Murray Westgate
Born: 1918-04-16 in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died: 2018-08-27
Known For: Acting
Biography
Like most young men at the time with the outbreak of World War Two, Murray Westgate signed up to serve his country. He joined the Canadian navy and was posted to Halifax where he was trained as a wireless operator. On his discharge in 1945, he heard that a repertory company was being formed on the west coast and so he became a member of Vancouver`s first professional theatre company, Everyman Theatre, which had been formed in 1946 by Sydney Risk. A touring company resulted and Westgate and a group of young actors toured the West. He then joined the CBC in Vancouver and was cast in radio dramas for which the CBC Vancouver studios were famous. In 1949 he moved to Toronto where his voice was soon heard in many CBC network radio productions out of the Toronto studios, among them the long-running Sunday series which began as Stage 44, directed by Andrew Allan, and the Ford Television Theatre, produced by Allan Savage. Westgate won an ACTRA Award in 1979 for his work on the made-for-television movie, Tyler. He is probably best remembered by a certain age group for being the spokesman for Imperial Oil, appearing in commercials for 17 years, especially when they were a major sponsor of Hockey Night In Canada on the CBC. Westgate died at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto.
Filmography
1991
- Scanners II: The New Order as George Kellum
1984
- Heavenly Bodies as Coach Hudson
- A Matter of Sex as 1st Union Man
1982
- Knight Rider as Technician
- Shock-Trauma as Police Superintendent Grier
- Honeyboy as Doctor
1981
- Happy Birthday to Me as Gatekeeper
1980
- Fish Hawk as Billie Firman
- The Courage of Kavik, the Wolf Dog as Mac
- The Kidnapping of the President as Archie Standler
- F.D.R.: The Last Year as Cordell Hull
1979
- L'Homme en colère as Police station sergeant
- Running as Mr. Finlay
- Crossbar as Carver
- Torn Between Two Lovers as Jack DeWitt
1977
- Tell Me My Name as Thurmond
- Rituals as Pilot
1976
- Tom Sawyer as Coroner
1974
- Sunday in the Country as Conway
- Last Bride Of Salem as Rev. Hiram Fletcher
- Salty as Trumbull
1973
- The Borrowers as Ernie
- Class of '44 as Principal
- She Cried Murder as Sergeant Withers
1972
- The House Without a Christmas Tree as Mr. Brady