Eleanor Collins, Canada’s First Lady of Jazz, Passes Away at 104

The BC Entertainment Hall of Fame mourns the passing of StarWalk inductee and “Canada’s First Lady of Jazz” Eleanor Collins. Collins was a groundbreaking figure in Canadian entertainment history, and had a longtime association working with Vancouver’s leading musicians on CBC radio and television.

Among her many awards and honours, Collins was inducted into the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame StarWalk in 1992, received the ACTRA Sam Payne Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2006, invested into the Order of Canada for being “a civic leader and pioneer in the development of British Columbia’s music industry” in 2014, and featured on a Canada Post postage stamp in 2022.

A private family service will be held for Collins. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to two of her favourite charities, B.C. Black History and Awareness Society and the Performing Arts Lodge (PAL) Vancouver.

The BC Entertainment Hall of Fame extends heartfelt condolences to her loved ones.

Read more about the incredible life and career of Eleanor Collins in this piece by Vanalogue, and this tribute from the B.C. Black History and Awareness Society:

In 1939 Eleanor moved to Vancouver where she met her husband, Richard (Dick) Collins and settled into homemaking and rearing a family of four children (Rick, Judith, Barry and Tom). In 1945, wishing to help supplement the family income, Eleanor found work in music at CBC Radio. At first she sang with a group called The Three E’s, followed by the formation of a Quartet comprised of Eleanor, her sister, Ruby Sneed and two friends, Edna Panky and Zandy Price. Calling themselves the Swing Low Quartet, they sang many African American Spirituals.

Later in 1945, Eleanor accepted an invitation to join leading CBC Radio studio musician, Ray Norris, in the formation of a Quintet where she was the featured vocalist. This jazz series was called Serenade in Rhythm, a long running program that was short waved to the Canadian Troops in Europe on CBC Radio International Service. Radio was truly the medium of the day and from this beginning Eleanor enjoyed a long and vibrant career.

She was an actress in the Vancouver Production of You Can’t Take it With You and in Theatre Under the Stars Productions of Kiss Me Kate and Finian’s Rainbow. In the latter production, Eleanor’s children performed with her.

However it was her work on television that Eleanor is best remembered. Commencing in 1954 with the inauguration of CBUT she was featured in the Caribbean flavoured production of Bamboula. It was the first live musical variety series created in Vancouver and certainly one of the first in Canada to feature an interracial cast.

In 1954, CBC decided to showcase Collins’ style, elegance and sophistication in her own musical variety series; “The Eleanor Show” which ran as a summer series in 1954 and was later reprised as just “Eleanor” in 1964. Eleanor became the first Canadian music performer to have a show named for her and the first music artist of colour in North America to host her own national television series — groundbreaking features in Canadian history. Her Show pre-dated the 1956 Nat King Cole Show in the United States.

Often referred to by media as “Vancouver’s First Lady of Jazz”, Collins made countless CBC Radio and Television appearances as lead artist well into the 1960’s and 70’s. Productions documented at CBC Archives include, among others: Parade, Riding High, Hatful of Music, Quintet, Back O’Town Blues, Strange House, Jazz at the PNE, Open House, Showcase 30, 40, and 41, Happy Holiday, and The 7 O’Clock Show. Along with her work on television she performed as jazz vocalist on numerous concert stages and Clubs including the Seattle World’s Fair, opener for Dominion Day Ceremonies on Parliament Hill, Ottawa and the Jazz Canada series. (continued…)