1975 - Member of the Order of
Canada
1994 - BC
Entertainment Hall of Fame
Inductee
1999 - Canada’s Walk
of Fame Inductee
Autographed
photo of Juliette From the Mia Furzeland
collection
Whatever happened to ...
Juliette (from Prime Times)
From the mid 1950s to mid 60s no Canadian
celebrity shone brighter than “Our pet
Juliette.” Indeed, the Winnipeg-born
singer and CBC television star, known by
her first name only, remains dear to
Canadians. “It was kind of nice to
be known by the one name,” she states, on
the phone from her home in
Vancouver. “I still get recognized
today. Older people get tears in
their eyes meeting me because of the
memories for them.” Anne Murray once
said of Juliette, “She was the epitome of
a star.”
Born in St. Vital to immigrant parents in
1926, Juliette Augustina Sysak was raised
to age 8 on Aberdeen Avenue in the North
End. Her father was a cook on the
CNR. “I remember the big ditches,
the horse-drawn carts and the women
running behind the horses collecting the
manure for their gardens or for the
fire.” Her singing career also got
its start here. “I sang at the
Ukrainian Hall and at amateur shows and
won them. I was just a little girl
then.” But her professional career
took off once the family moved to
Vancouver. At age 13 she was singing
at the Hotel Vancouver. “I was
making more money than my father.
Those were very tough times then. At
14 I had a fur coat.”
In 1941 Juliette made the move to CBC
radio. “I had a couple of offers to
go to the States. One was with Harry
James’s band. The piano player was
from Vancouver. He told me not to
take the job because Harry was an SOB to
work for. So I took an offer to go
to Toronto to appear on Holiday
Ranch. It was good advice.”
She never looked back. Married to
manager Tony Cavazzi she became known as
“Our pet Juliette” during her regular
stint on Billy O’Connor’s CBC TV The
Late Show. In 1956 she was
given her own national television show, Juliette,
which ran for 10 seasons as one of CBC’s
most popular TV shows (only Hockey Night
In Canada and the national news topped her
in ratings) making her among Canada’s most
recognized stars. “The CBC created a
great show with beautiful sets, gorgeous
costumes and music for about
$10,000. The Dinah Shore Show
in the US cost $100,000 an episode.
We were working with nothing yet they were
able to turn out a classy show week after
week.” Among her favourite guests
were Tony Bennett and Jack Jones.
It was the golden era of live television
and because her show followed Hockey Night
In Canada, she never knew until the game
ended how much time she’d have.
“We’d all be watching the game and if it
ran longer we’d say, ‘Okay, we’re cutting
the second number’. Because it was
live, everyone – the band, backup singers
and guests – all had to be ready in case
we had to extend the show or cut it
shorter. My Dad in Vancouver used to
get so mad waiting for me to come on if
the game ran longer. It really kept
us on our toes. I loved it.”
She also toured Canada regularly and
recalls a memorable Arctic jaunt alongside
Winnipeg’s Guess Who and Ted Komar’s
band. “We went as far north as
Resolute Bay. I think that was the
furthest north you could go. I
couldn’t believe they actually had
igloos. But we had a lot of
fun.” In Sydney, Nova Scotia she
outdrew the Queen. “In Winnipeg they
said that nobody had filled that
auditorium like I did. There was
such a traffic jam I needed a police
escort.”
She later hosted After Noon
(1969-71) and Juliette and Friends
(1973-75) for CBC TV. “The last time
I performed in Winnipeg was for a variety
show and I had a wonderful time.
They asked me if there was anything, I
wanted to see and I told them I wanted to
see my old house in the North End.
It was still there and pretty much the
same, as if time stood still. I had
a good cry.”
Juliette passed away at her home in
Vancouver, British Columbia on October 26,
2017, at the age of 91.
