Deborah Birmingham, 61, on Nov. 19, following a battle with cancer. One of the former voices of the highly-rated OZFM Dawn Patrol on OZFM (CHOZ-FM) St. John’s, NL, Birmingham was a longtime co-host alongside Larry Davis (aka Larry Jay, who was married to Birmingham for a decade) and the late Randy Snow, who passed away just three months ago. Remembered for her larger than life personality and quick wit, Birmingham was working in a bank when she was scouted by the station in 1984. Alongside her rado duties, she also hosted hour-long news magazine NTV Newsday with Fred Hutton. Watch NTV’s tribute here.
Grant Kennedy, 89, on Nov. 15. Originally from Amhertsburg, ON, Kennedy joined the Canadian Navy at the age of 18 as a trombone player in the Navy band. Stationed mostly in the Maritimes, he retired in 1978 after 25 years with the Navy, while concurrently helping his brother Vern co-found Audio Atlantic, one of the first recording studios in the Maritimes that saw groups like Ryan’s Fancy, McGinty, Sylvia Tyson, and the cast of CBC’s Singalong Jubilee pass through its doors, among other productions. Kennedy joined ATV (now CTV Atlantic) in 1983 as an audio engineer, recording musical programs including “Up Home Tonight,” “The Joan Kennedy Show,” “Maritime Country,“ and the daily musical acts appearing on Breakfast Television. Also a pilot, he was known for flying CTV reporters and other media around the Maritimes to news events. He retired from CTV in 2003 and joined the Commissionaires as a fire warden in HMCS dockyard until 2021. Watch CTV Atlantic’s tribute to Kennedy here.
Dan Hennessey, 82, on Nov. 13, of complications from Parkinson’s disease. Born in New Jersey, Hennessey was an English teacher, prior to moving to Toronto where he started taking on acting roles in THOG’s psychedelic rendition of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the Red Barn Theatre and Gryffon Theatre, as well as CBC’s “Coming Up Rosie,” alongside John Candy, Catherine O’Hara, Gilda Radner, John Stocker, Rosemary Radcliffe and Dan Ackroyd. He eventually moved into voice acting, best known for his roles as Braveheart Lion in the Care Bears, Father Bear in Little Bear, and Chief Quimby in Inspector Gadget. He was also heard as Chef Truffles in Babar, Ruckus in X-Men: The Animated Series (for which he also served as voice director), and various roles on Star Wars: Droids, and Beetlejuice, among many other roles.
Bree Tiffin, 50, on Nov. 3, of cancer. Hailing from Prince Albert, SK, after obtaining her Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and Communications at the University of Regina, Tiffin began her broadcasting career with CBC-TV in Regina as a researcher on Utopia Café in the mid-1990s. A job with Discovery Channel in Toronto followed as a segment producer on The Daily Planet, and then a three-year stint as an associate producer with CTV, working on programs like W5 and 21c. Various director, story editor and producer credits followed on series like Late Night Eats, Vintage Tech Hunters, Beyond Corner Gas: Tales from Dog River (2005), Decked Out (2011) and Property Brothers Forever Home (2019). Tiffin ascended to the role of VP of Content at Boat Rocker Media’s Crooked Horse, before joining Scott Brother Entertainment in 2020 as a programming executive.
Herby Moreau, 56, on Nov. 3, of complications from myeloma. Haitian-born, Moreau arrived in Montreal at the age of five. After studying at École Supérieure de journalisme de Lille in France, he worked at France 2, TV5, and M6. He eventually returned to Montreal and started as a production assistant for Julie Synder in 1989 on the set of “Sortir.” He would go on to work with Snyder for 18 years, before hosting his own shows, including “Flash” on TQS, “Star Système” and “Star Académie.” He also established himself on the red carpet of A-list events like the Oscars and Cannes Film Festival. Moreau additionally worked as a reporter for La Première, Elle Québec, and served as a culture reporter for TVA. In 2009, he created his own internet video channel, herby.tv. He published “Glamour et faux pas” in 2014, recounting his many celebrity encounters.
