About Max Ferguson
Max Ferguson, OC (February 10, 1924 – March 7, 2013) was a Canadian radio personality and satirist, best known for his long-running radio programs Rawhide and The Max Ferguson Show on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). == Biography == === Early life === Max Ferguson was born on February 10, 1924, in Crook, County Durham in England, the second son of William George (George) Ferguson and Isabella Frances (Isabel) née Finnegan. In 1926, when Ferguson was two years old, he and his family emigrated to Canada, departing from Cobh, Ireland on May 22 aboard the Minnedosa. They arrived in Montreal, Quebec on May 29 and eventually settled in Ontario. Ferguson was raised in London, Ontario, and graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a BA in English and French. === Career === In the summer of 1946, Ferguson was hired as an announcer at radio station CFPL in London, but later that year relocated to Halifax, Nova Scotia, for the opportunity to join the CBC as a staff announcer with the local station in the CBC Halifax Radio Building. According to his autobiography, And Now...Here's Max (1967), he was appalled to find among his assignments the task of hosting a cowboy music show called After Breakfast Breakdown. To protect his anonymity, and in hopes of quick reassignment, he improvised the character of "Old Rawhide", assuming the voice of an elderly ranch hand and giving colourfully disdainful appraisals of the songs he introduced. The character was a breath of fresh air to listeners of the staid national broadcaster, and they relayed their approval with volumes of mail. Accepting his fate, Ferguson devised an entire repertory company of raucous and bizarre characters to interact with Rawhide (all voiced by Ferguson) to amuse himself and his audience, creating daily skits which parodied literary classics and satirized current events and CBC personalities.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.