Nelly Furtado – was born on December 2, 1978, in Victoria, British Columbia. Born to Portuguese parents, ironically enough, Nelly Furtado was named after Soviet gymnast Nellie Kim. At age four she began performing and singing in Portuguese. Furtado's first public performance was when she sang a duet with her mother at a church on Portugal Day. She began playing musical instruments at the age of nine, learning the saxophone, cello, and, in later years, the guitar and keyboards. At the age of 12, she began writing songs, and as a teenager, she performed in a Portuguese marching band.
Doug Henning - born in 1947 in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Doug became interested in magic when he was six, after watching a magician perform on the Ed Sullivan show. He started studying magic and performing as The Great Hendoo. He advertised "Magician: Have rabbit, will travel." In 1999, more than ten years after he stopped performing and practically vanished from the magic world, the magic community was buzzing with a rumor: Doug Henning, one of the most loved magicians, was back!
David Clayton-Thomas - In the early years David lived on the road, traveling all over Europe, Australia, Asia, South America, the US and Canada with BS&T. But the constant touring began to take it’s toll. David left the band in 1972, exhausted by life on the road. By the mid-70’s the founding members began to drift away to start families and pursue their own musical ambitions. One by one they were replaced by such notable jazz players as Joe Henderson, Jaco Pastorius and Mike Stern.His departure left a gaping hole in the group, which fumbled through personnel changes.
Sarah Polley - Made her feature-length film directing debut with Away From Her, based on the Alice Munro short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain. The movie, starring Julie Christie, debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 11, 2006 as part of the TIFF's Gala showcase. It drew rave reviews from Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and the three Toronto dailies, both for the performances of Christie and her co-star, Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent, and for Polley's direction.
Eric McCormack - McCormack received his break-through role in 1998 when he was cast as lawyer Will Truman on NBC's sitcom Will & Grace, a series centered on a gay man (Will) and his Jewish best friend (Grace). McCormack said that when the part came along, and he first read the script, he was convinced he was right for the role. "What hit me immediately was that this was me. I mean, sexual orientation aside, Will was so much like me. He's a great host, he's relatively funny and he has great friends and he's a good friend to them ...
Farley Mowatt – is the great grandnephew of Ontario premier Sir Oliver Mowatt. Born on May 12, 1921 in Belleville, Ontario, Farley grew up in Richmond Hill, Ontario where he attended Richmond Hill High School. His father, Angus Mowat, who fought at the Battle of Vimy Ridge, became a librarian and enjoyed minor success as a novelist. Farley began writing informally while his family lived in Windsor from 1930–1933. At the height of the Great Depression, the family relocated to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. As a boy, Farley was fascinated by nature and animals.
Clara Hughes - The Olympic dream of Clara Hughes began in 1988 when she caught her first glimpse of the Winter Games on Television. Watching speed skaters glide around the oval inspired her to believe that one day she, too, could represent Canada in that same sport. Little did she imagine that in pursuing her speed skating dream, she would first compete in two Summer Olympic Games, in the sport of cycling.
Doug Henning - Before attending medical school, Doug Henning decided to take two years off to perform magic and make some money. Things went so well that, at age 22, he began to pursue a magic career fulltime. He applied for and received a $4,000 grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, after convincing them that magic was a form of art, and studied with Dai Vernon and other master magicians.
David Clayton-Thomas - His 1968 debut album with Blood Sweat & Tears sold 10 million copies worldwide. The self-titled record topped the Billboard album chart for seven weeks, and charted for a staggering 109 weeks. It won an unprecedented five Grammy awards, including Album of the Year and Best Performance By A Male Vocalist. It featured three hit singles, "You've Made Me So Very Happy" "And When I Die", and "Spinning Wheel" as well as an irresistible rendition of Billie Holiday's "God Bless The Child" that became a signature song for David.