SIGN-OFFS:
Dave Broadfoot, 90, on Nov. 1. Best known for his work on the radio version of CBC’s Royal Canadian Air Farce from 1973 to 1993, the North Vancouver native’s memorable characters included hockey player Big Bobby Clobber and Sgt. Renfrew, an RCMP officer who never seemed to get his man. In the 1950s and ‘60s, Broadfoot appeared on the Wayne and Shuster Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Big Revue and Comedy Cafe, as well as CBC Radio’s Funny You Should Say That. His last regular television role was in the short-lived 2004 CBC sitcom XPM. Broadfoot’s many awards include the Juno Award for comedy recording, 13 ACTRA awards for writing and performing for radio and television, and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards for Canadian comedy. He was also named an officer of the Order of Canada in 1983 and was an honorary sergeant major of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Bobby Hales, 82, unexpectedly on Oct. 15. Hales was the leader of Vancouver’s Bobby Hales Big Band and an intrinsic part of the city’s music scene in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s as an accomplished trumpet player, composer, arranger and conductor. He composed and arranged original music for both television and the movies including The Beachcombers theme and the music for the closing ceremonies of the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics. He was also a mainstay in the programming department at CBC Vancouver for three decades where he started as music director for the local edition of TV program Music Hop in the 1960s. Hales was inducted into the B.C. Entertainment Hall of Fame in 1996.
