Charles Bradley Templeton (October 7, 1915 – June 7, 2001) was a Canadian media figure and a former Christian

evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...

. Known in the 1940s and 1950s as a leading evangelist, he became an agnostic and later embraced atheism after struggling with doubt. Afterwards he worked at various times in journalism, radio and writing.

Early life

On October 7, 1915, Charles Templeton was born in Toronto, Canada. He attended the high school Parkdale Collegiate Institute.

Cartoonist

In 1932, he was hired to draw "Chuck Templeton's Sportraits", a daily sports cartoon, at age 17 for '' The Toronto Globe'' (now ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''), leaving high school. His work became syndicated and earned him a comfortable living. He converted to Christianity while working as a cartoonist, quitting his job in 1936 to become a preacher.

Christian evangelist

After he quit his first job, Templeton became a mass

. From 1936 to 1938, he toured the US and preached in 44 states. He was a top evangelist, internationally renowned. In 1941, Templeton started the Nazarene Avenue Road Church as its preacher, renting a building that formerly housed a Presbyterian church. In 1955, he became the

Presbyterian Church in the United States The Presbyterian Church in the United States (PCUS, originally Presbyterian Church in the Confederate States of America) was a Protestant denomination in the Southern and border states of the United States that existed from 1861 to 1983. That y ...

's secretary of evangelism. Wanting to learn more about Christianity, Templeton attended Princeton Theological Seminary in the 1940s, later receiving an honorary doctorate from Lafayette College. He hosted the religious television show '' Look Up and Live''. Charles Templeton struggled with doubts about his religion. He eventually became an agnostic, causing a wide backlash from Christian communities. Templeton was a close friend of, and shared billing with, fellow evangelist Billy Graham, with whom he co-founded (along with Torrey Johnson) Youth for Christ International. After Templeton became an agnostic, they remained friends but became more distant.

Media

Journalist

In 1959, he quit evangelism and entered a media career. He was hired by the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...

'' in the same year as its executive managing editor, quitting the position in 1964 to enter politics. Furthermore, he founded the advertising company Technamation Canada, working there until

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

hired him as director of public affairs in 1967. In 1969, he got another job as editor of '' Maclean's'' magazine for seven months.

Radio

Templeton became an interviewer for the radio show ''Close-Up''. He later worked with Pierre Berton on the radio show ''Dialogue'' from 1966 to 1970 on CFRB and from 1970 to 1984 on CKEY where Templeton also served as morning news reader. He won two ACTRA Awards for broadcasting. In 1992, he won the

125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal The 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal (french: Médaille commémorative du 125e anniversaire de la Confédération du Canada) is a commemorative medal struck by the Royal Canadian Mint to commemorate the 125th anniversary of ...

Author

Templeton wrote plays performed on television. Templeton's first novel, ''The Kidnapping of the President'' (1974), was a bestseller and was adapted into a

1980 film __NOTOC__ Year 198 (CXCVIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sergius and Gallus (or, less frequently, year 951 ''Ab u ...

. He wrote several other novels. In ''Farewell to God'' (1995 or 1996), he described his conversion to agnosticism and his reasons for doing so. He won the B'nai B'rith book award.

Politics

He came second in an election for the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party, although he was its vice-president in 1964 and 1965.

Inventor

Templeton made his own unsuccessful designs of a child-resistant medicine cap, a cigarette filter and a pipeline. His design for a teddy bear that could stay warm for many hours was widely manufactured.

Personal life

While he was an evangelist, Templeton married evangelist and singer Constance Oroczy in 1939. In 1957, they divorced. In 1959, he married singer

Sylvia Murphy Sylvia Murphy (September 24, 1931 – February 24, 2021) was a Canadian singer who was popular on radio and television programs on the CBC from 1949 to 1964. Biography She was the oldest child of Celia (née Zoddickson) and John Murphy. Her moth ...

, whom he met while producing a television drama; they also divorced. In 1980, he married author Madeleine Helen Stevens Leger, staying married until he died. He had four children: Michael, Deborah, Bradley, and Tyrone.

Death

On June 7, 2001, Charles Templeton died from

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

References

External links

Photo archive
curated by Brad Templeton
''Anecdotal Memoir''
(1982) by Charles Templeton, online version {{DEFAULTSORT:Templeton, Charles 1915 births 2001 deaths Artists from Toronto Canadian agnostics Canadian editorial cartoonists Canadian male novelists Canadian non-fiction writers Ontario Liberal Party candidates in Ontario provincial elections Canadian evangelicals Christian writers Members of the Christian and Missionary Alliance Former Protestants Canadian former Christians Canadian television evangelists CTV Television Network people Canadian radio personalities Toronto Star people Maclean's writers and editors Writers from Toronto 20th-century Canadian novelists 20th-century Canadian male writers Canadian male non-fiction writers Writers about religion and science 20th-century non-fiction writers