I was listening on CBC radio yesterday discussing influential Canadians that have or had gained prominence in American culture. There was a litany of newsmen, actors, comedians, moviemakers and musicians discussed.
But when I first determined the theme of the show I was expecting to hear the name of Canadian James Naismith who not only invented the sport of basketball, but also invented the football helmet. Both sports are huge in American culture like nowhere else except perhaps to a lesser degree, Canada . Football would not be the American football we all know and love without the helmet.
Can you come up with any other Canadians who have affected American culture to such a degree?
Lorne Michaels. American pop culture would look quite different without Saturday Night Live and all the people whom it launched to stardom (though they might or might not have eventually found similar success without it).
He was certainly known to leaders in the ongoing health care debate in the States. Ted Kennedy even visited Regina many years ago to look at Saskatchewan medicare, but whatever influence Douglas could have had ended up being rejected by American politics.
On another note, just a few days ago I saw a well-known American on TV mention Tommy Douglas in passing, as if he was commonly known. For the life of me, I can’t remember who it was now. (No, it wasn’t Kiefer Sutherland.)
Without a doubt Abe Vigoda. The man who managed to look 90 for the most consecutive years prior to turning 90 (which he did last year) – our age’s answer to the Cumaean Sybil, possessed of immortality but not youth. I’ve had him in my dead pool since the late 80s.
