Jeanne Beker, (; born 19 March 1952) is a Canadian television personality, fashion editor, and author.

Family

Jeanne Beker was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

to father Joseph Beker and mother Bronia Beker, two

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no unive ...

born in Kozova,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, , is a country in Central Europe. Poland is divided into Voivodeships of Poland, sixteen voivodeships and is the fifth most populous member state of the European Union (EU), with over 38 mill ...

(now in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

) who immigrated 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 tota ...

from a displaced persons camp in

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

. Jeanne was previously (from 1986 to 1998) married to Toronto radio personality Bob Magee, but is now divorced. They have two daughters together.

Early life

She attended high school at William Lyon Mackenzie Collegiate Institute. She first launched her career as an actor, landing a role in the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

sitcom '' Toby'' in 1968. She subsequently entered the theatre program at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and staf ...

, and then went to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

to study

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Messa ...

under

Étienne Decroux Étienne Decroux (19 July 1898 in Paris, France – 12 March 1991 in Boulogne-Billancourt, France) was a French actor who studied at Jacques Copeau's École du Vieux-Colombier, where he saw the beginnings of what was to become his life's obsess ...

. She then returned to Canada, working for

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

as an arts and entertainment reporter in St. John's while pursuing her theatrical career.

Journalism career

Beker returned to Toronto in 1978, producing daily lifestyle and entertainment features for

1050 CHUM CHUM is a Canadian radio station in Toronto, Ontario, broadcasting on 1050 kHz. The station is owned and operated by Bell Media. CHUM's studios are co-located with The Sports Network, TSN at 9 Channel Nine Court in the Agincourt, Toronto, A ...

. She launched

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television A ...

's ground-breaking music magazine show '' The NewMusic'' in 1979 as co-host with J. D. Roberts and also became an entertainment reporter for ''

CityPulse ''CityNews'' (corporately styled City''News'') is the title of news and current affairs programming on Rogers Sports & Media's Citytv network in Canada. The newscast division was founded on September 28, 1975 as ''CityPulse'' as a standalone loc ...

''. She briefly hosted ''Rockflash'' news segments on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31, ...

when that station was launched, hosted '' MovieTelevision'', and produced segments for ''

Entertainment Tonight ''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American first-run syndicated news broadcasting newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Paramount Streaming. ET also airs in Aust ...

''. In 1995, Beker launched @Fashion, the Internet's first-ever fashion website, for American communication giant MCI. From 1985 to 2012 Beker hosted '' FashionTelevision'', the role with which she is most famously associated. Beker hosted the program and acted as a segment producer for the entirety of the program run. Beker announced that the program had ceased production in 2012, via Twitter, stating: "This dream is over: After 27 glorious years, ''FT'' production ceased today." Canadian born celebrity stylist Brad Goreski paid tribute to Beker and the program upon hearing the news of its cancellation, saying: "She reported from the shows in Milan and New York with such intensity — as if she was a war correspondent reporting from the front lines." From 2012 to 2014 Beker hosted fashion and entertainment segments for Bell Media properties including CTV News, ''

Canada AM ''Canada AM'' was a Canadian morning television news show that aired on CTV from 1972 to 2016. Its final hosts were Beverly Thomson and Marci Ien, with Jeff Hutcheson presenting the weather forecast and sports. The program aired on weekdays, an ...

'' and '' The Marilyn Denis Show''. Simultaneously, Beker wrote articles on fashion and style for 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 pa ...

'', ''The Kit'' and ''The Loop''. Beker is currently a columnist for The Globe and Mail.

Fashion entrepreneurship

From 2001 to 2002, Beker had her own limited edition fashion lines, "Jeanne Beker" for Eaton's, and "Inside Out by Jeanne Beker" with Sears Canada. Beginning in 2010, Beker released a clothing line entitled 'Edit by Jeanne Beker' at The Bay of which she directly curates a collection of designer clothing for Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer seasons. In 2013, Beker released a line of footwear with retailer The Shoe Company and a line of eyewear through FYSH UK. In 2014, Beker launched a capsule collection of clothing, fashion jewelry and eyewear with Rogers Media electronic retailer

The Shopping Channel TSC (formerly The Shopping Channel) is a Canadian discretionary service channel owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The channel showcases various products which viewers can purchase either by telephone or intern ...

. In 2015, Beker launched the weekly live television program ''Style Matters with Jeanne Beker'' for The Shopping Channel, in which she presents interviews and trend stories about Shopping Channel retailers while also selling product live on air.

Books

* ''Jeanne Unbottled: Adventures in High Style'' (2001,

Stoddart Stoddart is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alexander "Sandy" Stoddart (born 1959), Scottish sculptor * Andrew Stoddart (1863–1915), English cricketer and rugby union player * Cassie Jo Stoddart (1989-2006), American murder ...

, ) * ''The Big Night Out'' (2005,

Tundra Books In physical geography, tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. The term ''tundra'' comes through Russian (') from the Kildin Sámi word (') meaning "uplands", "treeless ...

, ) * ''Passion for Fashion: Careers in Style'' (2008,

, ) * ''Strutting It!: The Grit Behind the Glamour'' (2011,

, ) * ''Finding Myself in Fashion'' (2011,

Penguin Group Penguin Group is a British trade book publisher and part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the German media conglomerate Bertelsmann. The new company was created by a merger that was finalised on 1 July 2013, with Bertelsmann initial ...

, )

Editor-in-chief

From 2003-2009, Beker was the

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of ''

FQ Magazine ''FQ Magazine'' was launched in 2003 and was the second ‘dad’ magazine to be published in the UK aimed at new dads and single fathers. The first issue featured David Beckham. ''FQ Magazine'' is published quarterly and targets men whose lifes ...

'' and ''SIR'', published by Kontent Group in Toronto. A Citytv documentary series entitled ''Cover Stories'' debuted in 2006, following Beker and the Kontent Group team as they publish each issue of ''FQ''. The series currently re-runs on FashionTelevisionChannel.

Exclusives and features

In January 2008, Beker landed an exclusive interview with designer Valentino before the designer announced his retirement from the fashion world. The interview was turned into an authorized biography special which later aired on

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 ...

and FashionTelevisionChannel. In February 2010, Beker joined '' eTalk'' hosts Tanya Kim and Ben Mulroney, along with reporters

Leah Miller Leah Miller (born July 20, 1981) is a Canadian television host and former MuchMusic VJ from Toronto, who was the host for the three seasons (2008–2011) of ''So You Think You Can Dance Canada''. She was also a correspondent for the entertainm ...

and Lainey, in Vancouver to cover the

2010 Olympic Winter Games )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...

for CTV. On 9 February 2010, she carried the Olympic flame during the Torch Relay in

Ladner, British Columbia Ladner is a part of the City of Delta, British Columbia, Canada, and a suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia. It was created as a fishing village on the banks of the Fraser River. Named for Thomas and William Ladner, who came to the area in 1868 ...

. Beker has served as a judge on Canadian

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show '' Canada's Next Top Model'' for the past three cycles and appeared in an episode of the '' Rick Mercer Report'' that aired on 3 November 2009.

Awards

Beker was an honorary chair of Toronto's annual

Fashion Cares Fashion Cares was an annual event held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that seeks to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS, as well as raise funds for the AIDS Committee of Toronto (ACT). Since its inception in 1987, it, with assistance from local and nati ...

, one of the world's largest

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the immu ...

/ AIDS fundraising events. She is also on the honorary board of Gilda's Club and has been involved with numerous charitable organizations over the years. In 2006, she was honoured with the prestigious "Crystal" lifetime achievement award by Women in Film and Television. Beker was awarded the Vantage Women of Originality Award, and was also the recipient of the Variety Club Diamond Award. Beker received the Special Academy Achievement Award (for exceptional contributions to Canadian TV) from the Canadian Academy of Cinema and Television in 2013. She was designated a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

in December 2013.

References

External links

Official Jeanne Beker Brand Website

Fashion Television
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Beker, Jeanne 1952 births Canadian columnists Canadian infotainers Canadian people of Polish-Jewish descent Canadian television hosts Canadian television journalists Canadian women journalists Canadian women non-fiction writers Canadian fashion journalists Journalists from Toronto Living people Writers from Toronto Members of the Order of Canada Canadian women columnists Canadian women television journalists Canadian women television hosts Jewish Canadian journalists