EVERA o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-01-10 published
The castle lights are growing dim
Canadian television icon made his mark as star of The Hilarious
House of Frightenstein
By John McKAY Canadian Press Friday, January 10, 2003, Page R11
Billy VAN, the diminutive, manic comic actor who starred in Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation-Television's Nightcap in the 1960s and
The Hilarious House of Frightenstein in the seventies, died Wednesday.
He was 68.
Mr. VAN, who had been battling cancer for about a year and had
a triple heart bypass in 1998, died at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital,
said his former wife, Claudia
CONVERSE.
While a familiar fixture on Canadian television for decades,
he also worked in the United States on variety shows such as
The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, The Ray Stevens Show and The Bobby
Vinton Show.
Mr. VAN even gained fame for the Colt .45 beer commercials he
made for 15 years and for which he won a Clio Award.
But he invariably returned to Toronto in shows like The Party
Game, Bizarre with John Byner, The Hudson Brothers Razzle DAzzle
Show and Bits and Bytes.
His wife, Susan, said that while he had opportunities in the
U.S., Mr. VAN had no regrets about staying in Canada.
"He was quite happy when he came back," she said. "He had the
taste of the life down there and [said] 'Okay, that's fine, I'd
rather be at home.' "
Ms. CONVERSE agreed that Mr.
VAN had been happy with his career
and had worked non-stop until his heart bypass.
"I don't know of many Canadians that stay in Canada who get their
full recognition," she said. "When he went to the States, definitely.
But there isn't a star system in Canada so it's kind of difficult."
Mr. VAN -- then Billy
VAN
EVERA -- went into show business at
the age of 12 and back in the 1950s, he and his four musically
inclined brothers formed a singing group that toured Canada and
Europe. Most also went on to adult careers in show business.
After his heart surgery, Mr.
VAN was semi-retired but continued
to do voiceover work for commercials and animated programs. His
last major on-screen role was as Les the trainer in the television
hockey movie Net Worth in 1995.
Mr. VAN and long-time colleagues Dave
BROADFOOT and Jack
DUFFY
made appearances in recent years to support the fledgling Canadian
Comedy Awards.
"I'm all for that enthusiasm," Mr.
VAN said about the awards
launch in 2000.
"Billy was one of my closest Friends," said Mr.
DUFFY, who added
that he called Mr.
VAN several times a week after he became ill.
"We were sort of buddies under the skin. We got to know each
other really well at Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and then
we worked on Party Game together for a number of years. He was
a close friend and I will miss him very much."
Mr. DUFFY said a lot of doors opened for Mr.
VAN when he did
The Sonny and Cher Show,but he was happy to come home to his native
Toronto, where he was born in 1934.
"He came back and we were glad to have him back."
Entertainer Dinah
CHRISTIE, with whom Mr.
VAN worked on The Party
Game for a decade, called him a brave and glorious person.
"He would take on anything and was . . . a totally gracious guy,"
she said. "I'm just going to miss him like we all are going to
miss him. He soldiered through this bloody cancer thing so wonderfully.
I knew he was just trying to get through Christmas."
Ms. CHRISTIE said Mr.
VAN had some hideous experiences in the
U.S. He had seen a man shot to death next to him in a New York
hotel, and had his Los Angeles home broken into twice.
"He never felt safe there. And he was such a Canadian that he
always felt safe here."
Mr. VAN's picture is on the Canadian Comedy Wall of Fame at the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Broadcast Centre in Toronto,
along with those of Al
WAXMAN,
Wayne and Shuster and Don
HARRON.
The
Hilarious
House of Frightenstein starred Vincent
PRICE, with
Mr. VAN as host and a variety of characters, including The Count,
a vampire who preferred pizza to blood and who wore tennis shoes
as well as a cape. The hour-long episodes were taped at Hamilton's
CHCH-Television and are still seen in syndication around the
world.
Nightcap was a Canadian Broadcasting Corporation satirical show
that predated Saturday Night Live by a dozen years. Its cast
included Al
HAMEL and Guido
BASSO and his orchestra.
Mr. VAN leaves his wife, Susan, and two daughters from previous
marriages, Tracy and Robyn.
A private funeral will be held in Toronto on Monday.
Billy VAN, actor and entertainer; born in Toronto in 1934; died
in Toronto on January 8, 2003.
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EVERY o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-09-19 published
SCOTT,
Lewis
Clayton - August 16, 1909 - September 17, 2003
Died peacefully at Southlake Village Nursing Home, age 94, after
a full and distinguished life as a sportsman. In an era when
shooting, fishing, hunting and riding were the epitome of sportsmanship,
Scott excelled at all.
Born on August 16, 1909 in Vermillion, South Dakota, Lew came
to Toronto at an early age with his family. One of his first
employers was the Toronto Carpet Company (where he met his future
wife Alice
PARKER.) He then moved on to the brokerage business
with Barrett Sye and Co. as well as in the Toronto Grain Exchange.
He established L.C. Scott Construction Company in the 1940's
which operated in Canada, the United States and England. After
World War 2, the company built a large number of schools and
hospitals in Southern Ontario as well as some of the post war
homes that were built in New Toronto and North York.
Lew had a lifelong passion for horses. During a family stint
in California when he was a youngster, he first galloped racehorses
at Hollywood Park and when he grew too big, switched to exercising
polo ponies. After his business career was established, he acquired
property in Markham - Wyndstone Farm - from which he bred and
raised thoroughbred racehorses, steeplechasers and sport horses
as well as bird dogs and prize- winning Shorthorn cattle.
Lew was an equestrian sportsman of international stature. He
competed in steeplechasing and timber racing in Canada and the
United States winning a number of prestigious trophies including
the Prince of Wales trophy three times. He played polo in Canada,
the United States, England and Barbados and competed at horse
shows across Ontario. He was a keen foxhunter and served as the
whipper-in for the Toronto and North York Hunt for 20 years prior
to becoming a Master of Foxhounds in 1972, a position he held
until 1990.
He raised bird dogs and competed with them all over North America
in the 40's and the 50's. He was a top fly fisherman and enjoyed
duck and pheasant hunting. Both he and his wife Alice were crack
shots and long time members of the Toronto Gun Club. As a young
man, he was a member of the Argonaut Rowing Club.
At one time, a member or director of the Toronto and North York
Hunt, the Canadian Hunter Society, the Canadian Equestrian Team,
the Canadian Thoroughbred Horse Society, the Toronto Polo Club
and several U.S. polo clubs, the Cowdray Polo Club, United Kingdom
Canadian director of the Master of Foxhounds Association of America,
the Goodwood Club and the Argonaut Rowing Club. He was also an
accomplished pilot who loved flying and had owned several planes.
In 1989, after 54 years of marriage, he lost his beloved wife
Alice whose charm, hospitality and hard work was the foundation
of the family and the basis which allowed Lew's energetic pursuit
of his interests.
Predeceased also by his only son Lewis Christian (Skipper). Leaves
daughters Alice
FERRIER (Glen) and Susan Jane
ANSTEY (Michael
VAN
EVERY,) granddaughters Jennifer
ANSTEY,
Elizabeth
TRACEY,
Janet Louise
GAYFORD,
Mary
FRALEIGH and Margaret Ann
SPROULE.
Great grandchildren Owen
TRACEY, Will
FRALEIGH, Jamie
FRALEIGH
and Tom FRALEIGH.
He will be remembered for his enthusiasm, toughness, loyalty
and keen interest in the people and things around him.
If desired, donations in his memory may be made to Think First
Canada (for injury prevention in sports and recreation), Med-West
Medical Centre, Suite 2-227, 750 Dundas St. West, Toronto, Ontario
M6J 3S3 or to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair Endowment Fund.
A Private family service was held. Arrangements entrusted to
the Thompson Funeral Home, 29 Victoria Street, Aurora (905-727-5421).
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EVES o@ca.on.york_county.toronto.globe_and_mail 2003-01-18 published
Former
Member of Provincial Parliament, journalist Frank
DREA
dead at 69
By Jonathan
FOWLIE
Saturday,
January 18, 2003, Page A25
Frank DREA,
Progressive
Conservative
Member of Provincial Parliament
of 14 years and a journalist best known for his consumer advocacy
column in the Telegram, died Wednesday.
He was 69.
"He accomplished a great deal and was very tenacious," his wife
Jeanne said last night.
"He used to say, 'What's the use of having power if you don't
use it to help people?' He did, and I think that's how he'd like
to be remembered."
First elected to office in 1971 as the Member of Provincial Parliament
for Scarborough Centre, Mr.
DREA was known as a crusader who
often fought for the underdog.
In 1977, Mr.
DREA was appointed to the cabinet of then premier
Bill DAVIS, where he served as Minister of Correctional Services,
of Consumer and Commercial Relations and of Community and Social
Services.
During his time in politics, he worked to reform Ontario's prison
system, introduced legislation to protect workers and tradespeople
and helped to modernize the insurance industry.
Mr. DREA opted to leave politics in 1985 after Frank
MILLER took
over as premier and shuffled him out of the cabinet.
An avid horse-racing fan, Mr.
DREA was named chairman of the
Ontario Racing Commission later that year.
"Frank was tough, but he was fair," Premier Ernie
EVES said in
a statement yesterday.
"He will be missed by colleagues from both sides of the house,"
added Mr. EVES, who worked with Mr.
DREA for a number of years
during the early 1980s.
Toronto
Sun columnist Peter
WORTHINGTON, who worked with Mr.
DREA at the Telegram before it folded, remembered Mr.
DREA last
night as an aggressive and driven reporter.
"He was certainly one of the Telegram's strongest street reporters,"
Mr. WORTHINGTON said.
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