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Billy (William) O'Connor.
Singer, pianist, songwriter, agent, was born in
Kingston, Ont, 9 Jan 1914, and passed away in Toronto 18
Nov 2001. His father, Tommy (Thomas John) O'Connor was a
pianist and entertainer who, during the late 1880s,
worked in the USA with Lew Dockstader's Minstrels and
was accompanist to the magicians Blackstone and
Thurston. The elder O'Connor later performed throughout
eastern Ontario as part of the team Crosby and O'Connor.
The younger O'Connor was taught to
play piano by his father after the family moved to
Toronto in 1919. He served as
 an
entertainment corporal in the Canadian Army during World
War II and began working in Toronto nightclubs in 1947
and, with broadcasts from the Club Norman, undertook a
CBC career in 1948. O'Connor continued on CBC radio into
the early 1960s and was also heard 1954-9 nationally on
a syndicated program sponsored by Coca-Cola and in 1961
locally on CHUM. His CBC TV career began with Four for
the Show, which led to the variety series The Billy
O'Connor Show, produced at CKCO-TV in Kitchener from
1954-6, Club O'Connor in 1957, and 'Saturday Date'
1958-9. His programs were noted for introducing new
talent, including Peter Appleyard, Juliette, Vanda King,
Sylvia Murphy, Rhonda Silver, and the Two Tones (of whom
one was Gordon Lightfoot).
Source:
Canadian Encyclopaedia of Music
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