Clyde Gilmour, (8 June 1912 in

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...

– 7 November 1997 in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

) was a Canadian broadcaster and print journalist, mostly known for his half-century career with

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

Early life and education

Gilmour was raised in

Medicine Hat, Alberta Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is located along the South Saskatchewan River. It is approximately east of Lethbridge and southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are with ...

, where he attended Alexandra High School until graduation in 1929. The conditions of the Great Depression prevented Gilmour from continuing to university.

Career

In 1930 Gilmour joined the ''

Medicine Hat News The ''Medicine Hat News'' is a daily newspaper published in Medicine Hat, Alberta. It features a city news section, a national news section, a world news section, a sports section, a comics section, and a classifieds section. The paper is owned b ...

'' staff. He served as a war correspondent and in public relations during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, and held the rank of lieutenant. He then moved to Vancouver, where he wrote film and music reviews for the ''

Vancouver Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they are British Columbia's only ...

'' and ''

Vancouver Sun The ''Vancouver Sun'', also known as the ''Sun'', is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The newspaper is currently published by the Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network. Published s ...

'' newspapers, including a review in 1950 of some early

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

recordings. He broadcast film reviews on station for CBC Radio on CBU. In 1954, Gilmour moved to Toronto and wrote similar columns for the ''

Toronto Telegram ''The Toronto Evening Telegram'' was a conservative, broadsheet afternoon newspaper published in Toronto from 1876 to 1971. It had a reputation for supporting the Conservative Party at the federal and the provincial levels. The paper competed wi ...

'' until that newspaper's demise in 1971. He later wrote for the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'' as a film critic for the remainder of the 1970s. On 5 October 1956, he broadcast the first episode of '' Gilmour's Albums'' on CBC Radio, a weekly music programme which continued for more than 40 years until 14 June 1997. Selections on the programme were generally drawn from his personal collection which eventually included 10,000

vinyl records A phonograph record (also known as a gramophone record, especially in British English), or simply a record, is an analog sound storage medium in the form of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove. The groove usually starts near ...

and 4000

Compact Disc The compact disc (CD) is a digital optical disc data storage format that was co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. In August 1982, the first compact disc was manufactured. It was then released in Octo ...

s. These items were bequeathed to the CBC and today form the Clyde Gilmour Collection. ''Gilmour's Albums'' established a record longevity for single-host CBC Radio shows. Gilmour was appointed a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the c ...

in 1975. He died at

St. Joseph's Health Centre St. Joseph's Health Centre is a large Catholic teaching hospital in western Toronto, Ontario. It is located west of downtown Toronto, along the Lake Ontario shore at the intersection of The Queensway and Sunnyside Avenue, just west of Ronc ...

, Toronto, on 7 November 1997, aged 85. The

Toronto Film Critics Association The Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) is an organization of film critics from Toronto-based publications. As of 1999, the TFCA is a member of the FIPRESCI. History The Toronto Film Critics Association is the official organization of Toro ...

occasionally presents the Clyde Gilmour Award in his honour; created in 1997, Gilmour himself was posthumously honoured as the award's first recipient.

Career timeline

* 1930–1936: ''Medicine Hat News'', newspaper columnist and reporter * 1936–1942: ''

Edmonton Journal The ''Edmonton Journal'' is a daily newspaper in Edmonton, Alberta. It is part of the Postmedia Network. History The ''Journal'' was founded in 1903 by three local businessmen — John Macpherson, Arthur Moore and J.W. Cunningham — as ...

'' * 1939–1945

: ''Navy News'' writer, wartime public relations * 1945–1949: ''

'' * 1947–1964:

, film reviewer * 1949–1952: ''

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world ...

'', music columnist * 1949–1954: ''

'', film reviewer * 1950–1964: ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'', founded in 1905, is a Canadian news magazine reporting on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian persp ...

'', film reviewer * 1953–1955: '' Window On Canada'',

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French- ...

, host * 1954–1971: ''

'', film reviewer * 1956–1997: '' Gilmour's Albums'', CBC Radio * 1958–1959: ''

Folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

'',

* 1971–1980: ''

'', film reviewer * 1977–1983: '' Audio Canada'', magazine writer * 1980–1983: ''

'', features * 1983–1985: '' Leisure Ways''

Awards and recognition

* 1975: Member,

* 1976: Honorary

Doctor of Laws A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor ( ...

from

McMaster University McMaster University (McMaster or Mac) is a public research university in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The main McMaster campus is on of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood and Westdale, adjacent to the Royal Botanical ...

* 1990: Canadian News Hall of Fame

References

External links

Order of Canada citation''The Canadian Encyclopedia'': Clyde GilmourCBC Archives: Virtual Tour – Other Libraries
(information on Clyde Gilmour Collection) {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmour, Clyde 1912 births 1997 deaths Canadian film critics CBC Radio hosts CBC Television people Canadian male journalists Canadian newspaper journalists Members of the Order of Canada People from Calgary People from Medicine Hat Journalists from Alberta