Toller Cranston
Encyclopedia
Toller Shalitoe Montague Cranston, CM
(born April 20, 1949) is a Canadian figure skater
and painter
. He is the 1971-1976 Canadian national champion
, the 1974 World bronze medalist
, and the 1976 Olympic bronze medalist
.
Although, because of poor compulsory figures
, he never won a world level competition, he won the small medal for free skating
at the 1972
, 1974
, and 1975
World Figure Skating Championships
. Cranston is credited by many with bringing a new level of artistry to men's figure skating.
He rotates clockwise.
in 1949 and grew up in Kirkland Lake. When he was 11, his family moved to suburban Montreal
.
Growing up, Cranston had an uneasy relationship with his family, especially his mother who was also a painter and who had a domineering and self-centered personality. He later compared his childhood to "being in jail". In school he had the habit of asking provocative questions that made his teachers think he was being disruptive. Although he enjoyed history, he disliked more structured subjects like mathematics.
After high school, Cranston attended the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal
. By his third year, he became restless with his studies. One of his teachers suggested that there was nothing more he could learn at the school, so Cranston set out at that point to establish himself as a professional artist.
In 1976, he teamed with personal manager Elva Oglanby to write his first book, Toller, a mixture of autobiography, sketches, poems, paintings, humour and tongue-in-cheek observations. It reached number 2 in the Canadian non-fiction charts.
Cranston co-wrote the autobiographical Zero (1997) with Martha Lowder Kimball, and a second volume, When Hell Freezes Over: Should I Bring My Skates? (2000), also with Kimball. While he described a sexual tryst between himself and Ondrej Nepela
in the second book as well as affairs with women, in his books he presents himself as having lived without forming strong romantic or emotional attachments.
As of 2010, he lives in San Miguel de Allende
, Mexico, where his main artistic outlet is now his painting, which often incorporates themes related to skating.
When Cranston was 13, he developed Osgood-Schlatter disease
and was initially told that he would never skate again. After 8 weeks in a cast, he resumed training, and won the Canadian Junior Championship the next month. This was in 1964. But, in the next few years, Cranston met with little success at the senior level. As he was dividing his attention with art school at this time, his physical conditioning was poor and he struggled to make it through his programs, which at that time were 5 minutes for senior men.
After failing to make the Canadian team for the 1968 Winter Olympics
, Cranston struggled with motivation and lack of training discipline. His career turned a corner when he began to work with coach Ellen Burka
in Toronto
in the following season. Burka forced him to do complete runthroughs of his entire program and his results began to improve: third at the Canadian championships in 1969, and second in 1970.
Cranston quickly gained a reputation as the most innovative and exciting artistic skater of his time, one of the first to emphasize use of the whole body to express the music. He was particularly known for the quality and inventiveness of his spins, which were widely copied by other skaters. (Cranston, incidentally, was a clockwise spinner and jumper.) Soon reports from competitions of this period began to mention younger skaters who had become "Tollerized" by attempting to copy Cranston's style, which was characterized by contrasting very stretched positions with a high free leg with more angular, bent-leg positions, and the incorporation of elements such as running toe steps and high kicks in step sequences.
Even during his competitive career, Cranston had talked about his goal in skating being to create what he called "theatre on ice", or skating as a form of dance expression, rather than winning medals. He explained that the purpose of perfecting the technical aspects of the sport was to allow the body to express the music or emotion.
He won his first national title in 1971 with a performance that included triple salchow and loop jumps, and received a standing ovation from the audience. But, it was in the 1972 season that he really established his reputation in the sport. At the 1972 Canadian championships, his marks included 4 6.0s for artistic impression and 6 5.9s for technical merit. Cranston skated poor compulsory figures at the 1972 Winter Olympics
, but turned in a strong program to finish 5th in the free skating. Then, at the 1972 World Figure Skating Championships
, he won the free skating with another superb performance, again landing triple loop and salchow jumps and receiving a thunderous standing ovation as well as a perfect 6.0 mark for artistic impression.
, Colleen O'Connor
and Jim Millns, and several other former elite competitors. He later toured in Europe with Holiday on Ice
, and in 1983 appeared in a short-lived production at Radio City Music Hall
in New York City
with Peggy Fleming
and Robin Cousins
.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Cranston made a series of skating specials for CBC
television. The best of these was "Strawberry Ice" (1982), a fantasy that also featured Peggy Fleming
, Sandra
and Val Bezic
, Allen Schramm, and Sarah Kawahara
, with imaginative costumes designed by Frances Dafoe
. The production won a variety of awards, including an ACTRA Award
and was redistributed in 67 countries. Cranston's other TV specials included "Dream Weaver" (1979) and "Magic Planet" (1983).
During this period Cranston was a regular on the Canadian variety TV show Stars on Ice
, and appeared in the similar NBC series The Big Show
in 1980.
His other television credits include an appearance in an ice ballet production of "The Snow Queen", also starring John Curry
and Janet Lynn
. In 1983 he portrayed the character of Tybalt in "Romeo and Juliet on Ice", a production starring Brian Pockar
and Dorothy Hamill
as the title characters. He appeared in Joni Mitchell
's concert film "Shadows and Light" He made a non-skating acting appearance in the 1983 short film "I am a Hotel
", a music video featuring songs by Leonard Cohen
.
Throughout the 1980s, he was a regular competitor at the World Professional Figure Skating Championships
and other made-for-TV pro skating events. In 1986, he was one of the cast members of the original IMG-produced American Stars on Ice
tour (no relation to the earlier Canadian TV series of the same name), and appeared with the show for the next several years.
Cranston was also a commentator on CBC
television for figure skating events. However, in 1991, the CBC fired him, citing concerns from the Canadian Figure Skating Association that his often brutally frank and opinionated commentary was denigrating to Canadian skaters. Cranston filed a lawsuit against the CBC that was eventually resolved in his favor.
In the summer of 1990, Cranston agreed to coach American skater Christopher Bowman
, who moved into Cranston's home in Toronto. The influence of the notoriously unstable Bowman on Cranston's life was disastrous; Cranston later wrote, "...drug dealers buzzed the front doorbell morning, noon, and night. Prostitutes invaded my house from the street. Christopher sometimes announced that he was going out for a carton of milk and didn't return for three days." Cranston finally threw Bowman out in the fall of 1991. Meanwhile, he had become so depressed that he was unable to paint, and started taking drugs himself. At this time, he began to make changes in his lifestyle: he sold his Toronto home, which was cluttered with art he had collected over the years, and bought a home in San Miguel de Allende
, Mexico.
Cranston continued to perform in Canada with Stars on Ice
and IMG's smaller-city tour, Skate the Nation, for the next few years. However, in the fall of 1994, he broke his leg while practicing for a holiday show in Vail, Colorado
. Although he made a few skating appearances afterwards, in 1997 he decided to retire from professional skating before (as he described it) he became a parody of himself.
in 1977 and Canada's Walk of Fame
in 2003. He was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame
in 2004.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(born April 20, 1949) is a Canadian figure skater
Figure skating
Figure skating is an Olympic sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform spins, jumps, footwork and other intricate and challenging moves on ice skates. Figure skaters compete at various levels from beginner up to the Olympic level , and at local, national, and international competitions...
and painter
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
. He is the 1971-1976 Canadian national champion
Canadian Figure Skating Championships
The Canadian Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of Canada. It is organized by Skate Canada, the nation's figure skating governing body. The levels of the competition are senior and junior; in some years, the novice level has...
, the 1974 World bronze medalist
World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...
, and the 1976 Olympic bronze medalist
Figure skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics
The 1976 Winter Olympic Games figure skating results. Ice dancing was introduced as an Olympic event in these Olympics.-Medal table:-Men:Referee:* Sonia BianchettiAssistant Referee:* Emil Skákala...
.
Although, because of poor compulsory figures
Compulsory figures
Compulsory figures or school figures were formerly an aspect of the sport of figure skating, from which the sport derives its name. Carving specific patterns or figures into the ice was the original focus of the sport. The patterns of compulsory figures all derive from the basic figure eight...
, he never won a world level competition, he won the small medal for free skating
Free skating
The free skating competition of figure skating, sometimes called the "free skate" or "long program", is usually the second of two phases in major figure skating competitions in single skating and pair skating. It is the longer of the two programs, the other one being the Short Program...
at the 1972
1972 World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion....
, 1974
1974 World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion....
, and 1975
1975 World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion....
World Figure Skating Championships
World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion...
. Cranston is credited by many with bringing a new level of artistry to men's figure skating.
He rotates clockwise.
Personal life
Cranston was born in Hamilton, OntarioHamilton, 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...
in 1949 and grew up in Kirkland Lake. When he was 11, his family moved to suburban Montreal
Montreal
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...
.
Growing up, Cranston had an uneasy relationship with his family, especially his mother who was also a painter and who had a domineering and self-centered personality. He later compared his childhood to "being in jail". In school he had the habit of asking provocative questions that made his teachers think he was being disruptive. Although he enjoyed history, he disliked more structured subjects like mathematics.
After high school, Cranston attended the École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal
École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal
École des Beaux-Arts de Montréal was an educational institution founded in Quebec in 1922. The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society was instrumental in its creation....
. By his third year, he became restless with his studies. One of his teachers suggested that there was nothing more he could learn at the school, so Cranston set out at that point to establish himself as a professional artist.
In 1976, he teamed with personal manager Elva Oglanby to write his first book, Toller, a mixture of autobiography, sketches, poems, paintings, humour and tongue-in-cheek observations. It reached number 2 in the Canadian non-fiction charts.
Cranston co-wrote the autobiographical Zero (1997) with Martha Lowder Kimball, and a second volume, When Hell Freezes Over: Should I Bring My Skates? (2000), also with Kimball. While he described a sexual tryst between himself and Ondrej Nepela
Ondrej Nepela
Ondrej Nepela was an Olympic gold medalist and three-time World champion Slovak figure skater who competed for Czechoslovakia in the late 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:...
in the second book as well as affairs with women, in his books he presents himself as having lived without forming strong romantic or emotional attachments.
As of 2010, he lives in San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende is a city and municipality located in the far eastern part of the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It is 274 km from Mexico City and 97 km from the state capital of Guanajuato...
, Mexico, where his main artistic outlet is now his painting, which often incorporates themes related to skating.
Amateur career
After an initial failed experience with ballet lessons, Cranston started skating at the age of 7, when his parents bought him hockey skates. He experimented on his own with trying to dance on the ice, and was only later told that what he was doing was called "figure skating". His mother was reluctant to allow him to pursue the sport seriously, but at the age of 11 he met Eva Vasak, who was impressed by his talent and offered to coach him for free. Vasak coached him for the next 8 years.When Cranston was 13, he developed Osgood-Schlatter disease
Osgood-Schlatter disease
Osgood–Schlatter disease and or syndrome is an irritation of the patellar tendon at the tibial tuberosity....
and was initially told that he would never skate again. After 8 weeks in a cast, he resumed training, and won the Canadian Junior Championship the next month. This was in 1964. But, in the next few years, Cranston met with little success at the senior level. As he was dividing his attention with art school at this time, his physical conditioning was poor and he struggled to make it through his programs, which at that time were 5 minutes for senior men.
After failing to make the Canadian team for the 1968 Winter Olympics
1968 Winter Olympics
The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968 in Grenoble, France and opened on 6 February. Thirty-seven countries participated...
, Cranston struggled with motivation and lack of training discipline. His career turned a corner when he began to work with coach Ellen Burka
Ellen Burka
Ellen Burka, CM is a Dutch former figure skater and a Canadian figure skating coach. She was the coach for Toller Cranston, Karen Magnussen, and her daughter Petra Burka....
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...
in the following season. Burka forced him to do complete runthroughs of his entire program and his results began to improve: third at the Canadian championships in 1969, and second in 1970.
Cranston quickly gained a reputation as the most innovative and exciting artistic skater of his time, one of the first to emphasize use of the whole body to express the music. He was particularly known for the quality and inventiveness of his spins, which were widely copied by other skaters. (Cranston, incidentally, was a clockwise spinner and jumper.) Soon reports from competitions of this period began to mention younger skaters who had become "Tollerized" by attempting to copy Cranston's style, which was characterized by contrasting very stretched positions with a high free leg with more angular, bent-leg positions, and the incorporation of elements such as running toe steps and high kicks in step sequences.
Even during his competitive career, Cranston had talked about his goal in skating being to create what he called "theatre on ice", or skating as a form of dance expression, rather than winning medals. He explained that the purpose of perfecting the technical aspects of the sport was to allow the body to express the music or emotion.
He won his first national title in 1971 with a performance that included triple salchow and loop jumps, and received a standing ovation from the audience. But, it was in the 1972 season that he really established his reputation in the sport. At the 1972 Canadian championships, his marks included 4 6.0s for artistic impression and 6 5.9s for technical merit. Cranston skated poor compulsory figures at the 1972 Winter Olympics
1972 Winter Olympics
The 1972 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated from February 3 to February 13, 1972 in Sapporo, Hokkaidō, Japan...
, but turned in a strong program to finish 5th in the free skating. Then, at the 1972 World Figure Skating Championships
1972 World Figure Skating Championships
The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion....
, he won the free skating with another superb performance, again landing triple loop and salchow jumps and receiving a thunderous standing ovation as well as a perfect 6.0 mark for artistic impression.
Professional career
After the 1976 competitive season, Cranston began a long career in professional figure skating. Following up on his earlier-stated goal of developing "theatre on ice", Cranston performed in his own tour, "The Ice Show", also featuring Gordon McKellenGordon McKellen
Gordon "Gordie" McKellen Jr. is a former American figure skater. He found his career path early thanks to his father, Gordon "Tuffy" McKellen of the famous 1940's ice skating duo, the . He is the 1973-1975 United States national champion. He placed tenth at the 1972 Olympics...
, Colleen O'Connor
Colleen O'Connor
Colleen M. O'Connor is an American ice dancer. With partner James Millns, she is the 1974-1976 U.S. national champion, the 1975 World silver medalist, the 1976 World bronze medalist, and the 1976 Olympic bronze medalist....
and Jim Millns, and several other former elite competitors. He later toured in Europe with Holiday on Ice
Holiday on Ice
Holiday on Ice is an ice show currently produced by Joop van den Ende's Stage Entertainment Group with its headquarters in Amsterdam, Netherlands...
, and in 1983 appeared in a short-lived production at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
with Peggy Fleming
Peggy Fleming
Peggy Gail Fleming is an American figure skater. She is the 1968 Olympic Champion in Ladies' singles and a three-time World Champion...
and Robin Cousins
Robin Cousins
Robert "Robin" Cousins is a British retired competitive figure skater. He is the 1980 Olympic Champion, the 1980 European champion, a three-time World medalist and four-time British national champion. He later starred in ice shows and also produced his own...
.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Cranston made a series of skating specials for CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
television. The best of these was "Strawberry Ice" (1982), a fantasy that also featured Peggy Fleming
Peggy Fleming
Peggy Gail Fleming is an American figure skater. She is the 1968 Olympic Champion in Ladies' singles and a three-time World Champion...
, Sandra
Sandra Bezic
Sandra Marie Bezic is a Canadian pair skater, figure skating choreographer, and television commentator. With partner and brother Val Bezic, she won the Canadian Figure Skating Championships from 1970–1974 and placed ninth at the 1972 Winter Olympics...
and Val Bezic
Val Bezic
Val Nickolas Bezic is a Canadian pair skater. With partner and sister Sandra Bezic, he won the Canadian Figure Skating Championships from 1970–1974 and placed ninth at the 1972 Winter Olympics.-Results:...
, Allen Schramm, and Sarah Kawahara
Sarah Kawahara
Sarah Kawahara is a Canadian figure skater and choreographer. She won an Emmy Award in 1997 for Scott Hamilton Upside Down and was the first skater to win the Best Choreography Emmy. She won her second Emmy in 2002 for choreographing the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics....
, with imaginative costumes designed by Frances Dafoe
Frances Dafoe
Frances Dafoe, was a Canadian pair skater. She was born in Toronto, Ontario. She competed with Norris Bowden. The couple captured four Canadian titles and two World Figure Skating Championships, and won the silver medal at the 1956 Winter Olympics.In 1991, she was made a Member of the Order of...
. The production won a variety of awards, including an ACTRA Award
ACTRA Award
The ACTRA Awards were first presented in 1972 to celebrate excellence in Canada's television, film and radio industry. Organized and presented by ACTRA, the Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, which represented performers, writers and broadcast journalists, the Nellie statuettes...
and was redistributed in 67 countries. Cranston's other TV specials included "Dream Weaver" (1979) and "Magic Planet" (1983).
During this period Cranston was a regular on the Canadian variety TV show Stars on Ice
Stars on Ice (TV series)
Stars on Ice was a weekly television ice show, broadcast from 1976 to 1981 on the CTV Television Network in Canada. The series was hosted by Alex Trebek and later, Doug Crosley , and featured skaters such as Toller Cranston...
, and appeared in the similar NBC series The Big Show
The Big Show (TV series)
The Big Show is an American comedy-variety-musical television series produced and broadcast by NBC for several months in 1980.The series aimed to revitalize the moribund variety television genre, which had been in a downward spiral since the cancellations of the Ed Sullivan Show and The Carol...
in 1980.
His other television credits include an appearance in an ice ballet production of "The Snow Queen", also starring John Curry
John Curry
John Anthony Curry, OBE was a British figure skater. He was the 1976 Olympic and World Champion. He was famous for combining ballet and modern dance influences into his skating.-Early life:...
and Janet Lynn
Janet Lynn
Janet Lynn Nowicki is an American figure skater and Olympic bronze medalist.-Amateur career:Lynn began to skate almost as soon as she could walk and took part in her first exhibition performance at the age of four in a group number at Chicago Stadium...
. In 1983 he portrayed the character of Tybalt in "Romeo and Juliet on Ice", a production starring Brian Pockar
Brian Pockar
Brian James Pockar was a Canadian figure skater. He was the three-time Canadian national champion , 1980 Olympian, and the 1982 World bronze medalist. He was born and died in Calgary....
and Dorothy Hamill
Dorothy Hamill
Dorothy Stuart Hamill is an American figure skater. She is the 1976 Olympic champion in Ladies' Singles and 1976 World Champion.-Early life:...
as the title characters. He appeared in Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell, CC is a Canadian musician, singer songwriter, and painter. Mitchell began singing in small nightclubs in her native Saskatchewan and Western Canada and then busking in the streets and dives of Toronto...
's concert film "Shadows and Light" He made a non-skating acting appearance in the 1983 short film "I am a Hotel
I Am a Hotel
I Am a Hotel is a 1983 Canadian made for TV short musical film, written by Leonard Cohen and Mark Shekter and directed by Allan F. Nicholls....
", a music video featuring songs by Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
.
Throughout the 1980s, he was a regular competitor at the World Professional Figure Skating Championships
World Professional Figure Skating Championships
The World Professional Figure Skating Championships, often referred to as Landover, was an elite made-for-TV figure skating competition. It was created by Dick Button, a 2-time Olympic gold medalist, through his production company Candid Productions. It usually took place in December...
and other made-for-TV pro skating events. In 1986, he was one of the cast members of the original IMG-produced American Stars on Ice
Stars on Ice
Stars on Ice is a touring figure skating show produced by IMG. It was originally conceived in 1986 as a vehicle for IMG client Scott Hamilton, who had been released from his contract with Ice Capades, after being told that male skaters do not sell tickets...
tour (no relation to the earlier Canadian TV series of the same name), and appeared with the show for the next several years.
Cranston was also a commentator on CBC
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
television for figure skating events. However, in 1991, the CBC fired him, citing concerns from the Canadian Figure Skating Association that his often brutally frank and opinionated commentary was denigrating to Canadian skaters. Cranston filed a lawsuit against the CBC that was eventually resolved in his favor.
In the summer of 1990, Cranston agreed to coach American skater Christopher Bowman
Christopher Bowman
Christopher Nicol' Bowman was an American figure skater. He was a two-time U.S. national champion and two-time World medalist. He won the 1983 World Junior Figure Skating Championships and competed in two Olympic Winter Games, placing 7th in 1988 and 4th in 1992.-Biography:Bowman was born in...
, who moved into Cranston's home in Toronto. The influence of the notoriously unstable Bowman on Cranston's life was disastrous; Cranston later wrote, "...drug dealers buzzed the front doorbell morning, noon, and night. Prostitutes invaded my house from the street. Christopher sometimes announced that he was going out for a carton of milk and didn't return for three days." Cranston finally threw Bowman out in the fall of 1991. Meanwhile, he had become so depressed that he was unable to paint, and started taking drugs himself. At this time, he began to make changes in his lifestyle: he sold his Toronto home, which was cluttered with art he had collected over the years, and bought a home in San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende
San Miguel de Allende is a city and municipality located in the far eastern part of the state of Guanajuato in central Mexico. It is 274 km from Mexico City and 97 km from the state capital of Guanajuato...
, Mexico.
Cranston continued to perform in Canada with Stars on Ice
Stars on Ice
Stars on Ice is a touring figure skating show produced by IMG. It was originally conceived in 1986 as a vehicle for IMG client Scott Hamilton, who had been released from his contract with Ice Capades, after being told that male skaters do not sell tickets...
and IMG's smaller-city tour, Skate the Nation, for the next few years. However, in the fall of 1994, he broke his leg while practicing for a holiday show in Vail, Colorado
Vail, Colorado
The Town of Vail is a Home Rule Municipality in Eagle County, Colorado, United States. The population of the town was 4,589 in 2005. The town was established and built as the base village to Vail Ski Resort, with which it was originally conceived...
. Although he made a few skating appearances afterwards, in 1997 he decided to retire from professional skating before (as he described it) he became a parody of himself.
Results
| Event | 1962-63 | 1963-64 | 1967-68 | 1968-69 | 1969-70 | 1970-71 | 1971-72 | 1972-73 | 1973-74 | 1974-75 | 1975-76 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winter Olympics Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating... |
9th | 3rd | |||||||||
| World Championships World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union in which elite figure skaters compete for the title of World Champion... |
13th | 11th | 5th | 5th | 3rd | 4th | 4th | ||||
| North American Championships North American Figure Skating Championships The North American Figure Skating Championships were a former elite figure skating competition for skaters from the United States and Canada. It was a biennial competition held between 1923 and 1971, with locations alternating between the two countries.Although the event was classified as an... |
6th | 2nd | |||||||||
| Canadian Championships Canadian Figure Skating Championships The Canadian Figure Skating Championships is a figure skating competition held annually to crown the national champions of Canada. It is organized by Skate Canada, the nation's figure skating governing body. The levels of the competition are senior and junior; in some years, the novice level has... |
3rd J. | 1st J. | 4th | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st |
| Skate Canada International Skate Canada International The Skate Canada International is an international, senior-level invitation-only figure skating competition organized by Skate Canada. It is the second competition of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating. The location changes yearly. Medals are awarded in four disciplines: Ladies' singles, Men's... |
1st | 1st | |||||||||
| St. Gervais Grand Prix International St. Gervais The Grand Prix International St. Gervais was an annual senior-level international figure skating competition held in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, France. For many years, beginning in 1969, it was paired with a similar competition in Germany, the Nebelhorn Trophy, to form a series called the Coupe des... |
3rd |
- J = Junior level
Legacy
Cranston was inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1976, the Canadian Figure Skating Hall of Fame in 1997, the Order of CanadaOrder of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
in 1977 and Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame
Canada's Walk of Fame , located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is a walk of fame that acknowledges the achievements and accomplishments of successful Canadians...
in 2003. He was inducted into the World Figure Skating Hall of Fame
World Figure Skating Hall of Fame
The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame serves as a repository for the sport of figure skating. The World Figure Skating Hall of Fame is where the greatest names in the history of the sport are honored...
in 2004.