Rai Purdy

Born Horatio John Purdy in England, he moved to Toronto in 1913. In 1929 he became a member of the Hart House Theatre Company, studying with Dora Mavor Moore and appearing, often in leading roles in Ontario Drama Festivals. In 1931, becoming known as Rai Purdy, he joined CFRB radio and was soon, Head of the Drama Dept. A pioneer of Canadian quiz programs, he also established the first radio playhouse Canadian Theatre of the Air. Besides playing leading roles and launching a lunchtime radio comedy series, he directed programs featuring major Canadian talented performers, who later pursued illustrious careers in television. Joining the Canadian Army in 1941, Rai produced a weekly radio show for CBC and in late 1943, he travelled internationally producing shows featuring top name talent to entertain the troops Subsequent to his wartime service, in 1950 he became a director-producer for CBS-TV in New York, responsible for many ground-breaking television shows. Moving to Glasgow, in 1957, he helped establish Scottish Television, heading up its programming department. He returned in 1959 and worked in Toronto, as the initial director of programs for CFTO making it the biggest private English language television station in Canada. He then moved to Vancouver, opening his own production office, concieving and producing major daily television programs under the name Rai Purdy Productions. In his latter years, he produced and directed grandstand shows for the PNE and as “Mr Telethon,” was responsible for the production and direction of over 100 programs raising over 250 million dollars for various causes across Canada.