Sydney Banks
Encyclopedia
Sydney Banks was a pioneer Canadian broadcaster and producer.
, Canada
on January 6, 1917. His parents were English, and Syd and his mother returned to England in 1919, to Cumbria
, but they returned to Canada in the late 1920s. After spending a brief time in Chatham, they moved to Toronto, where they lived in Cabbagetown. Banks went first to school at Our Lady of Lourdes, and then to Danforth Tech, but he left school when he was only 14.
From 1936 to 1941, Banks also acted in many roles with the Theatre of Action, a left-wing drama company, which produced several others who would go on to fame, including Wayne and Shuster, Lou Applebaum, Lou Jacobi, Ben Lennick, Sydney Newman and Lorne Green. Banks directed the Theatre of Action’s final production, of John Steinbeck
’s Of Mice and Men
, in Toronto in 1940. He was also a co-founder (with Al Mulock) of the Red Barn Theatre on Lake Simcoe.
In 1952, as Canada began TV broadcasting, Banks expanded into Canadian television program production. In 1955, he joined the late Spence Caldwell
at S. W. Caldwell Ltd as executive producer, and ran the Rank organisation’s Queensway Studios. He then moved to Foster Advertising, where he started their television advertising department. This involved frequent travel to the States, where he produced commercials for Carling. Banks was also the principal founder of Canada's first Film Producers Association.
In 1962, after working with Jerry Solway of Astral Films
on several major television projects, Banks went out on his own, forming his own company S. Banks (In Television) Ltd., and began producing music series for television. He had shows on both CBC and CTV, including Cross Canada Barndance
, A Singin’, Let’s Sing Out, Brand New Scene and Country Music Hall. In 1961 he became the first president of the Directors’ Guild of Canada, and returned to the presidential chair twenty years later. He received a Distinguished Service Award from the Directors’ Guild in 2003. He also served for a time as a director of the Association of Motion Picture Producers and Laboratories.
Also in the sixties, Banks started booking shows and tours for a wide range of artists from country to early rock to comedy, including bringing Jerry Lee Lewis
, Eric Clapton
and George Carlin
to Canada. He was at one time producer of the Mariposa Folk Festival
, and was still on the Mariposa Board of Advisors at the time of his death.
In 1970 he partnered with Al Bruner
in appearing before the CRTC to apply for a licence for Global
, of which he became co-founder and executive producer. By the mid 1970's, Banks had created, produced and sometimes directed over 450 films and TV programs plus innumerable TV commercials.
On leaving Global, he became a founder and director of the Toronto cable firm CUC Broadcasting
, which became one of the largest cable systems in the Greater Toronto area, and was eventually sold to Shaw Cable in 1994.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Banks was president of S Banks Group Inc which includes Ennerdale Productions and S. Banks (in-television) Limited. During this period of time, he travelled around the world doing business in a variety of different industries.
While in the eighties and nineties Banks cut back on his business activities to look after his ailing wife Shirley, he remained in close touch with the film business, and, after Shirley’s passing, on January 6, 1995, he resumed fulltime activities in film and television. In 1998 he was executive producer of the Canadian film Heart of the Sun, whose cast included Christianne Hirt, Michael Riley and Graham Greene, and which was produced by his company Ennerdale Productions.
Syd Banks died in Toronto on November 14, 2006 at the age of 89.
Banks, Syd (1917-2006)
Canadian content has always been a key element in the programming of broadcasters who are awarded television licences, and in the early days of Canadian television, many such licensees had cause to be grateful to Syd Banks, whose Canadian music programs provided not only much-needed content but also most attractive programming for their schedules.
Syd was born in Toronto on January 6th 1917. His parents were English, and Syd and his mother returned to England in 1919, to Cumbria, but they returned to Canada in the late 1920s. After spending a brief time in Chatham, they moved to Toronto, where they lived in Cabbagetown. Syd went first to Our Lady of Lourdes, and then to Danforth Tech, but he left school when he was only 14.
While in England, Syd had done stage work as a child actor, and he did some radio work for CFRB, as well as getting involved in the Toronto theatre scene. From 1936 to 1941, Syd also acted in many roles with the Theatre of Action, a left-wing drama company, which produced several others who would go on to fame, including Wayne and Shuster, Lou Applebaum, Lou Jacobi, Ben Lennick, Sydney Newman and Lorne Green. Syd directed the Theatre of Action’s final production, of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, in Toronto in 1940. He was also a co-founder of the Red Barn Theatre on Lake Simcoe.
In 1941, during World War II, Syd joined the army as a captain in the Canadian Army Film Unit, and after D-Day he spent time in Holland, Belgium and Germany. After demobilization, he became Executive Producer of International Productions, and in 1955 he joined S. W. Caldwell Ltd
as Executive Producer, and ran the Rank Organisation’s Queensway Studios. He then moved to Foster Advertising, where he started their Television Advertising Department. This involved frequent travel to the States, where he produced commercials for Carling Brewery.
In 1962, after working with Jerry Solway of Astral Films on several major television projects, Syd went out on his own, forming his own company S. Banks (In Television) Ltd., and began producing music series for television. He had shows on both CBC and CTV, including Cross Canada Barndance, A Singin’, Let’s Sing Out, Brand New Scene and Country Music Hall. One of his earliest shows for CTV was To Tell the Truth, a Canadian version of the U.S. panel show; the chairman was Don Cameron, and the panel included Dorothy Cameron, Toby Tarnow, Stan Helleur and lawyer Bob Hall (brother of gameshow host Monty). In 1961 Syd became the first President of the Directors’ Guild of Canada, and returned to the Presidential chair twenty years later. He received a Distinguished Service Award from the Directors’ Guild in 2003. He also served for a time as a director of the Association of Motion Picture Producers and Laboratories.
Also in the ‘sixties, Syd started booking shows and tours for a wide range of artists from country to early rock, including bringing Jerry Lee Lewis and Eric Clapton to Canada. He was at one time producer of the Mariposa Folk Festival, and was still on the Mariposa Board of Advisors at the time of his death.
In 1970 he partnered with Al Bruner in appearing before the CRTC to apply for a licence for Global Television, of which he became co-founder and executive producer. On leaving Global, he became a founder and director of the Toronto cable firm CUC, which became one of the largest cable systems in the Greater Toronto area, and whose sale to Shaw Cable was approved by the CRTC in 1995.
While in the eighties and nineties Syd cut back on his business activities to look after his ailing wife Shirley, he remained in close touch with the business, and after Shirley’s passing in 1995 he resumed fulltime activities in film and television , and in 1998 he was executive producer of the Canadian film Heart of the Sun, whose cast included Christianne Hirt, Michael Riley and Graham Greene, and which was produced by his company Ennerdale Productions.
Syd Banks died in Toronto on November 14th 2006 at the age of 89.
Written by Pip Wedge - January, 2007
Early Days
Sydney Banks was born in TorontoToronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
on January 6, 1917. His parents were English, and Syd and his mother returned to England in 1919, to Cumbria
Cumbria
Cumbria , is a non-metropolitan county in North West England. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local authority, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumbria's largest settlement and county town is Carlisle. It consists of six districts, and in...
, but they returned to Canada in the late 1920s. After spending a brief time in Chatham, they moved to Toronto, where they lived in Cabbagetown. Banks went first to school at Our Lady of Lourdes, and then to Danforth Tech, but he left school when he was only 14.
Career Beginnings
Banks began his multi-faceted career as a child actor in England. In turn, he became a leading stage director and actor in the 1930's in Canada moving into radio where he earned kudos as an actor and writer. While in England, Banks had done stage work as a child actor, and he then did some radio work for CFRB, as well as getting involved in the Toronto theatre scene.From 1936 to 1941, Banks also acted in many roles with the Theatre of Action, a left-wing drama company, which produced several others who would go on to fame, including Wayne and Shuster, Lou Applebaum, Lou Jacobi, Ben Lennick, Sydney Newman and Lorne Green. Banks directed the Theatre of Action’s final production, of John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
’s Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California, USA....
, in Toronto in 1940. He was also a co-founder (with Al Mulock) of the Red Barn Theatre on Lake Simcoe.
Military Service
In 1941, during World War II, Syd joined the army as a captain in the Canadian Army Film Unit, and after D-Day he spent time in Holland, Belgium and Germany.Broadcasting Pioneer
After demobilization, Banks became executive producer of International Productions. This made him Canada's first active television producer with responsibility for weekly show broadcasts from US border stations for Canadian consumption. He established the first TV commercial production unit in Canada and also in 1949 the first TV department for a major Canadian ad agency.In 1952, as Canada began TV broadcasting, Banks expanded into Canadian television program production. In 1955, he joined the late Spence Caldwell
Spence Caldwell
Spencer "Spence" Wood Caldwell is a pioneer in the history of Canadian broadcasting.Amongst his notable achievements are as manager of the Dominion Network, S.W. Caldwell Ltd...
at S. W. Caldwell Ltd as executive producer, and ran the Rank organisation’s Queensway Studios. He then moved to Foster Advertising, where he started their television advertising department. This involved frequent travel to the States, where he produced commercials for Carling. Banks was also the principal founder of Canada's first Film Producers Association.
In 1962, after working with Jerry Solway of Astral Films
Astral Media
Astral Media Inc. is a Canadian media corporation. It is Canada's largest radio broadcaster with 83 radio stations in eight provinces, and is a major player in premium and specialty television in Canada, including The Movie Network, Super Écran, Family, Teletoon, Canal D, Canal Vie, VRAK.TV,...
on several major television projects, Banks went out on his own, forming his own company S. Banks (In Television) Ltd., and began producing music series for television. He had shows on both CBC and CTV, including Cross Canada Barndance
Cross Canada Barndance
Cross Canada Barndance was a Canadian television variety show, which aired on CTV during that network's inaugural season in 1961-62.Produced by Sydney Banks and hosted by Evan Kemp, the show aired live performances by country musicians taped at various CTV affiliate stations. The show aired...
, A Singin’, Let’s Sing Out, Brand New Scene and Country Music Hall. In 1961 he became the first president of the Directors’ Guild of Canada, and returned to the presidential chair twenty years later. He received a Distinguished Service Award from the Directors’ Guild in 2003. He also served for a time as a director of the Association of Motion Picture Producers and Laboratories.
Also in the sixties, Banks started booking shows and tours for a wide range of artists from country to early rock to comedy, including bringing Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
and George Carlin
George Carlin
George Denis Patrick Carlin was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author, who won five Grammy Awards for his comedy albums....
to Canada. He was at one time producer of the Mariposa Folk Festival
Mariposa Folk Festival
The Mariposa Folk Festival was founded in 1961 in Orillia, Ontario. It was held in Orillia for three years before being banned because of disturbances by festival-goers. After being held in various places in Ontario for a few decades, it returned to Orillia in 2000. Ruth Jones, her husband Dr...
, and was still on the Mariposa Board of Advisors at the time of his death.
In 1970 he partnered with Al Bruner
Al Bruner
Al Bruner was a Canadian television broadcaster and the co-founder of Global TV.- Before Global :Bruner was born in Leamington, Ontario in 1923. In his early days Bruner sang in Wayne King's Detroit orchestra, but soon found his way into broadcasting by helping to establish the Toronto-based...
in appearing before the CRTC to apply for a licence for Global
Global Television Network
Global Television Network is an English language privately owned television network in Canada, owned by Calgary-based Shaw Communications, as part of its Shaw Media division...
, of which he became co-founder and executive producer. By the mid 1970's, Banks had created, produced and sometimes directed over 450 films and TV programs plus innumerable TV commercials.
On leaving Global, he became a founder and director of the Toronto cable firm CUC Broadcasting
CUC Broadcasting
CUC Broadcasting was a Canadian media company. Primarily a cable television distributor which operated under the name Trillium Cable, CUC was also a minority investor in other smaller cable companies, including Northern Cable and UMG Cable....
, which became one of the largest cable systems in the Greater Toronto area, and was eventually sold to Shaw Cable in 1994.
During the 1980s and 1990s, Banks was president of S Banks Group Inc which includes Ennerdale Productions and S. Banks (in-television) Limited. During this period of time, he travelled around the world doing business in a variety of different industries.
While in the eighties and nineties Banks cut back on his business activities to look after his ailing wife Shirley, he remained in close touch with the film business, and, after Shirley’s passing, on January 6, 1995, he resumed fulltime activities in film and television. In 1998 he was executive producer of the Canadian film Heart of the Sun, whose cast included Christianne Hirt, Michael Riley and Graham Greene, and which was produced by his company Ennerdale Productions.
Syd Banks died in Toronto on November 14, 2006 at the age of 89.
An Article about S. Banks
Banks, Syd (1917-2006)
Canadian content has always been a key element in the programming of broadcasters who are awarded television licences, and in the early days of Canadian television, many such licensees had cause to be grateful to Syd Banks, whose Canadian music programs provided not only much-needed content but also most attractive programming for their schedules.
Syd was born in Toronto on January 6th 1917. His parents were English, and Syd and his mother returned to England in 1919, to Cumbria, but they returned to Canada in the late 1920s. After spending a brief time in Chatham, they moved to Toronto, where they lived in Cabbagetown. Syd went first to Our Lady of Lourdes, and then to Danforth Tech, but he left school when he was only 14.
While in England, Syd had done stage work as a child actor, and he did some radio work for CFRB, as well as getting involved in the Toronto theatre scene. From 1936 to 1941, Syd also acted in many roles with the Theatre of Action, a left-wing drama company, which produced several others who would go on to fame, including Wayne and Shuster, Lou Applebaum, Lou Jacobi, Ben Lennick, Sydney Newman and Lorne Green. Syd directed the Theatre of Action’s final production, of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men, in Toronto in 1940. He was also a co-founder of the Red Barn Theatre on Lake Simcoe.
In 1941, during World War II, Syd joined the army as a captain in the Canadian Army Film Unit, and after D-Day he spent time in Holland, Belgium and Germany. After demobilization, he became Executive Producer of International Productions, and in 1955 he joined S. W. Caldwell Ltd
Spence Caldwell
Spencer "Spence" Wood Caldwell is a pioneer in the history of Canadian broadcasting.Amongst his notable achievements are as manager of the Dominion Network, S.W. Caldwell Ltd...
as Executive Producer, and ran the Rank Organisation’s Queensway Studios. He then moved to Foster Advertising, where he started their Television Advertising Department. This involved frequent travel to the States, where he produced commercials for Carling Brewery.
In 1962, after working with Jerry Solway of Astral Films on several major television projects, Syd went out on his own, forming his own company S. Banks (In Television) Ltd., and began producing music series for television. He had shows on both CBC and CTV, including Cross Canada Barndance, A Singin’, Let’s Sing Out, Brand New Scene and Country Music Hall. One of his earliest shows for CTV was To Tell the Truth, a Canadian version of the U.S. panel show; the chairman was Don Cameron, and the panel included Dorothy Cameron, Toby Tarnow, Stan Helleur and lawyer Bob Hall (brother of gameshow host Monty). In 1961 Syd became the first President of the Directors’ Guild of Canada, and returned to the Presidential chair twenty years later. He received a Distinguished Service Award from the Directors’ Guild in 2003. He also served for a time as a director of the Association of Motion Picture Producers and Laboratories.
Also in the ‘sixties, Syd started booking shows and tours for a wide range of artists from country to early rock, including bringing Jerry Lee Lewis and Eric Clapton to Canada. He was at one time producer of the Mariposa Folk Festival, and was still on the Mariposa Board of Advisors at the time of his death.
In 1970 he partnered with Al Bruner in appearing before the CRTC to apply for a licence for Global Television, of which he became co-founder and executive producer. On leaving Global, he became a founder and director of the Toronto cable firm CUC, which became one of the largest cable systems in the Greater Toronto area, and whose sale to Shaw Cable was approved by the CRTC in 1995.
While in the eighties and nineties Syd cut back on his business activities to look after his ailing wife Shirley, he remained in close touch with the business, and after Shirley’s passing in 1995 he resumed fulltime activities in film and television , and in 1998 he was executive producer of the Canadian film Heart of the Sun, whose cast included Christianne Hirt, Michael Riley and Graham Greene, and which was produced by his company Ennerdale Productions.
Syd Banks died in Toronto on November 14th 2006 at the age of 89.
Written by Pip Wedge - January, 2007
External links
- http://library.mcmaster.ca/develop/banks.htm
- photo of Banks the map collector, front row right side
- http://www.vistamorocco.com/SydneyBanksBio.html
- portrait of Sydney Banks
