Jerry Gosley

Despite a stammer, young Jerry Gosley performed his own shows on makeshift stages he erected in barns between animal stalls. Relatives raised him in Sutton-on-Derwent, Yorkshire due to his father’s sudden death and his mother having to work in York. Later the Rowntree chocolate family, who employed his mother, secured him an apprenticeship as a printer. This gave him the opportunity to be in an urban setting where he could develop as a performer and producer. In 1941, he was stationed by the Royal Air Force to a base at PatBay on Vancouver Island. Amongst the mud and construction of what was to become the Victoria International Airport, Jerry organized a morale booster called The Smile Show, following the variety “gang” show format of the day. After the war The Smile Show became a summer tradition in Victoria for over 35 years – one of the longest running shows in Canadian history. Later, it was enhanced when Jerry teamed with Bebe Eversfield, who added a polished dance and musical theatre expertise. The show focused on Victoria being “more British then the British.” It entertained the local and tourist audiences with production numbers, skits, soloists, and British song favourites. Celebrities including Sebastian Cabot, Burt Reynolds, and Fay Wray attended, sometimes venturing upon the stage. What set The Smile Show apart, was Jerry’s charm as host and his typically British characters including The British Colonel, The English School Boy, Diamond Lil, and Queen Victoria. The Smile Show represented Canada entertaining the troops in the Korean War, and it often toured. Jerry’s Terribly English Dandy would open the night’s proceedings saying, “I’m awfully glad to be here … I’ve got nowhere else to go.”  Jerry died in 1996.