Canadian children's entertainer (1927?2001)
|
---|
|
Born
| Ernest Arthur Coombs
(
1927-11-26
)
November 26, 1927
|
---|
Died
| September 18, 2001
(2001-09-18)
(aged 73)
|
---|
Resting place
| Chamberlain Cemetery, Round Pond, Lincoln County, Maine, US
|
---|
Occupation
| Entertainer
|
---|
Spouse
| Marlene Coombs
|
---|
Children
| 2
|
---|
Ernest Arthur Coombs
,
CM
(November 26, 1927 ? September 18, 2001) was an American-Canadian children's entertainer who starred in the Canadian
television
series
Mr. Dressup
(1967?1996).
His career began as an assistant puppeteer to
Fred Rogers
, joining him in Canada when his employer was invited to produce a variant of his local Pittsburgh show for
CBC Television
,
The Children's Corner
on a national series,
Mister Rogers
. When Rogers decided to return to the United States, Coombs chose to stay in Canada on his employer's recommendation, developing the children's show
Butternut Square
, which later evolved into
Mr. Dressup
, which went on to become a long-running and iconic presence in Canadian media. He eventually became a Canadian citizen and became a honouree of the
Order of Canada
, among other honours.
Television performances
[
edit
]
Ernest Coombs was born in
Lewiston, Maine
, and pursued a career in children's entertainment after attending
North Yarmouth Academy
in
Yarmouth
, Maine. He was assistant puppeteer to
Fred Rogers
, working with him at
WQED
in
Pittsburgh
on Rogers's noontime program,
The Children's Corner
. Rogers and Coombs became close friends and when Rogers was offered a show in 1962 at the
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
, he invited Coombs to join him in
Canada
to work on an early version of
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
, called
Misterogers
. Rogers moved back to the United States three years later, but Coombs decided to stay in Canada upon his employer's recommendation to the network, joining a new TV series called
Butternut Square
.
Butternut Square
ran from 1964 to 1967. During the run, Coombs appeared as the character in the
Poor Alex Theatre
in
The Tickle Trunk
, starring
Mr. Dressup
with Casey and Finnegan.
[1]
[2]
After
Butternut Square
ended, Coombs developed
Mr. Dressup
, which became one of
English Canada
's longest-running and most beloved children's programs.
[3]
As Mr. Dressup, he presented arts and crafts, songs, stories and games for children with his friends Casey and Finnegan, a child and a dog who lived in a treehouse in Mr. Dressup's back yard. Casey was given a
unisex name
intentionally, because the character's childlike voice left Casey's sex ambiguous. Over the years, when viewers would ask Coombs whether Casey was a boy or a girl, he would ask, "What do you think?" However the questioner responded, he would say, "You're right!"
[4]
Later in the series, when the show's principal puppeteer,
Judith Lawrence
, retired, Casey and Finnegan were replaced by a small cast of
anthropomorphic
animal puppets. Coombs believed in gentle, wholesome children's programming that encouraged kids to use their creativity and imagination. In each episode, Mr. Dressup would dress up in a costume from his Tickle Trunk, and lead children in an imagination game. Many times his puppets would appear in costume as well.
The series continued production until its final taping in February 1996, when Coombs retired, though he returned for the
2
+
1
⁄
2
-hour-long
Mr. Dressup's Holiday Special
in 1997. Reruns continued to be shown on
CBC Television
until they were discontinued on September 3, 2006.
[5]
After retirement, Coombs continued to work as an entertainer, playing roles in
Ross Petty
's Christmas
pantomimes
of
Peter Pan
,
Cinderella
, and
Aladdin
; narrated a 2002 Canadian revival of the British animated television series,
Simon in the Land of Chalk Drawings
; and acted as a spokesman for children's charities.
[6]
Coombs also did a travelling stage show called
Tales from the Tickle Trunk
, in which he shared stories about the making of
Mr. Dressup
, as well as the origins, and fates, of some of the characters.
Personal life
[
edit
]
Coombs lived with his family in the city of
Pickering, Ontario
.
[7]
His wife Marlene (known as Lynn) ran a
day care
at the former SS#3 schoolhouse on Finch Avenue East west of Neilson Road in
Scarborough
(east Toronto), called the Butternut Learning Centre (now Whitefield Christian Academy).
[8]
They had two children: Catherine and Christopher. Marlene was killed in a traffic accident in 1992; she was walking on the sidewalk of
Yonge Street
in
Toronto
, when a car hit her.
[9]
The driver may have had a seizure, resulting in a loss of control of the vehicle.
[10]
Coombs became a
Canadian citizen
in 1994.
[7]
In 1996, he was named a Member of the
Order of Canada
.
[11]
[12]
Death
[
edit
]
Coombs suffered a
stroke
on September 10, 2001, and died eight days later on September 18, 2001, at the age of 73.
[7]
Awards
[
edit
]
- 1989: Lifetime Achievement Award from the Children's Broadcast Institute
[13]
- 1994: The Academy of Canadian and Television's prestigious
Earle Grey Award
, for excellence in Canadian television programming
[13]
- 1996: Appointed as a Member of the Order of Canada
- 1996:
Gemini
for best performance in a children's program
[13]
- 1997: Save the Children Award, for his many years of service as spokesperson for the Canadian
Save the Children
Foundation.
[13]
- 2001: Honorary doctorate of laws by
Trent University
in Peterborough, Ontario
[13]
- 2007: Inducted into the Town of Milton's Walk of Fame
[14]
- 2019: Awarded a star on
Canada's Walk of Fame
[15]
Tributes
[
edit
]
A tribute was made to Coombs in the Canadian television show
The Latest Buzz
, where the school for which the show is set is named Ernie Coombs High.
On November 26, 2012, Google commemorated Coombs' 85th birthday with a
Google Doodle
.
[16]
[17]
Chris Whiteley wrote and recorded a song entitled "The Week That Ernie Died" as a tribute to Coombs.
[18]
In 2022, a
Mr. Dressup
documentary, to be directed by
Robert McCallum
, was announced by
Amazon Prime Video
.
[19]
The documentary,
Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe
, premiered at the
2023 Toronto International Film Festival
,
[20]
where it won the
People's Choice Award for Documentaries
.
[21]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Ernie Coombs is TV's Mr. Dressup with Casey and Finnegan".
Toronto Star
. Toronto ON. December 17, 1966. p. 22.
- ^
Dingman, Jocelyn (December 23, 1966). "How to get through the day after the presents (zip!) are opened".
Toronto Star
. Toronto ON.
- ^
"Degrassi tops list of Canadian shows"
.
CBC News
. November 13, 2010
. Retrieved
November 26,
2012
.
- ^
"Casey and Finnegan of Mr. Dressup alive and well on Hornby Island | CBC News"
.
- ^
"Mr. Dressup to go off the air"
.
CBC News
. June 14, 2006. Archived from
the original
on August 7, 2007
. Retrieved
November 26,
2012
.
- ^
"Coombs, Ernie "Mr. Dressup" | History of Canadian Broadcasting"
.
- ^
a
b
c
"
'Mr. Dressup', Ernie Coombs, dies after stroke | CBC News"
.
- ^
Drew Hasselback (May 22, 1992).
"Happy, 'gentle' woman dead in Yonge St. crash She was on her way to meet husband for night out at theatre"
.
Toronto Star
. p. A.6
. Retrieved
January 7,
2011
.
- ^
"Mr. Dressup's wife killed"
.
The Hamilton Spectator
. May 22, 1992. p. A.3
. Retrieved
January 7,
2011
.
- ^
"Seizure suspected in fatal accident"
.
Kitchener - Waterloo Record
. May 23, 1992. p. A.3
. Retrieved
January 7,
2011
.
- ^
"
'Mr. Dressup' Ernie Coombs celebrated by Google on what would have been his 85th birthday"
.
ca.omg.yahoo.com
. November 26, 2012
. Retrieved
October 30,
2020
.
- ^
"Order of Canada"
.
archive.gg.ca
. Retrieved
October 30,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"Broadcasting Pioneer: Coombs, Ernie "Mr. Dressup" (1927-2001)"
.
Canadian Communications Foundation - Biographies
. Retrieved
November 26,
2012
.
- ^
"Canadian Champion (Milton, ON), 22 Jun 2007, p. 1"
.
news.milton.halinet.on.ca
. Retrieved
June 13,
2023
.
- ^
"Canada's Walk of Fame"
.
Canada's Walk of Fame
. Retrieved
October 30,
2020
.
- ^
"Google logo"
. Retrieved
October 30,
2020
.
- ^
"Mr. Dressup remembered in Google doodle"
.
thestar.com
. November 26, 2012
. Retrieved
June 13,
2023
.
- ^
"Chris Whiteley CD Review"
.
www.mnblues.com
. Retrieved
October 30,
2020
.
- ^
Dowling, Amber (September 29, 2022).
"Amazon Prime Video Canada Greenlights 'Mr. Dressup' Documentary"
.
Variety
. Retrieved
June 14,
2023
.
- ^
Rachel Ho,
"TIFF 2023: 'The Magic of Make-Believe' Is a Warm Reminder of the Importance of 'Mr. Dressup'"
.
Exclaim!
, September 8, 2023.
- ^
Christian Zilko,
"American Fiction’ Wins People’s Choice Award at 2023 TIFF (Complete Winners List)"
.
IndieWire
, September 17, 2023.
External links
[
edit
]
Multimedia
[
edit
]
|
---|
International
| |
---|
National
| |
---|
Artists
| |
---|
Other
| |
---|