‘You couldn’t help but like her’
Canadian television pioneer ‘Your pet Juliette’ dead at 91
One of the pioneering performers on Canadian television in the 1950s and ‘60s has died.
Friends and family confirmed to the CBC that Juliette Cavazzi “who performed professionally under only her first name “died overnight Thursday in Vancouver at the age of 91.
Cavazzi, born in St. Vital, Man., headlined the wholesome CBC musical variety program “The Juliette Show” for 10 years beginning in 1956, where she was introduced at the top of each episode as “your pet, Juliette.”
The Canadian Encyclopedia called it “one of Canada’s most popular television shows” of the day, regularly ranking just behind “Hockey Night in Canada” and the national news, thanks in large part to Cavazzi’s “folksy pop style and easy rapport with an audience.”
“She was a warm lady. You couldn’t help but like her,” legendary disc jockey Red Robinson told the CBC.
“She made it at a time when we really didn’t allow stars in the Canadian broadcast system. And yet, she ended up with a show right after the NHL hockey games, and it became an outrageous success.
“Juliette really brought a lot to Canadian culture and it’s gonna be sad not having her around.”
She was named a member of the Order of Canada and was honoured on Canada’s Walk of Fame.
Her career began in Vancouver, where she had moved with her family when she was 10, and continued in Toronto where appeared on CBC radio and television.
After the cancellation of “The Juliette Show,” Cavazzi hosted a CBC afternoon talk show in the 1970s.
She retired to Vancouver. She once admitted that if she had a chance to do it all again, she would have chosen a career in the chorus instead of as a solo star.
“When you’re no longer front and centre, it hurts,” she told CBC talk show host Bob Mclean in 1980.