R.I.P. Canadian stage and screen star Dinah Christie, 1942-2026

Sadly, Dinah Christie – co-star of CHCH-TV's Party Game, who recorded a song for Justin Trudeau in '72 – has passed away at 83. She'll be greatly missed.

Dinah Christie on CBC-TV's This Hour Has Seven Days

Billy Van gets overdue Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame nomination

Toronto's Billy Van, best known for his work on Hilarious House of Frightenstein, is up for Hall of Fame consideration.

It's long overdue but Canuck comedy legend Billy Van – who passed away of cancer at the age of 68 in 2003 – has finally been nominated for posthumous induction into the Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame this year. And he's certainly not a shoo-in. 

The versatile Toronto-born comic actor best known for his 1971 work on Hilarious House of Frightenstein playing Count Frightenstein along with Grizelda The Ghastly Gourmet, The Librarian, Dr. Petvet, The Oracle and the record spinning Wolfman on the popular CHCH-TV series, is part of a stacked slate of 10 performers that includes Eugene Levy, Martin Short, Jim Carrey and the cast of SCTV. But only five of the deserving nominees will make the cut. Voting members will have a tough decision ahead. 

Check out all the nominees at the Canadian Comedy Hall of Fame site. And grab a copy of the biography Who's The Man? Billy Van! by Greg Oliver and Stacey Case right here. 

Watch a short documentary on Billy Van and the Hilarious House of Frightenstein along with an interview and clips from the show, the long-running charades show Party Game, cutting up with Don Adams, the short-lived How Do You Do? in which Billy played a robot and the theme song of the 1967 animated Spider-Man TV series voiced by Billy Van and the Laurie Bower singers.  

Watch a CHCH-TV interview with author Greg Oliver right here. 

Hilarious House of Frightenstein gets deluxe vinyl treatment

You can pre-order four variants of the album containing music and audio clips from the 70s cult TV series right here.