Murray Westgate

Murray Westgate (April 16, 1918 – August 27, 2018) was a Canadian actor.[1] He is best known for his longtime role as a television pitchman in Canadian commercials for Esso on Hockey Night in Canada in the 1950s and 1960s, and also for his roles in Blue City Slammers, for which he garnered a Genie Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor at the 9th Genie Awards in 1988; and in the film adaptation of Two Solitudes, as the Prime Minister of Canada.[2]

Murray Westgate
Born(1918-04-16)April 16, 1918
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
DiedAugust 27, 2018(2018-08-27) (aged 100)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
NationalityCanadian
OccupationActor
Years active1940s–1991
SpouseAlice Hill (? - 1983)

Early life

Before becoming an actor, Westgate served as a radio operator in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II.[3] He then moved to Vancouver to join Everyman Theatre as an actor,[2] before joining CBC Radio as an actor in radio dramas.[2]

Career

Westgate began appearing in Esso commercials in 1952, when the company signed on as the main commercial sponsor of Hockey Night in Canada, and retained this role until 1968.[2]

He also had roles in the television series Jake and the Kid, R.C.M.P., Seaway, House of Pride and Seeing Things, and had some guest and supporting roles in television and theatrical films, but found that he sometimes lost out on roles because he was too recognizably typecast by the Esso commercials.[2] He won an ACTRA Award in 1979 for his performance in the CBC Television film Tyler.[4]

He was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2002.[2]

Westgate's final acting job was in 1991, at the age of 72, a reprisal of his Esso attendant character for two commercials aired by Imperial Oil during that year's Stanley Cup playoffs. The spots featured both a black-and-white clip of one of his original Esso ads and newly recorded footage.[5][6]

Westgate turned 100 on April 16, 2018.[6] He died on August 27, 2018, at Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto,[7] where he had lived for more than a decade.[3]

Personal life

Westgate was married to actress Alice Hill until her death in 1983.[7]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1957A Dangerous AgePolice Officer
1959A Cool Sound from HellPolice Officer
1961Jake and the KidJake
1969The First TimeCustoms OfficerUncredited
1969Change of MindJudge Stanton
1970HomerMr. Cochran
1972The RowdymanMr. Lowe
1973Class of '44Principal
1973Our Ms. Hammond
1974To Kill the KingVincent O'Connell
1974Sunday in the CountryConway
1977RitualsPilot
1978Two SolitudesPrime Minister
1978Tyler
1979RunningMr. Finlay
1979Fish HawkBillie Firman
1979Bye, See You MondayPere de Lucie
1980The Kidnapping of the PresidentArchie Standler
1981Happy Birthday to MeGatekeeper
1981ThresholdLecture Host
1981Silence of the NorthDr. Miller
1984Heavenly BodiesCoach Hudson
1988Blue City SlammersBill
1991Scanners II: The New OrderGeorge Kellum(final film role)

References
  1. "DIDN'T YOU USE TO BE...? MURRAY WESTGATE: Canada's most famous Esso dealer never pumped a gallon". The Globe and Mail, September 18, 1987.
  2. "Westgate, Murray (1918- )". Canadian Communications Foundation, November 2002.
  3. "Veterans at Sunnybrook show us how to age gracefully". The Globe and Mail, December 5, 2013.
  4. "CBC scores landslide in ACTRA awards". The Globe and Mail, April 5, 1979.
  5. "Service with a smile". Financial Post, April 5, 1991.
  6. "Hockey Night in Canada's original TV pitchman turns 100". Toronto Star. April 15, 2018. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  7. Hunter, Paul (August 27, 2018). "'They treated him like he was a hockey star': Actor and Hockey Night in Canada fixture Murray Westgate dies at age 100". Toronto Star. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
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