Max Ferguson

According to his autobiography, And Now...Here's Max (1967), he was appalled to find among his assignments the task of hosting a cowboy music show called After Breakfast Breakdown.To protect his anonymity, and in hopes of quick reassignment, he improvised the character of "Old Rawhide", assuming the voice of an elderly ranch hand and giving colourfully disdainful appraisals of the songs he introduced.Recurring characters (other than Rawhide) included pompous, adenoidal CBC announcer Marvin Mellobell, the Goomer Brothers, Little Harold, the Black Widow Spider, and the adventurous Granny.Rawhide's first coast-to-coast broadcasts caused controversy when a Member of Parliament rose to denounce the show for its low humour and abuse of the English language.For this iteration of The Max Ferguson Show—which would run for over 25 years—Ferguson dropped the skits and relied exclusively on his outspoken charm and facility with the language, as well as his unique selection of offbeat music and comedy tracks.He was appointed an Officer of The Order of Canada in 1970 and in 2001 was chosen as a recipient of the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement.
Max Ferguson (painter)Max Ferguson (baseball)DurhamEnglandRadio hostsatiristCanadian Broadcasting CorporationCounty DurhamIrelandMontreal, QuebecOntarioLondon, OntarioUniversity of Western OntarioCBC Halifax Radio Buildingcowboy musicfolk musicFolkways RecordsAllan McFeeShelagh RogersNational Film Board of CanadaThe Marvel Super HeroesJohn DiefenbakerPierre TrudeauRobert StanfieldStephen Leacock AwardOrder of CanadaGovernor General's Performing Arts AwardCBC NewsSmithsonian Folkways