''Sunshine Sketches'', also known as ''Addison Spotlight Theatre'', is a
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
dramatic television series which aired on
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-l ...
from 1952 to 1953. It was the first English-language drama to be broadcast on Canadian television.
Premise
The series was an adaptation of ''
Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town
''Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town'' is a sequence of stories by Stephen Leacock, first published in 1912. It is generally considered to be one of the most enduring classics of Canadian humorous literature. The fictional setting for these stori ...
'' by
Stephen Leacock
Stephen P. H. Butler Leacock (30 December 1869 – 28 March 1944) was a Canadian teacher, political scientist, writer, and humorist. Between the years 1915 and 1925, he was the best-known English-speaking humorist in the world. He is known ...
.
Don Harron
Donald Hugh Harron, (September 19, 1924 – January 17, 2015) was a Canadian comedian, actor, director, journalist, author, playwright, and composer. Harron is best remembered by American audiences as a member of the cast of the long-running co ...
and Henry Kaplan wrote the episodes from this material. It was later titled ''Addison Spotlight Theatre'' for its sponsor, an automobile dealer.
The series was filmed in
Beaverton, Ontario
Beaverton is a community in Brock Township in the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada.
History
Beaverton was first settled in 1822. The settlement is located on Lake Simcoe at the mouth of the Beaver River. It was called Calder's M ...
Eric House
Eric House (November 22, 1921 – March 21, 2004) was a Canadian actor."Eric House, veteran stage actor and director, dies of emphysema at 82". ''Canadian Press'', April 8, 2004. Although he appeared in film, television and stage roles throughout h ...
as Dean Drone
*
Peg Dixon
Melissa Dixon (29 August 1923 – 26 October 2015), credited as Peg Dixon, was a Canadian actress. She was best known for her voice acting in '' Spider-Man''. She was married to Ed McNamara
Ed McNamara (21 June 1921 – 11 October 1986) was a ...
as Lillian Drone
*
Frank Perry
Frank Joseph Perry Jr. (August 21, 1930 – August 29, 1995) was an American stage director and filmmaker. His 1962 independent film '' David and Lisa'' earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay (writte ...
as Mallory Tompkins
*
Paul Kligman
Paul Kligman (21 January 1923 – 29 August 1985) was a Canadian actor.
Biography
Born in Romania, he emigrated to Canada where he spent his youth in Winnipeg and studied at the University of Manitoba. He moved to Toronto in 1950 and estab ...
as Josh Smith
*
Gerry Sarracini
Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include:
Surname
*Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice pres ...
as the poet
* Barbara Hamilton as the poet's wife
* Gerry Campbell as the drugstore clerk
*
John Drainie
John Robert Roy Drainie (April 1, 1916 – October 30, 1966) was a Canadian actor and television presenter, who was called "the greatest radio actor in the world" by Orson Welles.
Drainie was most famous in Canada for two long-running roles: the ...
This half-hour series was broadcast on Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m. from 9 September 1952 to 31 March 1953. Its debut marked the first Canadian broadcast of an English-language dramatic series.