Perry Rosemond, 89, peacefully on Aug. 20. Born and raised in Winnipeg’s North End, Rosemond started his career as an actor as a founding member of John Hirsch’s Manitoba Theatre Centre (MTC) at the age of 18. He went on to direct musical variety show Red River Jamboree for CBC Winnipeg, which led to a 50-year television career. His long list of credits includes The Johnny Cash Show, Donny and Marie Show, Tom Jones Show, Fraggle Rock, David Steinberg Show, Good Times, Bizarre, Super Dave, Hockey Night in Canada, and directing 15 seasons of Royal Canadian Air Farce. His work with CBC Toronto included serving as Head of School and Preschool Programming, where he produced Mr. Dress Up and Friendly Giant and wrote and developed a Canadian edition of Sesame Street. He’s additionally credited with the creation of the King of Kensington series in the mid-1970s, inspired by the neighbourhood characters of his youth. Among other accolades he served as a director on PBS series Meeting of Minds, which earned an Emmy and George Foster Peabody Award. He more recently executive-produced, When Jews Were Funny, named best Canadian Feature Film at the 2013 Toronto Film Festival. Rosemond was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2003.
