Brian Edgar Huggins (30 August 1931 – 29 March 2013) was a British-Canadian journalist and actor.

Biography

Brian Huggins, born August 30, 1931, in Leicester, Leicestershire,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He started his career in journalism at the Leicester Evening Mail. His work then took him to London, England, where he worked on Fleet St., before moving to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at age 25. He worked for

The Newspaper Guild The NewsGuild-CWA is a labor union founded by newspaper journalists in 1933. In addition to improving wages and working conditions, its constitution says its purpose is to fight for honesty in journalism and the news industry's business practices ...

in Montreal, and as a journalist with the CBC in Toronto and Ottawa. He was the candidate in the 1963 general elections for the New Democratic Party of Canada in the riding of Ottawa West. In the 1970s he was a broadcast journalist for CBC Ottawa; lived in Paris (1974-75) where he was a freelance writer; and returned to Ottawa where he worked as a Member's Secretary on Parliament Hill, before he joined the Civil Service to work in public relations, a writer and editor for Statistics Canada. He also worked for the

Canadian Union of Public Employees The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; french: Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, links=no; french: SCFP, link=, label=none) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized workpl ...

. Following his retirement from journalism and the public service, he took up acting. As a background or character actor he played many small roles in both television and movies filmed for the most part on Canada's East Coast. He is best known for his portrayal of "Shitty" Bill in the hit Canadian

mockumentary A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on c ...

series ''

Trailer Park Boys ''Trailer Park Boys'' is a Canadian mockumentary sitcom television series created by Mike Clattenburg that began airing in 2001 as a continuation of his 1999 film bearing the same name. The show follows the misadventures of a group of trailer p ...

''.

Personal life

Born to parents Beatrice Pye and Charles Huggins, Brian Huggins was raised in Leicester with his younger sister Joan. Brian Huggins later moved to London to pursue his career in journalism which he had started at the Leicester Evening Mail. After emigrating to Canada, Huggins lived in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

, and Ottawa. He married Catherine Costello (1943-1984), with whom he had two children, son Paul Charles (b.1967 Montréal) and daughter Piper Elizabeth (b.1969 Ottawa). Once retired, he moved to

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

, where he divided his time between Chester and Dartmouth. He also spent a good part of the year in his native England, later settling in Hailsham, South of London. Brian Huggins was a member of the Ottawa Press Club, Canadian Union of Public Employees, Royal St George's Society of Halifax, Chester Yacht Club,

Royal Over-Seas League The Royal Over-Seas League (ROSL) is a not-for-profit members' organisation with international headquarters in its clubhouse in central London, England. Founded by Sir Evelyn Wrench in 1910 as the Over-Seas Club, it was given a Royal Charter ...

Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists The Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) is a Canadian trade union representing performers in English-language media. It has 25,000 members working in film, television, radio, and all other recorded media. The orga ...

, and the New Democratic Party.

Death

Huggins died on 29 March 2013 in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, at the Dartmouth General Hospital. Cause of death is unconfirmed by an autopsy report; clinical prognosis: rapid degenerative brain decease that presented first as Aphasia.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Huggins, Brian 1931 births 2013 deaths English emigrants to Canada English male television actors Canadian male television actors People from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia Journalists from Nova Scotia Journalists from Toronto Journalists from Quebec People from Leicester Male actors from Halifax, Nova Scotia Male actors from Montreal Male actors from Ottawa Male actors from Toronto Male actors from Leicester