Jack Duffy

Born in Montreal, Duffy grew up in Toronto, dropping out of Central Technical School to become a singer. At age 19, he was hired as a studio singer with CBC in Toronto and in 1948 he started a three-year affiliation with Tommy Dorsey, initially as a member of the vocal group Bob-O-Links. Duffy was performing as a member of the musical act the Town Criers in 1950 and would frequently appear on CBC-TV variety shows through the 1950s. In 1957, he was hired by Norman Jewison to appear as a comedian on the CBC series Showtime. Duffy had his own CBC variety show called Here's Duffy that ran from June 1958 through October 1959.

In 1961, he became a regular on Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall, performing as one of the Kraft Music Hall Players, alongside Don Adams, Paul Lynde, Kaye Ballard and others. The show finished its run in 1963.

Duffy battled alcoholism after he started drinking while on the road with the Dorsey band.[1] His first wife left him and he became destitute,[2] living in a $10-a-week attic.[3] He stopped drinking in 1967 and married dancer Marylyn Stuart later that year.

In 1970 he began an 11-year run as captain of the home team on the charades game show Party Game, produced by Hamilton, Ontario-based CHCH-TV. It was through this show that Duffy picked up the nickname "Captain Jack." In 1971 he also hosted the CBC-TV series In The Mood, featuring appearances from some of the biggest names in big band jazz, including Benny Goodman and Count Basie. Beginning in 1975, Duffy provided the voice of Boot, the cheerful, occasionally mischievous talking boot that hosted the children's educational show Readalong. Readalong was seen on TVO, PBS and other educational networks into the early 1990s.

Duffy worked steadily as a character actor, mostly in Canadian comedy shows and films, right though to his death in 2008. He died of natural causes at age 81 in Toronto.

• Jack Duffy at IMDb
• NorthernStars: Jack Duffy
• Toronto Star Obituary: Jack Duffy, May 20, 2008