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The Stars Align at the 12th Annual Canada's Walk of Fame

2009 Inductees Set for The Canada Honour

(Toronto, Ontario) June 16, 2009 – Canada’s Walk of Fame, along with Canwest,announced today the names of its 2009 inductees.  The eight recipients will be feted as part of The Canada Honours tribute Saturday, September 12 at Toronto’s Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts.  The evening’s festivities will be broadcast on Global Television and SLICETM (date and time tbd).

Celebrating its 12th anniversary, Canada’s Walk of Famewill expand its list of inductees to 124 with the induction of these Canadian icons:

“This year’s inductees are a perfect illustration of what The Canada Honours represent,” explained Peter Soumalias, CEO and President of Canada’s Walk of Fame.  “Their achievements are truly astounding and continue to resonate throughout the country and around the world.”

The 2009 honourees will join the 116 inductees of Canada’s Walk of Fame, which annually chooses to recognize achievements from the fields of music, sport, film and television as well as the literary, visual and performing arts, and science and innovation.  The 2009 inductees will be celebrated during Canada’s Walk of Famebroadcast with retrospective videos, celebrity presenters and special performances.

As one of this year’s eight inductees, the late Raymond Burr will be honoured with the Canadian Legends Award sponsored by Cineplex Entertainment and Universal Studios Canada.  The Legends Award is given posthumously to Canadian pioneers in film and television, music, sport, arts and innovation.  Cineplex Entertainment and Universal Studios Canada are proud to sponsor the Legends Award as well asCanada’s Walk of Fame.  This sponsorship is part of Cineplex Entertainment and Universal Studios Canada continuing recognition of Canadian film.

To qualify for induction to Canada’s Walk of Fame, candidates must have been born in Canada or spent their formative or creative years here.  They must also have been successful for a minimum of 10 years and have a body of work recognized for its impact on our cultural heritage.

The 2009 Inductees

Blue Rodeo                                                    Hometown: Toronto, Ontario

Since the release of their debut album, Outskirts, in March 1987, Blue Rodeo has established themselves as one of the premiere bands in Canadian music history.  Over the course of their stellar career Blue Rodeo has released 11 studio albums, one live album, a Greatest Hits collection and two DVDs, all selling in excess of 4 million copies around the world.  Their recent release, Blue Road, won the 2009 Juno for Best DVD and the band is back in the studio recording an album slated for a fall 2009 release.

Raymond Burr                                              Hometown: New Westminister, BC
Born in New Westminister BC, Burr landed his first Broadway role in Crazy with the Heart in 1941 and made his film debut in 1946 in San Quentin.  Burr continued to appear in over 90 movies from 1946 to 1957 before landing the role of defense attorney Perry Mason (which originally ran from 1957 to 1966 and reprised in 26 made-for-television Movies from 1984 until his death in 1993). In 1967, another hugely successful acting opportunity arose for Burr with Universal Studios—the title role in the television drama Ironside. Burr was also well known for his philanthropy including USO visits to Korea and Vietnam; 27 foster children and generous donations to several other charitable organizations. 

Kim Cattrall                                                   Hometown: Little River, BC

Kim Cattrall has had an extensive acting career that spans film, stage and television.  Her career highlights include her award-winning role as the infamous Samantha Jones, in HBO’s Sex and the City, for which Cattrall received a Golden Globe, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, four Emmy Award nominations and three Screen Actors Guild nominations.  Cattrall has also starred in a host of Hollywood blockbusters, including Porky's, Mannequin, Masquerade, Star Trek 6: The Undiscovered Country, John Carpenter's cult classic Big Trouble in Little China (opposite Kurt Russell), and Brian De Palma's Bonfire of the Vanities with Tom Hanks.  Current and upcoming projects are Meet Monica Velour, the animated series, Producing Parker, the political thriller, The Ghost directed by Oscar award-winning filmmaker Roman Polanski and Sex and the City 2 this fall. 

 Tom Cochrane                                              Hometown: Lynn Lake, Manitoba
Tom Cochrane began as a struggling artist in the coffeehouses in Yorkville. As fate would have it, and a chance meeting, Cochrane would join the group Red Rider.  On the tails of two  successful albums and a name change for the band,  Tom Cochrane and Red Rider went on to solidfy their place in music history.  Along with their success came Cochrane's first JUNO Award  for Songwriter of the year in 1989—one of many.  As members of Red Rider separated to work on solo projects Cochrane was penning his most successful work Mad Mad World, which became one of the biggest-selling Canadian records of all time, achieving diamond status (one million copies) in Canada. Throughout his career, Cochrane has thrown himself into a wide range of worthy causes including World Vision, The Canadian Parkinsons Foundation, Make Poverty History and The World Society for the Protection of  Animals.
Dsquared2 (Dean & Dan Caten)               Hometown: Toronto, Ontario
Canadian twin brothers from Willowdale Ontario, Dean and Dan Caten have operated in the international fashion business since 1984. They moved to New York City in 1983 to attend the Parson’s School of Design and in 1991 moved to Italy where they had their first men’s collection show in 1994.  Since the very beginning Dsquared2 has always attracted a following among international celebrities: Lenny Kravitz, Justin Timberlake, Ricky Martin, Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Robbie Williams, Madonna and Britney Spears are all devotees of the brand.

Howie Mandel                                             Hometown: Toronto, Ontario

Howie Mandel started his career in 1979 at the legendary Comedy Store on amateur night. Since then, Mandel’s versatile career has encompassed virtually all aspects of the entertainment spectrum, including television, film and stage.  From his work on the Emmy-Award winning St. Elsewhere, to the international animated children’s series Bobby’s World, Mandel has become a mainstay of the American comedy scene.  Recently he has been thrust back in the spotlight as the host of Deal or No Deal on NBC for which he received an Emmy nomination for “Outstanding Reality/Competition Host.”  He also unveiled his new hidden camera show, Howie Do It, on NBC this past January.

Robert Munsch                                             Hometown: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

From the first time he stood in front of a group of children as a student teacher at a nursery school in 1972, Munsch’s animated presentation grabbed hold of the imaginations of his listeners and he’s been telling stories ever since. Munsch has published more than 50 books, which are sold around the world in 20 different languages, including French and several different First Nations languages. His first efforts, Mud Puddle and The Dark, were published in 1979, and the runaway bestseller Love You Forever was first published in 1986. Munsch has been publishing two books a year with Scholastic Canada since 1997.  His most recent book is Down the Drain!, which was published this past spring.

Chantal Petitclerc                                        Hometown: Saint-Marc-des-Carrieres, Quebec

After losing the use of both legs in an accident at the age of 13, Chantal Petitclerc was introduced to the world of sports by her high school gym teacher.  That lead Chantal to wheelchair sports at University Laval, a sport she fell in love with instantly.  She has been a member of the national Paralympic team since 1988 and first competed in the Paralympic Games in Barcelona (1992).  Since then she has become one of the world’s most decorated track athletes with a total of 21 Paralympic medals including 14 gold medals.  Plus Chantal was the very first disabled athlete in the history of sports to register a result for her country’s team in a non-disabled competition (2002 Commonwealth Games) in which she won a gold medal.

About Canada’s Walk of Fame:
Established in 1998, Canada’s Walk of Fame aims to educate, inform, and inspire through the permanent celebration of the achievements in Canadian music, sport, film and television as well as the literary, visual and performing arts, and science and innovation.  The annual celebration culminates in a televised tribute special that honours Canada’s finest stars from the worlds of arts, entertainment, and sports.  Each inductee is immortalized, their names forever cemented into the sidewalks of Toronto’s entertainment district.  To date, 116 Canadians have been honoured including Margaret Atwood, Jim Carrey, Steve Nash, Michael J. Fox and Celine Dion.  A complete list of inductees along with more information on Canada’s Walk of Fame can be found at www.canadaswalkoffame.com

About Canwest Broadcasting:
Canwest Broadcasting operates two conventional television networks, Global Television and E!, and eighteen of the country's most popular specialty channels, including HGTV, Mystery TV, National Geographic Channel, Showcase, History Television, Food Network and TVtropolis. Canwest Broadcasting is a division of Canwest Media Inc.

About Canwest Media Inc.
Canwest Media Inc is a subsidiary of Canwest Global Communications Corp. (www.canwest.com; TSX: CGS and CGS.A).  An international media company, Canwest is Canada's largest publisher of paid English language daily newspapers and owns, operates and/or holds substantial interests in conventional television, out-of-home advertising, specialty cable channels, web sites and radio stations in Canada, New Zealand, Australia, Indonesia, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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