Don Harron

Born in Toronto on September 19, 1924, Don Harron’s show business career began with comedic facial contortions in grade school, which resulted in more than a few swift departures from class.

Don went pro at the age of ten as a cartoonist. His specialty: chalk caricatures of banquet guests for 15 bucks a pop!

His acting career began in 1936 with three radio appearances a week on the Canadian Radio Commission, the predecessor of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Don left acting because it took him away from after school sports; he didn’t act again until his return from a stint in RAF.

Seeking higher education, Don became a popular student at the University of Toronto where he regularly entertained his professors with essays pummeled with puns.

Don Harron’s remarkable talents have taken him from Stratford, Ontario to Broadway to the Old Vic stage in London. He was the first on Canadian radio and television, wrote an “Anne of Green Gables Musical” that is entering its 40th year, had successful runs as both a game and talk show host, wrote a dozen books, and was among the creative and comedic forces behind the long running Nashville based country/comedy TV series, “Hee Haw”. Don spent 18 of the show’s 25 year run as his alter ego, “Charlie Farquharson”, who was first introduced to the unsuspecting public on the CBC in 1952.

In 1980, Don Harron received the Order of Canada.

Don Harron passed away on January 17, 2015 at the age of 91.