Posted on 07/23/2009 7:47:53 PM PDT by grundle
OTTAWA — Les Lye’s gift was the ability to create a host of funny, unforgettable characters for radio and television.
Whether it was joking with his alter-ego Abercrombie on CFRA, doing comedy bits with longtime friend Bill Luxton on Willy & Floyd on CJOH, or playing the exasperated father on You Can’t Do That on Television, Lye was memorable in all that he did. He was quick, funny, a wonderful ad-libber and a great comedic actor.
“He was as good as anybody in the (United) States,” said comedian Rich Little Wednesday from Idaho, where he is performing. “I used to tell him, ‘If you want to leave Ottawa, I can get you a job.’ But he never wanted to leave Ottawa.”
Lye died Tuesday at Queensway-Carleton Hospital. He was 84.
Born in Toronto, Lye came to Ottawa after graduating from Lorne Greene’s Academy of Radio Arts in 1948. He started work at CFRA, where he struck up a friendship with announcer Gord Atkinson and later was introduced to Little, then a budding impersonator.
“In those days we had one big common announcers’ office,” said Atkinson. “I’d be working away at my desk and I’d hear the two of them over by Les’s desk dreaming up all these funny routines. They did a lot of radio together; it was very funny stuff.”
Lye went on to work with Little on his first comedy album, My Fellow Canadians. Little performed the voices of former prime ministers John Diefenbaker and Lester Pearson, while Lye played the roles of journalists and backbenchers.
“Les had a big following on the radio, but he was always a comedic personality,” said Atkinson, who visited Lye about 10 days ago. “He was also something that most people wouldn’t know: He was a very good baseball player and played with CFRA’s Happy Blunderers.”
Atkinson said Lye was a natural for television, but he loved the radio business. “The two of us used to say that radio was theatre of the mind and you could create anything. We both loved radio.”
Still, in 1961, Lye gave up radio to move to CJOH (now CTV Ottawa), the start of a long association with the TV station.
Beginning as a freelance writer and performer, he struck up a friendship with another CJOH performer, Bill Luxton. The two men first worked on the evening show Compass, starring news reader Peter Jennings (who later anchored ABC’s national news show), as well as two popular Ottawa acts, the Champ Champagne musical trio and Uncle Chichimus, a puppet. Lye and Luxton also did a morning show, and when the children’s show that had been spun off to feature Uncle Chichimus was not continued, Willy & Floyd was born.
“He had such a tremendous sense of humour and was a fun guy to be with,” said Luxton. “He was such a movie buff too. He and Rich would get together and try to recall stars from old movies and play off each other.”
Willy & Floyd, with Luxton as Willy and Lye as Floyd, ran for 22 years. The duo were perfectly at ease, playing off their comedic strengths as actors. “In the years we did that show we never had a disagreement. We never got into any arguments, we worked things out,” said Luxton.
Willy & Floyd ended in 1988, but meanwhile, in 1979 Lye had launched a new show called You Can’t Do That on Television. Lye played several characters but most of the cast were young adolescents, including singer Alanis Morissette and actress Klea Scott, both just starting out.
“Les was an underrated actor. I don’t think people realized or appreciated the depth of his work. The things that he did on You Can’t Do That on Television, especially when you think of all the different characters he played on that — he had to play with all those kids. I didn’t envy him at all because there were a lot of personalities going on there,” said Luxton.
The show ended in 1990, although it continued in reruns on the Nickelodeon network in the U.S. and grew to be a cult hit with audiences.
“He didn’t enjoy it as much as Willy & Floyd,” said Luxton, “but he enjoyed the fact that the show was being seen all over the world.”
A celebration of Lye’s life will be held Sunday at 2 p.m. at Pinecrest Remembrance Services, 2500 Baseline Rd.
http://www.barthsburgery.com/epguide.htm
Ping.
oh man do I ever remember that show.... back when tv was halfway decent.
Oh, the hours of entertainment that I enjoyed from that programme...
uhhhhhhhhh I heard that!!!
I don’t know...
What a great show....C
Ready, AIM!
What do you think is in the burgers?!
SLIME!
Water!
Ddddiiiiii heard that.
I loved You Can't do that on Television! Barth was so gross!! Prayers to his family. He was a very talented actor.
Whatever happened to the Ploof family?
I always thought he had a kind of Ernie Kovacs vibe about him - a real pro. Rest in Peace, Les.
I remember him from the early days of cable tv on Nickelodeon. RIP.
mark
i was really young.
Same here.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.