Alex Eftimoff (born ), better known by the stage name Alex Laurier, was a Canadian children's entertainer, folk singer, and actor. In the 1960s and 70s, he frequently performed children's songs on the '' Uncle Bobby'' show. In 1968, he released an album of children's songs, ''The Lollipop Tree And Other Children's Favourites''. In the late 1960s, he was a host and musical performer on the

CTV Television Network The CTV Television Network, commonly known as CTV, is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television network. Launched in 1961 and acquired by BCE Inc. in 2000, CTV is Canada's largest privately owned List of Canadian ...

's variety show, ''River Inn'', in the late 1960s and also performed as a folk singer in

coffee house A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, Caffè americano, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually ...

s and other live venues in the Toronto area. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Laurier was a co-host of

TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...

's '' Polka Dot Door'' and of TVO's ''Cucumber'', in which he co-starred in costume as "Moose" to

Nikki Tilroe Nikki Tilroe (December 26, 1941 – September 1, 2005) was an American actress, dancer and puppeteer. She is best known for her work as the "Mime Lady" on the children's television series ''Today's Special''. She also operated Muppets on ''Fraggl ...

's "Beaver". He also appeared on ''

Mr. Dressup ''Mr. Dressup'' is a Canadian children's television series, starring Ernie Coombs, a former understudy of Fred Rogers, in the title role. It ran on CBC Television, CBC from 1967 to 1996, soon becoming an iconic presence in Canadian media. Produ ...

'' in the early 1970s."Ex-entertainer jailed for assault", ''Toronto Star'', 15 July 1994, pg A26 As an actor, Laurier appeared as a guest in a number of Canadian television series and TV movies in the 1980s and early 1990s on such series as '' Street Legal'', '' Seeing Things'', '' The Mighty Jungle'', ''

Katts and Dog ''Katts and Dog'' is a French and Canadian-produced television series that ran from 1988 to 1993. It was known as ''Rin Tin Tin: K-9 Cop'' in the United States where it originally aired on CBN Cable/The Family Channel and ''Rintintin Junior'' in ...

'' and TV movies such as ''The Kidnapping of Baby John Doe'' and ''Gregory K'', as well as the feature film ''Open Season''. In 1994, Laurier pleaded guilty to having sexually assaulted an eight-year-old boy in 1973 and was sentenced to one year in jail. he had earlier been convicted of four similar offences in 1974, for which he received a

suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...

and two years'

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offence (law), offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incar ...

References

External links

* Canadian children's television presenters Canadian children's musicians Canadian male television actors Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Singers from Toronto 20th-century Canadian male singers Canadian folk guitarists Canadian male guitarists 20th-century Canadian guitarists Canadian people convicted of child sexual abuse Actors from Newmarket, Ontario TVO people Musicians from the Regional Municipality of York {{Canada-tv-bio-stub