed Conroy tells us, he created King of Kensington and worked on such key children's shows as
Frank Beard was the long-time drummer of ZZ Top.
Hayden Panettiere was the actress best known for roles in television’s “Heroes” and “Nashville”.
Tommy John played 26 MLB seasons for the Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, California Angels, and Oakland Athletics.
Don Nelson coached the Milwaukee Bucks, the New York Knicks, the Dallas Mavericks, and the Golden State Warriors and at one time was the winningest NBA coach in history.until he was surpassed by Gregg Popovich in 2022.
Tedde Moore was the actress best known for playing Miss Shields in A Christmas Story.
Jim Fonger was CFNY's Operations Manager from July 1988 until October 1989. During that period, the station broadened its playlist and added more Top 40 hits into its Spirit of Radio alternative mix. This period is often referred to as "the mistake of '88". As you can imagine, this upset
Lloyd Robertson was anchor of CBC's The National, before joining the CTV where he co-anchored the CTV National News with Harvey Kirck before becoming the senior news anchor for CTV. In 2023, I enjoyed a 90-minute chat with Lloyd for Toronto Mike'd and we talked about his career in broadcasting,
Vincent Pastore was the actor best known for his portrayal of Salvatore "Big Pussy" Bonpensiero on The Sopranos.
Bill Atanasoff was a former City-TV cameraman who was struck by a driver on November 9, 2010, while on assignment. Bill suffered severe head trauma, a broken neck, broken pelvis and two broken legs, but his story was not a sad one, but an inspiring one. Peter Gross called me
Arlene Smith was a founding member of the Chantels, singing their 1957 hit Maybe, which defined the girl group sound.
Kavinsky was a French musician, DJ, producer who is best known for Nightcall, a stellar jam from the Drive soundtrack.
Scott Hylands was a prolific Canadian actor who portrayed Detective Kevin "O.B." O'Brien on Night Heat.
Glen Hansard was the Irish musician who won an Academy Award for Best Original Song for Falling Slowly, which he wrote for the film Once.
