Ernie Coombs

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Ernie Coombs

Born	November 26, 1927(1927-11-26) Lewiston, Maine
Died	September 18, 2001 (aged 73) Toronto, Ontario

Ernest "Ernie" Coombs, CM (November 26, 1927–September 18, 2001) was a children's entertainer, best known for the long-running Canadian television series Mr. Dressup.

Ernest Coombs was born in Lewiston, Maine, and pursued a career in children's entertainment after attending North Yarmouth Academy in Yarmouth, Maine. As an understudy to Fred Rogers, he traveled to Canada in 1963 to work for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on an early version of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Rogers moved back to the United States the following year, but Coombs decided to stay in Canada, joining a new show called Butternut Square. Butternut Square ran from 1964 to 1967.

After Butternut Square ended, Coombs developed Mr. Dressup, which became one of English Canada's longest-running and most beloved children's programs. As Mr. Dressup, he presented arts and crafts, songs, stories and games for children with his friends Casey and Finnegan, a boy and a dog who lived in a treehouse in Mr. Dressup's back yard. Later in the series, when the show's principal puppeteer, Judith Lawrence, retired, Casey and Finnegan were replaced by a small cast of anthropomorphic animal puppets. Coombs believed very strongly in gentle, wholesome children's programming that encouraged kids to use their creativity and imagination. In each episode, Mr. Dressup would dress up (hence his name) in a costume from his Tickle Trunk, and lead children in an imagination game. Many times his puppets would also appear in costume as well.

Coombs was granted Canadian citizenship in 1994. The series continued production until its final taping in February 1996, when Coombs retired. The same year, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada. Repeats continued to be shown on the CBC until they were discontinued in 2006.

After retirement, Coombs continued to work as an entertainer, playing roles in family-oriented Toronto stage productions such as Peter Pan, Cinderella and Aladdin, and acted as a spokesman for children's charities.

Coombs also did a travelling stage show called "Tales from the Tickle Trunk." In this show he would share stories about the making of the Mr. Dressup show, as well as the origins, and fates, of some of the characters.

Coombs lived with his family in the Toronto suburb of Pickering. His wife Marlene ran an exclusive day care in downtown Toronto, called the Butternut Nursery School, until she was killed in a freak traffic accident in 1992; she was walking on the sidewalk of Yonge Street(Toronto), when the driver of the vehicle that hit her, had a seizure and the vehicle went out of control, jumped the curb and struck her.

Coombs suffered a stroke on September 10, 2001, and died on September 18, 2001 in Toronto, Ontario at the age of 73. He is survived by his three grown children and six grandchildren. His death sparked many memorial tributes across Canada, with many Canadians (and even Americans) who had grown up with him praising his talent and work over the years.