Sign Offs

Donald Sutherland, 88, on June 20. Before his foray onto stage and screen, Sutherland was an aspiring broadcaster, landing a job at CKBW Bridgewater, NS where his family relocated to from New Brunswick. Sutherland started working at the station at age 15 reading news and acting a disc jockey, prior to attending Victoria University in Toronto and subsequently leaving Canada to study at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Sutherland’s breakout film role came in 1967 with WWII film The Dirty Dozen. He went on to land the lead in 1970 feature film M*A*S*H as Captain Benjamin Franklin “Hawkeye” Pierce, earning him the first of nine Golden Globe nominations. An eclectic range of roles in nearly 200 film and television productions followed from 1971’s Klute (1971) to Ordinary People (1980), Backdraft (1991), Disclosure (1994), A Time to Kill (1996), Fallen (1998), Pride & Prejudice (2005), and The Hunger Games franchise (2012-15). His numerous accolades include a Genie (1983), Emmy (1995), two Golden Globes (1995, 2002), the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement (2000), and an Honorary Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (2017), in addition to stars on Canada’s Walk of Fame (2000) and the Hollywood Walk of Fame (2011). He was named a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2019, and a Commandeur of France’s Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in 2012.  

Larry Updike, 69, on June 20. Performing in public from the time he was a child in Southern Ontario as part of a family singing group, Updike was an ordained minister prior to his radio career, which he began to supplement his income. Updike is best known as one-half of “Tom and Larry,” the morning show he hosted alongside Tom McGouran, initially on Power 97 (CJKR-FM) from 1982 to 1988 and then on 92 CITI for another six years. The highly-rated duo were lured to Vancouver’s Rock 101 (CFMI-FM) in 1994, but the show did not translate to the new market and they were released after less than a year. Updike later resurfaced on 680 CJOB in 1995, where he went on to host the morning show from 2000-09. In 2009, he signed on with Winnipeg’s Siloam Mission as the not-for-profit organization’s Senior Communications Spokesperson. He was inducted into the Manitoba Broadcasters Hall of Fame that same year. He went on to host “Up to Speed,” the afternoon show on CBC Radio One, from 2010-13. In 2014, he published My Word! The Larry Updike Story, chronicling his journey from Pentecostal minister to rock radio and talk show host. Read more here.

Mark Blanchard, 55, suddenly of a heart attack, on June 19. Blanchard had worked with Global News since 2001 as Manager of the Network Resources Desk, helping field crews with tech, logistics and newsgathering. In an on-air tribute, Global National anchor Dawna Friesen called him “a technical, logistical wizard, who solved problems and made news happen…he demanded excellence and was a master at overcoming obstacles.” Blanchard started his journalism career in print in Halifax, prior to pursuing radio and television news, including a stint at CTV Atlantic. 

Kim (Irvine) Kuhn, 48, on June 18, following a battle with cancer. A 1996 BCIT Television Production graduate, Kuhn had been a director with Global BC for the last 25 years. She concurrently compiled a long list of broadcast producer and director credits, specializing in live production and multi-camera events, including Vancouver Giants hockey, the Variety Show of Hearts Telethon, the 2010 and 2015 Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies, and numerous Grey Cup, Canada Day, and New Year’s Eve specials. She also worked on events abroad, including the Jubilee Arts International Talent Showcase in Lisbon.