The Globe and Mail
· collected 2026-09-04 · by Frank B. Edwards
Perry Rosemond, a Canadian TV producer and director, created the 1970s hit series King of Kensington, which ran on CBC-TV for an unspecified number of seasons, and later The Royal Canadian Air Farce, which aired for 16 seasons. In his career spanning over 55 years, he worked with notable stars including Dean Martin, Johnny Cash, and Mike Myers, and gave breaks to comedians such as Martin Short, John Candy, and Howie Mandel. Rosemond was named to the Order of Canada in 2003 for his contribution to CBC television. He died on August 20 at the age of 89.
Written by the local model on 2026-09-04,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
In the mid-1950s, when Perry Rosemond was a student at the University of Manitoba, his interest in campus theatre was hurting his academic marks but winning such good reviews that director John Hirsch invited him to join the newly launched Manitoba Theatre Centre in 1958.
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Hirsch → hurt → 1958
A year later at age 22, Mr. Rosemond hatched a new plan that ultimately changed his life.
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that → hatch → life
“I would drop out of law school.
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I → drop → school
I would go to join my Catholic actress girlfriend in Toronto, and I would become a huge television star,” he deadpanned to an audience of retired Toronto executives in 2018 before delivering his punchline.
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he → go → punchline
“Well, one can only imagine my Jewish parents’ surprise and delight.
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one → imagine → surprise
‘Now why didn’t we think of that?’”
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we → think → that
In 1959, he headed to Toronto with one of his Manitoba Theatre Centre castmates, 28-year-old Gordon Pinsent, a displaced Newfoundlander who was boarding at the Rosemond home while moonlighting as a dance instructor after a stint in the Canadian Army.
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who → head → Army
In Toronto, the pair rented rooms at a University of Toronto fraternity and launched their professional careers.
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pair → rent → careers
Mr. Pinsent’s first part was as a corpse in a TV show after Mr. Rosemond was promoted from dead body to a two-line role and a new actor was needed for the slab.
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actor → promote → slab
But the friends’ acclaim on the stage in Winnipeg did not lead to easy success in Toronto, and Mr. Rosemond returned home alone to the Manitoba Theatre Centre a year later after credited roles in two CBC television series, Hudson’s Bay and General Motors’ Theatre.
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Rosemond → lead → series
Unable to live off his acting, he took a job with Winnipeg’s CBC station as a television producer/director for $4,200 a year.
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he → live → 4,200
His duties included producing both Winnipeg metro news and a popular weekly country and western variety show called Red River Jamboree that was beamed across Canada.
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that → include → Canada
While the work schedule was gruelling, it proved to be good training for a career spent working on big-time variety programs and sitcoms.
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it → prove → programs
Over the next 55 years, he worked with such stars as Dean Martin, Johnny Cash, Donny and Marie Osmond and David Steinberg, and gave breaks to dozens of gifted young comedians including Martin Short, John Candy, Howie Mandel and Mike Myers.
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he → work → Short
Millions of Canadians regularly tuned into his 1970s hit series, King of Kensington, and, later, The Royal Canadian Air Farce, which ran on CBC-TV for 16 seasons.
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which → tune → seasons
In 2003, he was named to the Order of Canada for his contribution to CBC television.
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he → name → television
Mr. Rosemond died in Toronto on Aug. 20 at the age of 89.
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Rosemond → die → 89
Born Nov. 15, 1936, to Max and Mona (Magid) Rosemond in Winnipeg’s ethnically diverse North End neighbourhood, Perry Rosemond was raised in a bustling household shared with a dozen cousins, aunts and uncles.
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Rosemond → bear → cousins
His father’s family had immigrated from Russia and his mother’s came from Ukraine.
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mother → immigrate → Ukraine
The couple worked together in Winnipeg’s thriving garment trade.
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couple → work → trade
He used to joke that his parents were so poor when he was born that they couldn’t afford to give him a middle name.
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they → use → name
As their business grew, the Rosemonds were able to send their only child to university.
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Rosemonds → grow → university
After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree, he dropped out of law school in his first year.
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he → earn → year
By the time CBC’s hugely popular Red River Jamboree ended in 1965, Mr. Rosemond was back in Toronto looking for work at CBC Television.
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Rosemond → end → Television
His first success there was an innovative current affairs program hosted by teenagers called Through the Eyes of Tomorrow that ran from early 1966 to 1969.
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that → host → 1969
Topics included birth control, LSD, the Ku Klux Klan and John Lennon.
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Topics → include → control
Busy as always, he served as executive director of Mr. Dressup in 1967 and, in 1968, produced Children of the World in co-operation with UNICEF, portraying humanitarian projects through the eyes of children in 11 different countries.
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he → serve → countries
An episode of that series, The Trumpet, won the UNICEF Prize at Japan’s prestigious educational broadcasting awards in 1968.
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episode → win → 1968
In 1972, Mr. Rosemond became the first executive producer of the Canadian segments created for CBC’s edition of Sesame Street.
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Rosemond → become → Street
Despite being told by his agent, Sandy Werner, that “you won’t make a dime” with documentaries, Mr. Rosemond dabbled with news and documentary programs throughout his career.
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Rosemond → tell → career
Between 1967 and 1969, he directed nine episodes of CBC’s Telescope biography series including a profile of his old friend Mr. Pinsent, who had stuck with acting and starred in Quentin Durgens, M.P. for four years, launching himself into Canadian stardom.
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who → direct → stardom
In that same period, Mr. Rosemond worked as a segment producer for CBC’s The Way It Is, where he collaborated with hosts Barbara Frum, Peter Desbarats and Patrick Watson.
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he → work → Frum
The big-budget Sunday night newsmagazine folded in 1969 after two seasons.
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newsmagazine → fold → seasons
A decade later, he directed several episodes of PBS’s Steve Allen’s Meeting of Minds where four actors portraying important historical figures from different eras, such as Karl Marx and Catherine the Great, discussed current affairs.
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actors → direct → affairs
The program won an Emmy for outstanding informational series and several acting/writing nominations.
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program → win → series
Mr. Allen also won a personal Peabody Award.
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Allen → win → Award
Perhaps Mr. Rosemond’s best-loved series was a sitcom he created for his early theatre mentor Mr. Hirsch, who had become CBC’s head of drama in 1974.
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who → love → 1974
Both he and Mr. Hirsch knew Winnipeg’s North End well, so the multiethnicity and themes of King of Kensington were familiar territory.
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multiethnicity → know → Kensington
Running from 1975 to 1980, the series starred Al Waxman who had grown up in Toronto’s Polish-Jewish community.
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who → run → community
To gain a wider audience, they set it in Toronto’s Kensington Market rather than Winnipeg.
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they → gain → Winnipeg
…and 40 more, not listed.
