Peter Herrndorf

Peter Alexander Herrndorf, CC, OOnt, lawyer, journalist, publisher, media executive (born 27 October 1940 in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; died 18 February 2023 in Toronto, ON). Media mogul Peter Herrndorf has been called the “godfather of Canadian arts” for his long career in developing Canadian news media and the performing arts. He started his career as a journalist at the CBC, working his way up to become vice-president and general manager of English radio and television (1979–83). He was then the publisher of Toronto Life magazine (1983–92), chairman and CEO of TVOntario (1992–99), and president and CEO of the National Arts Centre (1999–2018). Committed to the development of the arts in Canada, he was also involved in the creation of many awards, festivals and foundations.

Early Life and Education

Peter Herrndorf was born in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam in 1940. His father, Hellmut, was a banker. His mother, Anne-Marie, was a German Jew who had fled Nazi persecution in 1938. (See Second World War.) They survived the occupation living in the Netherlands with Anne-Marie’s forged identification papers.

Herrndorf and his parents left Rotterdam in 1947, taking a steamship to New York City. During the voyage he amused himself by listening to records of popular American music. With American citizenship unlikely, the family took a train bound for Winnipeg, where they settled in 1948. Herrndorf credited listening to CBC Radio as something that helped him integrate into Canadian society.

He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Manitoba in 1962, where he studied English and political science. He earned his law degree from Dalhousie University in 1965 and completed his Master in Business Administration (MBA) at Harvard University in 1970.

Career at the CBC (1965—83)

Peter Herrndorf began his long career with the CBC in 1965. He started as a reporter and editor in the network’s Winnipeg TV newsroom. He later transferred to Edmonton to work on current affairs programming. He then moved to Toronto in 1967 to produce national current affairs programming. After completing his MBA at Harvard, Herrndorf returned to the CBC and took on a management role, becoming special assistant to the vice-president and general manager of the English network.

From 1974 to 1977, Herrndorf focused on developing investigative journalism programming, television news magazines, special series and documentary specials. These included the CBC News mainstay, The Fifth Estate. Herrndorf continued climbing the ladder at the CBC and developed other important innovations. He created the influential public affairs program The Journal and moved The National newscast from 11:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

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Peter Herrndorf
Peter Herrnodrof, CBC’s vice-president and general manager of English radio and television, works at his desk, 26 June 1975.
(photo by Jeff Goode, courtesy Toronto Star via Getty Images)

Toronto Life (1983—92)

In 1983, Peter Herrndorf retired from the CBC and became the publisher of Toronto Life magazine. During his tenure, the magazine was twice named Canada’s Magazine of the Year. In 1994, he received the American City and Regional Magazine Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his achievements and contributions to magazine publishing.

TVO Executive (1992—99)

Peter Herrndorf took on the chief executive role at TVOntario (TVO) in 1992. Much like his career at the CBC, he was credited with turning the station around with new ideas. The network had a reputation for being overly pedagogical in nature prior to Herrndorf’s tenure. He shifted the network’s focus to live, daily public affairs programming. The move resonated with viewers and this has remained the case since.

Herrndorf not only increased viewership, but he turned the public broadcaster into a viable business, in the process saving it from privatization. During his time there, TVO won numerous awards, including an International Emmy and 11 Gemini Awards in 1998. The network developed an international reputation for developing high quality documentaries and children’s programming, much of which was sold abroad.

National Arts Centre Executive (1999—2018)

In 1999, Peter Herrndorf began what would be a nearly 20-year tenure as president and CEO of the National Arts Centre (NAC) in Ottawa. It is the role for which he became best-known. Among his many achievements during this time, the creation of the centre’s foundation, as well as its Indigenous Theatre, were among his most important. During his time at the NAC, CBC and TVO, Herrndorf developed a well-respected reputation for being affable and approachable, for treating everyone as equals and for being interested in what others had to say, regardless of their position.

Other Activities

Highly influential behind the scenes, Peter Herrndorf served on the boards of at least 60 different organizations. These included the Canadian Arts Summit, the Power of the Arts National Forum, the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival in Vancouver, the Association for Tele-Education in Canada and the National Magazine Awards. He played key roles in saving the Stratford Festival and in the creation of the Canadian Stage Company. He was also the founding president of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Foundation.

In 1995, Prime Minister Jean Chrétien appointed Herrndorf to a committee that reviewed the mandates of the CBC, Telefilm Canada and the National Film Board. After retiring from the NAC in June 2018, Herrndorf served as chair of the Toronto arts festival Luminato. He was also senior resident and Massey Chair for the Arts at the University of Toronto’s Massey College.

Honours, Awards and Tributes

Peter Herrndorf was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1993 for his “efforts to foster excellence in and awareness of the arts in Canada.” He was promoted to Companion in 2017 for his “extraordinary engagement in the arts” and “his desire to enrich the lives of Canadians throughout the country.” In 2007, he was appointed to the Order of Ontario for having “revolutionized Canadian broadcasting, publishing and the performing arts.”

Herrndorf received the John Drainie Award for lifetime achievement in Canadian broadcasting from the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Arts (ACTRA) in 1998. In 2015, he received the inaugural Peter Herrndorf Arts Leadership Award from the national organization Business for the Arts. In 2018, he was awarded a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.

He also received numerous awards for his contributions to Canadian education while at TVO. These included being named a lifetime fellow of the Ontario Teachers’ Federation in 1999 and an honorary fellow of the Ontario College of Art & Design (now the Ontario College of Art and Design University) in 2001.

Following his death from cancer in 2023, tributes to Herrndorf poured in from the country’s arts and culture sector. Mark Starowicz, a former executive producer of The Journal, said that even though most Canadians had never heard of Herrndorf, “he shaped our lives through what we saw on television in its greatest years and his tireless support of singers, writers, poets, orchestras and theatre. He was the greatest defender and champion of Canadian culture of his generation.”