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 mother was from a Belarusian Jewish family and her father was of Irish Catholic descent, but both were natives of
Liverpool, England
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...
. They met in Montreal after both emigrated there separately.
Murphy got her start in nightclubs, and then was the featured singer on the radio programs ''Coca-Cola Refreshment Time'' and ''Club O'Connor'' with
Billy O'Connor
''The Billy O'Connor Show'' was a Canadian variety television series which aired on CBC Television from 1954 to 1956.
Premise
Billy O'Connor, a jazz musician, hosted this series with a small house band - Vic Centro (accordion), Kenny Gill (gui ...
. She moved to television with a break on ''
Cross-Canada Hit Parade'' and later became the singer for
Jack Kane's Orchestra on the ''Jack Kane Show'', ''Music Makers''
and ''Music '60''. She was also a regular performer on the ''
Wayne and Shuster
Wayne and Shuster were a Canadian comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s, first as a live act, then on radio, then as part of ''The Army Show'' that enter ...
Hour''.
She was married to
Charles Templeton
Charles Bradley Templeton (October 7, 1915 – June 7, 2001) was a Canadian media figure and a former Christian evangelist. Known in the 1940s and 1950s as a leading evangelist, he became an agnostic and later embraced atheism after strugg ...
. Her children include comic-book artist
Ty Templeton
Tyrone Templeton is a Canadian comic book artist and writer who has drawn a number of mainstream titles, TV-associated titles, and his own series.
Career
Templeton first received attention for ''Stig's Inferno'' ( Vortex Comics), now a cult fav ...
; internet entrepreneur
Brad Templeton
Brad Templeton (born June 1960 near Toronto) is a Canadian software developer, internet entrepreneur, online community pioneer, publisher of news, comedy, science fiction and e-books, writer, photographer, civil rights advocate, futurist, public s ...
; TV host and director
Deborah Burgess; and prominent tax attorney Michael Templeton, a partner at
McMillan LLP
McMillan LLP is a Canadian business law firm serving public, private and not-for-profit clients across various industries in North America and around the world. McMillan LLP is the only national Canadian law firm with an office in Hong Kong, in ad ...
. She later married William C. Tate, GM of
Garrett Manufacturing Limited, a leading aerospace manufacturer.
Murphy died on February 24, 2021, after contracting
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
during the
COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario
The COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario is an ongoing viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in ...
. She was 89.
References
External links
Sylvia Murphy YouTube Channel
Canadian women jazz singers
Musicians from Montreal
Musicians from Toronto
1931 births
2021 deaths
Anglophone Quebec people
Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
Canadian people of Belarusian-Jewish descent
Canadian people of Irish descent
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