Jack Dennett
Jack Dennett | |
---|---|
Born |
Calgary, Alberta | May 30, 1916
Died |
August 27, 1975 59) Scarborough, Ontario | (aged
Occupation | radio and television announcer |
Years active | 1930sā1975 |
Jack Dennett (May 30, 1916 ā August 27, 1975) was a Canadian radio and television announcer. He began his career at the age of sixteen at Calgary's CFAC doing odd jobs such as filing. He began filling in for the regular announcer, when he didn't show up for work. In 1935, Dennett began conducting hockey interviews of players in the Regina Senior Hockey League. He enlisted in the Canadian Forces in 1940 but was soon discharged due to suffering stomach ulcers. He returned to radio in Winnipeg at CKRC then shortly moved to Toronto in 1943 to take over newscasts. He eventually took over the full-time slots in 1949. He became a regular on the radio and television broadcasts for the Saturday Night Imperial Esso Hockey, later Hockey Night in Canada. He stopped broadcasting NHL radio games in 1962 and continued on in television. He was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 1975 and had surgery in January 1975 and returned to work and left just a month before his death. That month, he was inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame. He died at a hospital in Scarborough, Ontario on August 27, 1975.[1] He is also notable for having interviewed more Prime Ministers than any other (seven) from R.B. Bennett to Pierre Trudeau.
He is buried at Mount Pleasant Cemetery in Toronto.
References
- ā Veteran broadcaster built up Canada's largest radio audience Dennett, Jack The Globe and Mail (1936-Current); Aug 28, 1975; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail pg. 13
External links
- Jack Dennett at Find a Grave
- Canada Sports Hall of Fame
- Canadian Communications Foundation biography
- Jack Dennett at the Internet Movie Database