Memorable Manitobans: Juliette Augustina Sysak Cavazzi (1927-2017)

Entertainer.

Born in St. Vital on 26 August 1927, one of two daughters born to Galician immigrants Anna Kolbuch (1898-1977) and Onufry “Fred” Sysak (1893-1964), cousin of singer Roma Konyk, she attended Lord Nelson School and won several amateur singing contests in the early 1930s before moving to Vancouver, British Columbia with her family around 1936. There, she had a long and distinguished career on CBC radio and television, performing from the 1950s to 1970s. She hosted the television talk show “Juliette and Friends” from 1973 to 1975. In recognition of her service to the arts community, she was inducted into the Order of Canada (1975) and she received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal (1977), Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (2002) and Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012). She died at Vancouver, British Columbia on 26 October 2017.

Sources:

Marriage registration [Onufry Sysak], Manitoba Vital Statistics.

“City girl returning here with radio show,” Winnipeg Tribune, 28 May 1949, page 3.

“Foundation firm is this singer’s firm foundation,” Winnipeg Free Press, 4 February 1960, page 3.

“Social items,” Winnipeg Free Press, 14 November 1963, page 20.

Death registrations [Fred Sysak, Anna Sysak], British Columbia Vital Statistics.

“Born this day,” Winnipeg Free Press, 26 August 1998, page 41.

’Good night, Mom’: wholesome CBC TV host Juliette dead at 91,” CBC News, 27 October 2017.

This page was prepared by Gordon Goldsborough.

Page revised: 6 August 2023

Memorable Manitobans

Memorable Manitobans

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