Jack Duffy
Encyclopedia
Jack Duffy was a Canadian
singer, comedian and actor.
, Duffy grew up in Toronto
, dropping out of Central Technical School
to become a singer. At age 19 he was hired as a studio singer with CBC in Toronto and in 1948 he started a three-year affiliation with Tommy Dorsey
, initially as a member of the vocal group Bob-O-Links. Duffy was performing as a member of the musical act the Town Criers in 1950 and would frequently appear on CBC-TV variety shows through the 1950s. In 1957, he was hired by Norman Jewison
to appear as a comedian on the CBC series Showtime. Duffy had his own CBC variety show called Here's Duffy
that ran from June 1958 through October 1959.
In 1961, he became a regular on Perry Como
's Kraft Music Hall
, performing as one of the Kraft Music Hall Players, alongside Don Adams
, Paul Lynde
, Kaye Ballard
and others. The show finished its run in 1963.
Duffy battled alcoholism after he started drinking while on the road with the Dorsey band. His first wife left him and he became destitute, living in a $10-a-week attic. He stopped drinking in 1967 and married dancer Marylyn Stuart later that year.
In 1970 he began an 11-year run as captain of the home team on the charades game show Party Game
, produced by Hamilton
, Ontario
-based CHCH-TV
. It was through this show that Duffy picked up the nickname "Captain Jack." In 1971 he also hosted the CBC-TV series In The Mood, featuring appearances from some of the biggest names in big band jazz, including Benny Goodman
and Count Basie
.
Duffy died of natural causes at age 81 in Toronto
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
singer, comedian and actor.
Biography
Born in MontrealMontreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Duffy grew up in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, dropping out of Central Technical School
Central Technical School
Central Technical School is a composite high school located at 725 Bathurst Street at Harbord Street in Toronto, Canada.C.T.S. offers a wide range of programs, including all core academic courses, as well as concentration and specialization in visual arts and technical studies. C.T.S...
to become a singer. At age 19 he was hired as a studio singer with CBC in Toronto and in 1948 he started a three-year affiliation with Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
Thomas Francis "Tommy" Dorsey, Jr. was an American jazz trombonist, trumpeter, composer, and bandleader of the Big Band era. He was known as "The Sentimental Gentleman of Swing", due to his smooth-toned trombone playing. He was the younger brother of bandleader Jimmy Dorsey...
, initially as a member of the vocal group Bob-O-Links. Duffy was performing as a member of the musical act the Town Criers in 1950 and would frequently appear on CBC-TV variety shows through the 1950s. In 1957, he was hired by Norman Jewison
Norman Jewison
Norman Frederick Jewison, CC, O.Ont is a Canadian film director, producer, actor and founder of the Canadian Film Centre. Highlights of his directing career include In the Heat of the Night , The Thomas Crown Affair , Fiddler on the Roof , Jesus Christ Superstar , Moonstruck , The Hurricane and The...
to appear as a comedian on the CBC series Showtime. Duffy had his own CBC variety show called Here's Duffy
Here's Duffy
Here's Duffy was a Canadian variety television series which aired on CBC Television from 1958 to 1959.-Premise:Singer and comedian Jack Duffy hosted this series with regular performers such as singing quartet The Crescendoes, comedy performer Jill Foster and an orchestra under the direction of...
that ran from June 1958 through October 1959.
In 1961, he became a regular on Perry Como
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
's Kraft Music Hall
Kraft Music Hall
The Kraft Music Hall was a popular variety program, featuring top show business entertainers, which aired on NBC radio and television from 1933 to 1971....
, performing as one of the Kraft Music Hall Players, alongside Don Adams
Don Adams
Don Adams was an American actor, comedian and director. In his five decades on television, he was best known as Maxwell Smart in the television situation comedy Get Smart , which he also sometimes directed and wrote. Adams won three consecutive Emmy Awards for his portrayal of Smart...
, Paul Lynde
Paul Lynde
Paul Edward Lynde was an American comedian and actor. A noted character actor, Lynde was well known for his roles as Uncle Arthur on Bewitched and Harry MacAfee, the befuddled father in Bye Bye Birdie...
, Kaye Ballard
Kaye Ballard
Kaye Ballard is an American musical theatre and television actress, comedienne, and singer.-Life and career:Ballard was born as Catherine Gloria Balotta in Cleveland, Ohio, to an Italian American family, the daughter of Lena and Vincent James Balotta.Ballard established herself as a musical...
and others. The show finished its run in 1963.
Duffy battled alcoholism after he started drinking while on the road with the Dorsey band. His first wife left him and he became destitute, living in a $10-a-week attic. He stopped drinking in 1967 and married dancer Marylyn Stuart later that year.
In 1970 he began an 11-year run as captain of the home team on the charades game show Party Game
Party Game (game show)
Party Game was a Canadian television game show in the 1970s, produced by Hamilton independent station CHCH-TV from 1970 to 1981. It aired throughout Canada in syndication, broadcast on 32 stations at its peak....
, produced by Hamilton
Hamilton, Ontario
Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...
, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
-based CHCH-TV
CHCH-TV
CHCH-DT, channel 11, is a television station originating in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, with transmitters located throughout Ontario. CHCH currently operates as an independent station, having previously served as a CBC Television affiliate, and more recently as the flagship station of the...
. It was through this show that Duffy picked up the nickname "Captain Jack." In 1971 he also hosted the CBC-TV series In The Mood, featuring appearances from some of the biggest names in big band jazz, including Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
and Count Basie
Count Basie
William "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Basie led his jazz orchestra almost continuously for nearly 50 years...
.
Duffy died of natural causes at age 81 in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
.
Theatrical
- 1978: The Silent Partner
- 1979: Title Shot
- 1986: Killer Party
- 1988: Switching Channels
- 1989: The Dream Team
- 1993: Ordinary Magic
- 1997: Men with Guns
- 1997: Double Take
- 1998: Strike!
- 2001: Blackheart
- 2002: The Tuxedo
- 2003: The In-Laws
- 2005: Lie With Me
Television
- 1986: Whodunit
- 1986: Doing Life
- 1988: Once Upon a Giant
- 1988: Biographies: The Enigma of Bobby Bittman
- 1993: Ghost Mom
- 1994: David's Mother
- 1994: Hostage for a Day
- 1994: Sodbusters
- 1997: The Defenders: Payback
- 1998: Universal Soldier III: Unfinished Business
- 1999: A Holiday RomanceA Holiday RomanceA Holiday Romance is a 1999 film directed by Bobby Roth and starring Naomi Judd, Andy Griffith, and Gerald McRaney. This film has been released on DVD.-Cast:*Naomi Judd - Lily Waite*Andy Griffith - Jake Peterson*Gerald McRaney - Cal Peterson...
- 2001: Doc
- 2001: My Horrible Year!My Horrible Year!My Horrible Year! is a 2001 television movie produced for Showtime, starring Allison Mack, Caterina Scorsone, and Dan Petronijevic. The film was directed by Eric Stoltz, and includes a cameo by Bret Hart, the professional wrestler...
- 2002: A Killing Spring
- 2003: Death and the Maiden
Television series
- 1952: The Wayne and ShusterWayne and ShusterWayne and Shuster were a Canadian comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s....
Hour - 1956: The Barris BeatThe Barris BeatThe Barris Beat is a Canadian variety television series which aired on CBC Television from 1956 to 1957.-Premise:Alex Barris, an entertainment writer for Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail, hosted this entertainment series. Initially, the series was a mid-year replacement for Cross Canada Hit...
- 1958: Here's DuffyHere's DuffyHere's Duffy was a Canadian variety television series which aired on CBC Television from 1958 to 1959.-Premise:Singer and comedian Jack Duffy hosted this series with regular performers such as singing quartet The Crescendoes, comedy performer Jill Foster and an orchestra under the direction of...
- 1961-1963: The Perry ComoPerry ComoPierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...
Show - 1968: Upside Town
- 1970-1981: Party GameParty Game (game show)Party Game was a Canadian television game show in the 1970s, produced by Hamilton independent station CHCH-TV from 1970 to 1981. It aired throughout Canada in syndication, broadcast on 32 stations at its peak....
- 1971: In The Mood
- 1972-1973: Half the George Kirby Comedy HourGeorge KirbyGeorge Kirby was an American comedian, singer, and actor from Chicago, Illinois.Kirby broke into show business in the 1940s at the Club DeLisa, a South Side establishment that employed a variety-show format and preferred to hire local singers, dancers, and comedians...
- 1974: And That's the News, Goodnight
- 1975-1976: The Bobby Vinton ShowThe Bobby Vinton ShowThe Bobby Vinton Show was a Canadian musical variety television series produced for the CTV Television Network between 1975 and 1978, with a total of 52 episodes broadcast. Starring Bobby Vinton, a best selling pop singer since the early 1960s, the series mixed comedy skits with musical interludes....
- 1976: The Frankie HowerdFrankie HowerdFrancis Alick "Frankie" Howerd OBE was an English comedian and comic actor whose career, described by fellow comedian Barry Cryer as "a series of comebacks", spanned six decades.-Early career:...
Show - 1976: ReadalongReadalongReadalong was an educational, Canadian television program for young children, first produced in 1976 for TVOntario.The program taught fundamentals of reading with the help of live child actors and puppets, including a comically dressed grandmother figure named Granny and anthropomorphic footwear: a...
(voice) - 1983: Curious George (voice)
- 1984: BizarreBizarre (TV series)Bizarre is a weekly Canadian sketch comedy series, airing from 1980 to 1985. The show was hosted by John Byner, and produced by CTV at the CFTO Glen-Warren Studios in suburban Toronto for first-run airing in Canada on CTV and in the United States on the Showtime premium cable network.-Synopsis:The...
- 2000: Robocop: Prime DirectivesRoboCop: Prime DirectivesRoboCop: Prime Directives is a TV miniseries released in 2001. It is based on the 1987 cyberpunk/science fiction film RoboCop directed by Paul Verhoeven. The series consisted of four feature length movies: Dark Justice, Meltdown, Resurrection, and Crash and Burn...
(mini-series)
External links
- NorthernStars: Jack Duffy
- Toronto Star Obituary: Jack Duffy, May 20, 2008