Elwy Yost
Encyclopedia
Elwy McMurran Yost, CM
(July 10, 1925 – July 21, 2011) was a television
host, best known for hosting CBC Television
's weekday Passport to Adventure
series from 1965–67, and TVOntario
's weekday Magic Shadows
, from 1974 until the mid-1980s, and Saturday Night at the Movies
from 1974–99.
, the son of pickle manufacturer Elwy Honderich Yost and Annie Josephine McMurran. In his youth, the senior Yost would give his son a dime a week to go see a movie on condition that he'd then recount the plot. Yost graduated from the Weston Collegiate and Vocational School
in 1943.
He began studies at the University of Toronto
in 1943, and studied engineering but left, in 1944, after failing his exams and joined the Canadian Infantry in 1944. He was honorably discharged in September 1945. After graduating from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts
degree in Sociology
in 1948, he worked variously in construction, at the Canadian National Exhibition
, made an independent film with a classmate and acted in summerstock theatre. In 1951, he was working in the circulation department of the Toronto Star
where he met his future wife, Lila Melby. He also worked in the Avro Canada
personnel department from 1953 until 1959 when he and most of the staff were laid off due to the cancellation of the Avro Arrow project. He then worked as an English and History teacher at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate in Etobicoke, Ontario
.
as a panelist on shows such as Live a Borrowed Life, The Superior Sex and Flashback. In the late 1960s he created and hosted Yost CBC's Passport to Adventure, featuring classic movie serials, and also assisted in the founding of the Metropolitan Educational Television Authority (META).
He joined the Ontario Educational Communications Authority (later TVOntario
) in the early 1970s as a manager and, in 1974, was assisting with the establishment of its regional councils, when he was told OECA had acquired the broadcast rights to three Ingmar Bergmann films and was asked if he had any ideas on how the station could air them in an educational context. Yost packaged the shows as Three Films in Search of God adding educational content in the form of interviews, introductions, and discussions thus creating the model for what became Saturday Night at the Movies, which became the channel's longest-running, and one of its most popular shows. Yost also developed Magic Shadows
, which showed classic serials in half-hour early evening installments with introductions providing background and interesting details by Yost, the movie review show Rough Cuts, Talking Film and The Moviemakers.
The format of Saturday Night at the Movies was that of two movies, separated by in-depth interviews conducted by Yost. In the early years the interviews were with local film experts, but the show's producers took the opportunity to interview visiting actors when they had engagements in Toronto. As the show grew in popularity, funds were found to send Yost and a crew to Hollywood to arrange interviews with film personalities. The library includes interviews with the stars of classic films, character actors, directors, screen-writers, composers, film-editors, special-effects people, and sometimes even their children.
Some regular viewers started to plan their Saturday nights so that they could catch just the interview section if they had already seen that night's films. When Yost retired from TVOntario in 1999, a copy of the library of interviews was donated to the Motion Picture Academy
.
His son, Graham Yost
, is a screenwriter
whose most famous credit was the hit 1994 film Speed. Speed was the final movie Yost hosted before retiring from Saturday Night at the Movies in 1999.
Yost wrote four books: Magic Moments from the Movies, Secret of the Lost Empire, Billy and the Bubbleship (also known as Mad Queen of Mordra) and White Shadows.
Order of Canada
The Order of Canada is a Canadian national order, admission into which is, within the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, the second highest honour for merit...
(July 10, 1925 – July 21, 2011) was a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
host, best known for hosting CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
's weekday Passport to Adventure
Passport to Adventure (TV series)
Passport to Adventure, later titled Passport, was a Canadian movie television series which aired on CBC Television from 1965 to 1967.-Premise:...
series from 1965–67, and TVOntario
TVOntario
TVOntario, often referred to only as TVO , is a publicly funded, educational English-language television station and media organization in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario...
's weekday Magic Shadows
Magic Shadows
Magic Shadows was a 30-min Canadian television series produced by the TVOntario public television network hosted by Elwy Yost that ran on weekday evenings in the 1970s and 1980s....
, from 1974 until the mid-1980s, and Saturday Night at the Movies
Saturday Night at the Movies
Saturday Night at the Movies is a weekly television series on TVOntario, the public educational television network in Ontario, Canada. The series presents classic movies, followed by interview and feature segments with directors, actors and other people involved in making the films presented...
from 1974–99.
Early life
Born in Weston, OntarioOntario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
, the son of pickle manufacturer Elwy Honderich Yost and Annie Josephine McMurran. In his youth, the senior Yost would give his son a dime a week to go see a movie on condition that he'd then recount the plot. Yost graduated from the Weston Collegiate and Vocational School
Weston Collegiate Institute
Weston Collegiate Institute is a Grade 9 to 12 public high school located in the York South-Weston area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the second oldest high school in Toronto, after Jarvis Collegiate Institute. Weston CI is located on 100 Pine Street and is near the Jane Street & Lawrence...
in 1943.
He began studies at the University of Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
in 1943, and studied engineering but left, in 1944, after failing his exams and joined the Canadian Infantry in 1944. He was honorably discharged in September 1945. After graduating from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
degree in Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
in 1948, he worked variously in construction, at the Canadian National Exhibition
Canadian National Exhibition
Canadian National Exhibition , also known as The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the 18 days leading up to and including Labour Day Monday. With an attendance of approximately 1.3 million visitors each season, it is Canada’s largest...
, made an independent film with a classmate and acted in summerstock theatre. In 1951, he was working in the circulation department of the Toronto Star
Toronto Star
The Toronto Star is Canada's highest-circulation newspaper, based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its print edition is distributed almost entirely within the province of Ontario...
where he met his future wife, Lila Melby. He also worked in the Avro Canada
Avro Canada
Commonly known as Avro Canada, this company started in 1945 as an aircraft plant and became within thirteen years the third-largest company in Canada, one of the largest 100 companies in the world, and directly employing over 50,000...
personnel department from 1953 until 1959 when he and most of the staff were laid off due to the cancellation of the Avro Arrow project. He then worked as an English and History teacher at Burnhamthorpe Collegiate in Etobicoke, Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....
.
Career in television
Through his acting connections, Yost learned that CBC was looking for quiz show panelist. Yost auditioned and, through the 1960s, appeared intermittently on the CBCCanadian Broadcasting Corporation
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly known as CBC and officially as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian crown corporation that serves as the national public radio and television broadcaster...
as a panelist on shows such as Live a Borrowed Life, The Superior Sex and Flashback. In the late 1960s he created and hosted Yost CBC's Passport to Adventure, featuring classic movie serials, and also assisted in the founding of the Metropolitan Educational Television Authority (META).
He joined the Ontario Educational Communications Authority (later TVOntario
TVOntario
TVOntario, often referred to only as TVO , is a publicly funded, educational English-language television station and media organization in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is operated by the Ontario Educational Communications Authority, a Crown corporation owned by the Government of Ontario...
) in the early 1970s as a manager and, in 1974, was assisting with the establishment of its regional councils, when he was told OECA had acquired the broadcast rights to three Ingmar Bergmann films and was asked if he had any ideas on how the station could air them in an educational context. Yost packaged the shows as Three Films in Search of God adding educational content in the form of interviews, introductions, and discussions thus creating the model for what became Saturday Night at the Movies, which became the channel's longest-running, and one of its most popular shows. Yost also developed Magic Shadows
Magic Shadows
Magic Shadows was a 30-min Canadian television series produced by the TVOntario public television network hosted by Elwy Yost that ran on weekday evenings in the 1970s and 1980s....
, which showed classic serials in half-hour early evening installments with introductions providing background and interesting details by Yost, the movie review show Rough Cuts, Talking Film and The Moviemakers.
The format of Saturday Night at the Movies was that of two movies, separated by in-depth interviews conducted by Yost. In the early years the interviews were with local film experts, but the show's producers took the opportunity to interview visiting actors when they had engagements in Toronto. As the show grew in popularity, funds were found to send Yost and a crew to Hollywood to arrange interviews with film personalities. The library includes interviews with the stars of classic films, character actors, directors, screen-writers, composers, film-editors, special-effects people, and sometimes even their children.
Some regular viewers started to plan their Saturday nights so that they could catch just the interview section if they had already seen that night's films. When Yost retired from TVOntario in 1999, a copy of the library of interviews was donated to the Motion Picture Academy
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
.
His son, Graham Yost
Graham Yost
Graham John Yost is a Canadian film and television screenwriter. His most famous works are the hit 1994 film Speed, Broken Arrow, and Hard Rain....
, is a screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
whose most famous credit was the hit 1994 film Speed. Speed was the final movie Yost hosted before retiring from Saturday Night at the Movies in 1999.
Yost wrote four books: Magic Moments from the Movies, Secret of the Lost Empire, Billy and the Bubbleship (also known as Mad Queen of Mordra) and White Shadows.