Lloyd Robertson, Canada'a Walk of Fame

Our very own TV celebrity to stroll down Walk of Fame
Jim Hagarty, Stratford Gazette

He doesn't sing, dance or score goals, but Lloyd Robertson's 55 years in broadcasting have earned him a star on Canada's Walk of Fame and he'll take his place among the honoured in a ceremony in Toronto on Saturday.

In doing so, the chief anchor and senior editor of CTV News will become the first broadcast journalist to find himself celebrated on the Walk. At first he was somewhat hesitant, he told the Gazette in an interview Wednesday, but he finally agreed, believing it would help others deserving of recognition to also someday be honoured.

"Fame doesn't fall easily on the shoulders of journalists," said Robertson, because it's all about the news, not the reporter.

But when he thought about all the other great Canadian news broadcasters of the past, from his good friend Peter Jennings, to Larry Henderson and even Lorne Greene of eventual Bonanza fame, he felt accepting the honour would set a trend.

Lloyd Robertson was born in Stratford General Hospital in 1934. His family on his father's side were from the Mitchell area where his dad farmed for a time before moving to Stratford and taking a job in the CNR shops "like so many other fathers in those days."

Young Lloyd attended Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway schools before heading to high school at Stratford Collegiate Vocational Institute, now Central Secondary School. Though a career in broadcasting was not something that was obviously in the cards for him at that time, he was always involved in things such as the debating society which developed his interest in current affairs.

"We talked a lot about politics," he said of his former school chums, some of whom went on to successful careers of their own including in the House of Commons.

And Lloyd even performed in a couple of plays at school which might have indicated he didn't mind appearing before audiences.

By the time he reached grades 11 and 12, Robertson had started hanging around CJCS, the local radio station. He and his dad used to listen to a lot of radio news shows out of Toronto and the medium fascinated him. From his Saturday job at Reward Shoes, he'd wander over to the radio station where he got to know some of the people. They eventually let him operate the board and then finally he got his big chance when he did a station break.

"That was the beginning," he said, and as he was already being encouraged by some of his peers there to take up broadcasting, he jumped at the chance of a full-time radio job in 1952 when two or three announcers quit the station at the same time.

From there, he's done just about all there is to do in his business and won every sort of broadcasting award. "Beloved by Canadians," as his media package states, he was voted Canada's most trusted news anchor by TV Guide readers 11 years in a row, and Canada's favourite news anchor by readers of TV Times, the Toronto Sun and NOW Magazine. In 1998, he was awarded the Order of Canada.

Robertson's time in radio was brief, as he left a Guelph radio station in 1954 and moved to television with the CBC. He spent four years in Winnipeg and two years in Ottawa before becoming the anchor of CBC's national news from 1970 to 1976 when he moved to CTV.

Even after 55 years behind the microphone, Lloyd Robertson still loves coming into work and "getting the buzz" of finding out what's going in the world.

"That's what makes the adrenalin flow."

Asked about mentors in the business, Robertson pointed to the late Harry J. Boyle, a former executive producer of the CBC and a Wingham native. But as for idols, people whose style he might have emulated, he said he found out early on the only way to do it was to just be himself.

As for high points in his career, Robertson said there are too many to narrow down but he takes a stab at it: Royal tours, the Centennial year, the Terry Fox Run and Fox's tragic death.

A special day he remembers was the day of the moon landing in 1969. He walked out from the studio into the parking lot, looked up at the moon and marvelled at how great it was to be in a career that allowed him to be a part of such an historic event.

As for his most memorable interview, again, the veteran broadcaster is on the spot, but he offers up one he had with a former prime minister, the late Lester B. Pearson. Though he was nervous, he said, the prime minister put him at ease.

Had Lloyd Robertson turned left instead of right and decided on another path in life, he speculates he might have gone into the ministry, as the minister of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Stratford was encouraging him to do as a young man. But it's something he's never thought much about as he feels he was destined to follow the path he did.

Lloyd Robertson and his wife Nancy have been married for more than 40 years. They have four daughters. A strong supporter of numerous charities, he participates every year in the telethon for the Hospital for Sick Children.

Other inductees on the Walk of Fame in Toronto for 2007 include Johnny Bower, Rick Hansen, Jill Hennessy, Nickelback, Catherine O'Hara, Gordon Pinsent, and Ivan Reitman. Actor Eugene Levy, one of last year's inductees, will host a two-hour gala which will be broadcast Sunday evening on CTV.

Below is a list of Lloyd Robertson's television experience and career hightlights:

Honoured with the Canadian Association of New York's 2006 Arts and Letters Award, October 2006

Awarded the Order of Canada, February 1998

Inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, 1998

Voted Most Trusted TV Journalist by the readers of TV Guide for a record 10 times; voted Best Anchor twice

Voted Canada's Favourite News Anchor in the first two annual TV Times Readers' Choice Awards, 1998 and 1999

Three-time Gemini winner as "Best Host, Anchor or Interviewer" in 1992, 1994 and 1997

1995/96 Canadian Association of Broadcasters' Gold Ribbon Award winner for Broadcast Excellence

Honoured in 1993 with the Radio Television News Directors' Association (RTNDA) President's Award

Voted Favourite TV Anchor in NOW Magazine's first Reader Poll

Recipient of the Toronto Sun's 1994 Reader's Voice Award for Favourite TV Anchor

Named Broadcaster of the Year in 1992 by the Central Canadian Broadcasters Association

Appointed Honorary Chair of the 1992 Terry Fox Run

1988 Gemini Award nominee for Best Coverage of a Special Event for Decision '88.