John Donald Barton

John Barton
Born	John Donald Barton November 5, 1931 Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died	April 5, 2014 (aged 82) Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Occupation	Radio host, television host, announcer, artist, illustrator, teacher
Years active	1947–2005
Spouse(s)	Lesley Barton (Smith) (1934–)

John Donald Barton (November 5, 1931 – April 5, 2014) was a Canadian radio and television host and announcer. Barton worked in the radio and television industry for over 35 years. Later in his career, he traded the spotlight for paintbrush and pencil and used his drawing talent as an illustrator, commercial artist and teacher.

Personal life

Barton was born on November 5, 1931 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. He was one of two children, sister Jean (Badun), born to Evelyn (Reid) and Donald Barton. For years, Donald worked for Texaco Oil. Barton married Lesley Ann Smith Cheshire, England on Aug 1, 1953. Together they had 3 children: Juley, Reid and Alan. Barton and his family moved from city to city as his job required; from Toronto, Ontario to Victoria, British Columbia on Vancouver Island. Originally from Saskatoon, Barton grew up across the prairies in Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton and Red Deer.

Early years

While in high school Barton knew he wanted to work in broadcasting, and in 1947 (at the age of 15), started working for CKRD in Red Deer, Alberta. Two years later he got his first on-air experience working evenings and weekends (1949–51) at the same station. From there he moved to Edmonton to become the morning host at CFRN (1951–53). In late 1953, he returned to Red Deer as program manager at CKRD. In 1955, Barton returned to Edmonton in 1955, where he worked at CHED.^[1]

Career

Barton moved to Vancouver to become Host of Breakfast with Barton at CKWX (1964–67). In 1967 he moved to Toronto to become the morning host at Ted Rogers' CHFI until 1970. While in Toronto, he voiced commercials for Dodge, Safeway, American Express, and British Motor Company. He then returned to Vancouver where he spent two years as program manager at CJOR 1970–73. Vancouver Island was Barton's next stop where he became the morning host at CKDA in Victoria (1973–76). Barton interviewed numerous entertainers throughout his career: Mitch Miller, Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole, Stevie Wonder, The Ames Brothers, The Four Lads, Phyllis Diller, Mel Torme and Roy Orbison.^[2][3]

In 1964 in Vancouver, he hosted a daily talk show on BCTV. This was followed by two game shows on BCTV, then Barton & Company on CHEK-TV, a Victoria-based talk show, until 1982. Barton hosted or voiced a variety of game shows, talk shows and television commercials. In 1981, after more than 30 years in broadcasting, Barton took a departure to become Creative Director and a partner at Victoria's Copeland Communications. There he spent 12 years designing logos, advertising campaigns, and appearing in and voicing commercials for such Victoria-based companies as; Ryan's Vending, Honda City, Cannor Nurseries, Standard Furniture, Glen Oak Ford and Monk Office Supply. Retirement came in 1992, followed by a move to Qualicum Beach in 1994. Still active, Barton used his artistic skills as a book illustrator and art teacher at Malaspina College, now Vancouver Island University in Parksville and at The Old School House in Qualicum.

Shows hosted

• Evenings/weekends – CKRD Red Deer 1949–51
• Morning Host – CFRN Edmonton 1951–53
• Program Manager – CKRD 1953–55
• Morning Host – The John Barton Show – CHED Edmonton 1955–59
• National Sales Manager – CHED 1959–64
• Morning Host – Breakfast with Barton – CKWX Vancouver 1964–67
• Host – Live feed from Empire Stadium for the Beatles Concert with Red Robinson – CKWX Vancouver 1964^[4]
• Game Show ‘voice-overs’ - CHAN-TV Vancouver 1964–67
• Morning Host – CHFI Toronto 1967–70
• Program Manager – CJOR Vancouver 1970–73
• Host – Daily one-hour Talk Show – Vancouver Town – CTV Vancouver
• Game Show Host – What's the Good Word? – BCTV Vancouver 1972–76
• Morning Host – CKDA Victoria 1973–76
• Game Show Host – Hot Hands – CTV Vancouver – late 1970's
• Host daily one-hour talk show – Barton & Company – CHEK TV Victoria 1978–82^[5]
• Co-creator and Host – Pitfall – CTV Vancouver 1981–82 (later hosted by Alex Trebek)^[6][7]
• Game Show Host – Let's Go To The Races – CHEK TV Victoria 1980–82

Honors and extras

In 1979, at the request of Honourable Hugh Curtis, Provincial Secretary Minister of Government Services in B.C., Barton was asked to coordinate a collection of 30 paintings "British Columbia: Through the Eyes of the Artist" done by 15 professional B.C. artists, depicting the varied landscapes of British Columbia. The collection opened October 2, 1979 at British Columbia House in London, England, and was seen in other cities throughout England before being exhibited in Germany and other European countries.

In 1983, Barton was the Master of Ceremonies at B.C. Place, where Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth issued the invitation to the world to attend Expo 86 in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is here that he introduced Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, The Right Honorable Pierre Elliot Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada and The Honorable William R. Bennett, Premier of British Columbia. In 1986, Barton hosted the official opening and closing ceremonies of Expo 86. The two events were broadcast around the world.

In the early 1980s, Barton hosted the annual Timmy's Telethon for the BC Lions Society, which was broadcast on BCTV, Vancouver, British Columbia.

Later years

After his retirement in 1992, Barton continued to work as a book illustrator, cartoonist and art teacher. He and two artist friends, Jeff Howard and Lyle MacDonald, had their own Art School and produced a series The Art of Drawing for television. For 15 years Barton taught art classes at Malaspina College’s ’Elder College’ in Parksville and at the Old School House in Qualicum Beach. He illustrated promotional posters for the local Qualicum Beach Middle School productions and local theatre group, Bard to Broadway, where he was a member of the board. Along with the local high school art class, he drew the ’Story Book’ mural in the Arrowsmith Elementary School library (which is still there today). Barton returned to Victoria, B.C. in September of 2012, where he had already spent 21 years (1973–1994) of his life. In 2012 he was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma and died on April 5, 2014.

References

1. "B". Vancouver Broadcasters. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
2. "Remembering Phyllis Diller - Parksville Qualicum News". Pqbnews.com. 2012-08-24. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
3. Forbes, Marty (2012-11-06). "Jerry Forbes Centre for Community Spirit!: Who was Jerry Forbes...other than Dad?". Jerryforbescentre.blogspot.ca. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
4. "B". Vancouver Broadcasters. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
5. "Canadian Communications Foundation | Fondation des Communications Canadiennes". Broadcasting-history.ca. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
6. "The Passing Of Time And Friends | Red Robinson". Blog.redrobinson.com. 2014-04-12. Retrieved 2016-05-06.
7. "John Barton : Biography". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2016-05-07.