Browse "Arts & Culture"

Alex (Charles) Kramer. Songwriter, pianist, b Montreal 30 May 1903, d Fairfield, Connecticut, 10 Feb 1998. He studied at the McGill Conservatory, played piano in Montreal movie houses, and conducted orchestras on CFCF and CKAC radio before moving in 1938 to New York.

Alex (Alexander Peter) Pauk. Composer, conductor, teacher, b Toronto 4 Oct 1945; B MUS (Toronto) 1970, B ED (Toronto) 1971.

George Alexander Trebek, OC, television host, human rights spokesperson, journalist (born 22 July 1940 in Sudbury, ON; died 8 November 2020 in Los Angeles, California). Alex Trebek is a pop culture icon, best known as the long-time host of the TV game show Jeopardy! He began his broadcasting career at the CBC, where he hosted the music variety program Music Hop (1963–64) and the popular teen quiz show Reach for the Top (1966–73). He won five Daytime Emmy Awards from 30 nominations for Outstanding Game Show Host, and he holds the Guinness World Record for the most game shows hosted by the same presenter. An Officer of the Order of Canada, he received a Peabody Award and several lifetime achievement and hall of fame honours, including stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Alexander Begg, writer, historian (b at Québec City 19 July 1839; d at Victoria 6 Sept 1897). Educated at St John's, Québec City and Aberdeen, Scotland, Begg was trading in manufactured goods at the Red River Colony in 1867.

Alexander Brott, conductor, composer, violinist, educator (b at Montréal 14 Mar 1915; d at Montréal 1 April 2005).

LifeAlexander Brott studied violin with Eugene Schneider and Alfred De Sève, and at age 11 performed as soloist in vaudeville.

Alexander Chuhaldin. Violinist, teacher, conductor, composer, b Vladikavkas, North Ossetia-Alania, 27 Aug 1892, d Victoria, BC, 20 Jan 1951. At eight he entered the Imperial Conservatory of Moscow, studying violin with Jules Conus, and at nine he appeared in public.

David Alexander Colville, painter (born 24 Aug 1920 in Toronto, Ontario died 16 July 2013 in Wolfville, Nova Scotia). Alex Colville moved with his family to Amherst, NS, in 1929 and studied at Mount Allison (1938-42).

Hutchison deserves credit for the careful detailing that characterizes all of the firm's output, including the Redpath Museum, testimony no doubt to his apprentice years as a craftsman-builder. Hutchison and Steele gained international reputation as ice-palace designers.

Alexander Fraser Laidlaw, co-operative leader, educator, writer (b at Port Hood, NS 12 Jun 1908; d at Ottawa 30 Nov 1980).

Alexander Grant Dexter, journalist (born 3 February 1896 in St Andrews, MB; died 12 December 1961 in Ottawa, ON). Grant Dexter was the archetypal Canadian political reporter of the 1940s, a splendid journalist with access to the best governmental sources.

Alexander Reid Gray, operatic baritone, teacher, administrator (born 31 March 1929 in Lachine, QC; died 6 October 1998 in Victoria, BC).

Alexander Henderson, lawyer, politician, commissioner of Yukon Territory (b at Oshawa, Ont 13 Mar 1861; d at Vancouver 13 Dec 1940). Educated at Osgoode Hall, University of Toronto, Henderson was called to the Ontario bar in 1899 and the BC bar in 1891.

Alexander Knox, actor, novelist, playwright (b at Strathroy, Ont 16 Jan 1907; d at Berwick-upon-Tweed, UK 25 Apr 1995). Alexander Knox was educated at the University of Western Ontario, and first appeared on the American stage with the Boston Repertory Theatre in 1929.

Alexander Matheson Lang, expatriate actor-manager, dramatist (b at Montréal 15 May 1879; d at Barbados 11 Apr 1948). A tall, good-looking, classical actor he was renowned for his tours of Commonwealth countries.

Alexander Muir. Songwriter, school principal, poet, b Lesmahagow, near Lanark, Scotland, 5 Apr 1830, d Toronto 26 Jan 1906; BA (Queen's) 1851. His parents settled, when he was three, in Scarborough Township, east of Toronto, and he later taught 1853-60 in several Scarborough schools.

Alexander Pantages, né Pericles, entrepreneur, vaudeville and motion picture theatre owner and manager (b at Andros, Greece 17 Feb 1867; d at Los Angeles 17 Feb 1936). Pericles Pantages was reputed to have changed his name to Alexander after hearing the story of Alexander the Great.

Alexander Peter Pauk, composer, conductor (b at Toronto 4 Oct 1945). As a conductor, Pauk has been a leading exponent of new music in Canada since graduating from the University of Toronto in 1971, where he was a co-founder of the contemporary music collective Array (now ArrayMusic).

Alexander Phimister Proctor, sculptor, painter (b in Bosanquet Twp, Lambton Co, Ont 27 Sept 1860; d at Palo Alto, Calif 5 Sept 1950). Proctor's family left Canada in 1866, settling in Denver, Colorado, in 1871.

Alexander Ross, fur trader, author (b in Morayshire, Scot 9 May 1783; d at Red River [Man] 23 Oct 1856).