Bruno Gerussi
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| Bruno Gerussi | |
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 Bruno Gerussi (right) with Pat John in The Beachcombers
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| Born | 7 May 1928 Medicine Hat, Alberta |
| Died | 21 November 1995 West Vancouver, British Columbia |
Bruno Gerussi (7 May 1928 [1] – November 21, 1995) was a Canadian television actor born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, best known for the lead role in the CBC series The Beachcombers. He also hosted CBC's daily cooking-talk show Celebrity Cooks in the late 1970s.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Family
Although closely identified with the Greek-Canadian community due to his role in Beachcombers, Gerussi was in fact of Italian heritage.
Enrico Gerussi, who trained in Italy as a stonemason, was a coal miner working in the Lethbridge, Alberta area, as well as a musician. In 1927, he married Teresina and they moved to Medicine Hat where their eldest son, Bruno, was born. The family subsequently moved to Exshaw where Enrico worked as a sectionman on the Canadian Pacific Railroad. Near Exshaw, according to Edna (Hill) Appleby, author of Canmore: The Story of An Era, there remains a stone bridge built by Mr. Gerussi.
Bruno Gerussi grew up in Exshaw and later moved with his family to New Westminster, British Columbia.
[edit] Early career
A scholarship to the Banff School of Fine Arts led him to acting and in 1954 he joined the Stratford Festival in its second season. He acted in numerous stage productions in Canada and the United States before joining CBC radio which led ultimately to television. One of his earliest TV appearances was as Feste in a 1962 TV production of Twelfth Night.
[edit] The Beachcombers years
The role of his career arrived in 1972 when he was signed to play Nick Adonidas in The Beachcombers, a comedy-adventure-drama set on the west coast of Canada. The Beachcombers ran for 387 episodes between 1972 and 1991 and remains Canada's longest-ever running weekly dramatic series.
During part of his time with The Beachcombers, Gerussi hosted the popular CBC cooking program Celebrity Cooks in the late 1970s. The series featured the last public appearance of actor Bob Crane of Hogan's Heroes fame, who was murdered soon afterwards. The taping of Crane's episode was recreated in the 2002 film, Auto Focus in which actor John Kapelos portrayed Gerussi.
Gerussi's popularity in Celebrity Cooks led him to become commercial spokesperson for one of the first lines of microwave ovens to be made available for home use in Canada in the late-1970s/early-1980s.
He was the host of the first Genie Awards broadcast in 1980. The Genies are the primary honours for Canadian cinema.
[edit] After Beachcombers
Canadian rock group Bruno Gerussi's Medallion performed at the Beachcombers wrap party in 1991.
On 21 November 1995, Bruno Gerussi died of a heart attack at his West Vancouver, British Columbia home at the age of 67. [2]
The TV movie The New Beachcombers (2002), was dedicated in his memory. However, this did not lead to a new series of The Beachcombers.
[edit] Awards and recognition
Gerussi received a Gemini Award nomination for Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Continuing Dramatic Role in 1990 for the final season of The Beachcombers.
He won the Geminis' Earle Grey Award posthumously for lifetime achievement in 1996.
[edit] Filmography
- 1962: Alexander Galt: The Stubborn Idealist (movie)
- 1962: Twelfth Night (TV)
- 1967: Do Not Fold, Staple, Spindle, or Mutilate (movie)
- 1972-1991: The Beachcombers (CBC Television dramatic series)
- 1975-1979: Celebrity Cooks (CBC Television daytime series)
- 1980: The Newcomers ("1978" episode; limited TV series)
- 1987: Moving Day (TV movie)
- 1991: The Hitman (movie)
- 1995: Prince for a Day (TV movie)
