Billy Van

Billy Van Evera (1934 – 6 January, 2003) was a Canadian comedian and actor.

Biography

Van was born William Van Evera in Toronto, Ontario. As a youth, he and his four brothers toured North America as a singing act. He first gained audience notice in the 1960s as a performer on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation produced satire programme "Nightcap".

In 1971 Billy Van began making "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein" in Hamilton, Ontario. It is this show for which he is most well known, and it has subsequently developed a cult following. A total of 130 episodes were produced, with Van playing almost every character.cite web| title = CH TV Hamilton History| url=http://www.canada.com/chtv/hamilton/info/history.html| accessdate = 2007-01-29]

In 1982, he hosted TVOntario's "Bits and Bytes", a show devoted to the usage of early (mostly 8-bit) personal computers. Van also narrated the animated program "Eureka!", which taught children about physics.

Van also appeared occasionally in the Canadian TV show "Bizarre", hosted by John Byner.

He had a triple heart bypass in 1998.

After first being diagnosed in December 1999, Van died of lung cancer in 2003 at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital. He is survived by his wife Susan and two daughters, Tracy and Robyn, from a previous marriage.

One of Billy Van's brothers, Jack Van Evera, also became an actor and appeared on many Canadian television series such as "The Forest Rangers" and "Adventures in Rainbow Country".

Filmography

Movies

*1982: "The Wizard of Oz" (voice)
*1988: "Family Reunion"
*1992: "This is My Life"

Television series

*1963-1967: "Nightcap"
*1970: "The Ray Stevens Show"
*1970-1980: "Party Game"
*1971: "Rolling' on the River"
*1971: "The Hilarious House of Frightenstein"
*1972: "The Ken Berry "Wow" Show"
*1973-1974: "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour"
*1974: "The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show"
*1974: "And That's the News, Goodnight"
*1975-1976: "The Bobby Vinton Show"
*1976: "The Sonny and Cher Show"
*1978: "Eureka!" (voice)
*1980: "Bizarre"
*198?: "Seeing Things"
*1983: "Bits and Bytes" (host)
*1987: "I'll Take Manhattan" (mini-series)
*1991: "Bits and Bytes" series 2 (host)

Television movies

*1985: "The Hearst and Davies Affair"
*1986: "A Deadly Business"
*1992: "The Trial of Red Riding Hood"
*1995: "Net Worth"

References

External links

* [http://www.northernstars.ca/actorsvz/van_billy.html Northern Stars: Billy Van]
*