John E. Conway

John E. Conway

 John E. Conway, actor, puppeteer (b at Toronto, Ont 13 Oct 1922). Creator of the well-loved television puppet characters Uncle Chichimus and Hollyhock, Conway became interested in puppets and theatre at an early age. Raised in Montréal and Toronto and educated (MA) at the University of Toronto, by 1939 he was touring with what became known as The Royal Canadian Puppet Ballet. Between 1942 and 1945 he served with the Royal Canadian Air Force, and in 1948 moved to the west coast to teach English Literature at the University of British Columbia. He and a fellow puppeteer toured the province with a new puppet troupe, and it was during this time that he conceived the idea of the characters that debuted in 1952 on the CBC television show Let's See. Originally broadcast for 15 minutes, 7 days a week (cut back to 5 after 6 months), it was later reformatted as part of a children's programming department and ran until 1955. The show's young directors included Norm CAMPBELL and Norman JEWISON.

From 1958 to 1959 Conway's production company, Conway Films, produced 26 15-minute short films titled The Adventures of Uncle Chichimus, and in 1961 he created an hour-long television show called Cartoonerville in Ottawa for the CTV network. Conway retired his puppets in 1966. Along with his series of short films, they are now part of the collection of the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Qué.