Lawrence Dane, 84, on March 21, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. Growing up in Ottawa, Dane initially took acting lessons to overcome shyness. His acting career started in 1959, soon amassing film and television credits on shows like R.C.M.P., The Wayne and Shuster Hour, Festival, The Virginian, Mod Squad, Mannix, and Mission: Impossible. Among his recurring roles were Mayor Dane on E.N.G., Judge Appleby on Street Legal, Reg Hunter on The Red Green Show, and Jack Kinney on Queer As Folk. He was perhaps best known for appearing as one of the doctors in “Deliverance” (1972) and as Michael Ironside’s evil business partner in David Cronenberg’s “Scanners” (1981). Dane also wrote and directed 1984 film “Heavenly Bodies,” starring Cynthia Dale. He was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in 1979 for “Running.”
Jeannette Kelly, 70, on March 17, after a lengthy battle with cancer. Kelly detoured from her PhD program in French literature at Université Laval to take a job as a researcher at CBC Radio in Quebec City, going on to become the first host of Quebec City afternoon radio show Breakaway in 1985, and later weekly national program Radio Active, spotlighting music from Quebec. In the 1990s, Kelly did a seven-year stint as a policy analyst with the Ministry of Intergovernmental Affairs in Ontario, prior to returning to CBC and Montreal in 2011 as an arts reporter and host of Cinq à six on CBC Radio One, a weekly show on arts and culture featuring guests from actors to novelists and curators. Known for her keen ability to relay the stories of French Quebec to Anglophone listeners, Kelly retired in 2016.
Brian Elston, 73, suddenly on March 16. Elston started his broadcast career working as an operator and studio technician at CBC Radio, while attending Ryerson’s Radio Television Arts program. Shortly after graduation, he was hired by Buzzed Radio Communications to travel North America, transitioning on-air radio operations to the new Top 40 format at stations from Chicago to San Diego. He returned to Toronto in 1972 and after a year-long stint on-air at 680 CFTR and 98.1 CHFI, went on to a 32-year career at TVOntario. Elston rose to the position of Senior Production Editor, embracing new technologies over the years like digital television editing and TVO’s Online Group, managing the creation of the broadcaster’s digital asset management system. After retiring from TVO in 2005, Elston excelled as a part-time Macintosh specialist at The Apple Store in Eaton Centre.
