Bill Luxton (actor)
Bill Luxton (1927 – 13 July 2019) was a Canadian actor[1] who appeared in television and on stage. He was best known for the role of Uncle Willy on the Willy and Floyd comedy team and as voice actor for cartoons.
Bill Luxton | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1927 |
| Died | July 13, 2019 (aged 91–92) |
| Years active | 1954–2010 |
| Spouse(s) | Toots |
Life and career
Born in Toronto in 1927 of English parents, Bill and his family returned to London, where they endured The Blitz during the early 1940s. Bill joined the British Army at 18 and spent time in the signal corps, beginning in 1945.
His experiences as a teenage actor led him to the forces broadcasting system, where he trained as an operator and announcer. He spent six months in Germany and two years in Libya, re-settling in Canada after his discharge in 1948.
Post-war, the only job he could find was as a junior announcer in Port Arthur, now part of Thunder Bay, in 1948. By chance, he met Toots there and the couple remained married for 69 years.
Bill graduated from the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts in Toronto in 1950,[2] eventually got a job at CKWS in Kingston in 1954, where he created the character Uncle Willy for a children’s cartoon show. He moved to Ottawa as one of the first employees at CJOH, which went on the air in 1961.
References
- "Egan: Bill Luxton was an Ottawa television pioneer". Ottawa Citizen. July 16, 2019. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
- "Meet the man behind that famous voice". Kitchissippi Times. June 9, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2019.
External links
- Bill Luxton at IMDb