Dave Broadfoot

1925-2016

 

 

Our friend -- founding AIR FARCE member and Canadian comedy legend, Dave Broadfoot -- died Tuesday, November 1, 2016 at the age of 90.

We feel there's no better way to remember Dave than with just a few of the countless laughs he provided to Canadians in his seven decades of performing.

In 1995, AIR FARCE celebrated Dave's 70th birthday with a two-part CBC Radio special, recorded live at the one-hundredth stop on his cross-Canada tour, Dave Broadfoot's Comedy Crusade. From answering audience questions to his own twisted look at how he started in show business, it's an hilarious one-man showcase from Canada's first, foremost, and favourite stand-up comic.

(Originally broadcast in two parts on December 9 and 16, 1995. Recorded at Theatre Aquarius in Hamilton, ON.)

 

"When I regained consciousness..." One of Dave's most beloved characters, Corporal Renfrew of the RCMP, was upgraded over the years to Sergeant. He was so popular, he was even featured in his own syndicated newspaper comic strip. Here's a sample of Dave's equally-famous alter ego.

 

In 2012, we introduced AIR FARCE FUNNIES, 52 webisodes featuring classic AIR FARCE TV sketches, grouped together by theme. We devoted a whole episode to Dave's singular brilliance, with appearances by Renfrew (April 9, 2000), Big Bobby Clobber (March 21, 1997, with Roger Abbott), the MP for Kicking Horse Pass (November 17, 1995), and two more unique creations (from December 8, 1995 and November 26, 1993).

 

In honour of Dave, we found this favourite sketch in the AIR FARCE archives: "Blind Date," from Air Farce Live at the Bayview, 1983, with Don Ferguson, Dave Broadfoot, and Luba Goy.

 
 
 

PHOTO GALLERY

 
 

LINKS


NEWS

Dave Broadfoot, Royal Canadian Air Farce comedian, dead at 90 (CBC)
Longtime CBC comedian Dave Broadfoot dead at 90 (The Globe and Mail)
Comedian Dave Broadfoot, longtime member of Royal Canadian Air Farce, dies at 90 (National Post)
Dave Broadfoot, iconic Canadian comedian of the Royal Canadian Air Farce, dead at 90 (Toronto Star)
Longtime CBC comedian Dave Broadfoot dead at 90 (Canadian Press, via the Hamilton Spectator)
RIP: Dave Broadfoot 1925-2016 (FYI Music News)
Longtime CBC comedian Dave Broadfoot dead at 90 (CTV News)
Canadian Comedy Legend Dave Broadfoot Dies at 90 (The Hollywood Reporter)


TRIBUTES

Luba Goy on CBC Radio's q with Tom Powers
Luba Goy on CBC News Network with Heather Hiscox
Dave Broadfoot 1925 – 2016 (Brioux.tv)
Remembering Dave Broadfoot (Northern Stars)
Remembering Dave Broadfoot — Canada's greatest phoney MP (iPolitics)


MORE INFORMATION ON DAVE

The Canadian Encyclopedia
Wikipedia
IMDB
Getty Images
Governor General's Performing Arts Awards
 

MISCELLANEOUS

National Film Board of Canada: "The Sloane Affair" (1972 film featuring Dave Broadfoot)  
Dave's speech to the Empire Club of Canada (Toronto, March 9, 1978; from the Empire Club website: "A comedic address by one of Canada's foremost comedians. A brief history of the speaker and how he became a comedian. A review of comedy. The therapeutic use of comedy. The address about Canada and Canadians is interspersed with many comedic moments and humourous impersonations of Canadian figures.")
Comedian Dave Broadfoot on the War of 1812 (2012 Globe and Mail interview with Anthony Jenkins)