{{short description|Canadian children's music performer (born 1946)}} {{Infobox person | name = Fred Penner | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|OM|size=100%}} | image = FredPenner2012.jpg | birth_name = Frederick Ralph Cornelius Penner | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1946|11|6|mf=y}} | birth_place = Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | occupation = {{hlist | Singer | guitarist}} | alma_mater = University of Winnipeg | death_date = | death_place = | known_for = ''Fred Penner's Place'' (1985–1997) | website = {{official URL}} | spouse = {{ubl | {{marriage|Odette Heyn|1981|2011|end=div}} | {{marriage|Rae Ellen Bodie|2016}}<ref name="officialbio">{{cite web|url=http://fredpenner.com/biography|website=fredpenner.com|access-date=March 14, 2017|title=Fred Penner biodata|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170313035959/http://fredpenner.com/biography/|archive-date=March 13, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>}} }}
'''Frederick Ralph Cornelius Penner''' {{post-nominals|country=CAN|CM|OM}} (born November 6, 1946) is a Canadian children's entertainer and musician known for the song "The Cat Came Back" and his television series, ''Fred Penner's Place'',<ref name="Zoratti">{{Cite news|url=https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/music/He-just-couldnt-stay-away-329395161.html|title=He just couldn't stay away|last=Zoratti|first=Jen|date=2015-09-25|work=Winnipeg Free Press|access-date=2018-10-16}}</ref> which aired on CBC in Canada from 1985 to 1997 and in the United States on Nickelodeon from 1989 to 1993.
==Life and career== ===Early life=== Penner was born on November 6, 1946, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to Lydia Agathe Penner (''née'' Winters, 1913–2005) and Edward W. Penner of Winkler, Manitoba.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pembinavalleyonline.com/articles/fred-penner-returns-to-pembina-valley-my-parent-s-stomping-grounds|title=Fred Penner Returns To Pembina Valley "My Parents' Stomping Grounds" (VIDEO)|website=Pembinavalleyonline.com|access-date=November 6, 2024}}</ref> By the age of four, he had begun making up songs while travelling on the bus with his mother. He taught himself how to play the guitar when he was in grade school, and performed in school choirs and pageants. Through his experiences with his sister Susan, who had Down syndrome, he recognized the therapeutic value of music.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fred Penner documentary|publisher=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/fred-penner-documentary-1.5876586}}</ref>
Penner received his high school diploma at Kelvin High School, where he took lead roles in the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fred Penner|publisher=Kelvin History|url=http://www.kelvinhistory.org/Hall%20of%20Fame/?id=108|access-date=2022-05-19|archive-date=2020-01-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200113002528/http://www.kelvinhistory.org/Hall%20of%20Fame/?id=108|url-status=usurped}}</ref> After graduating from the University of Winnipeg with a Bachelor of Arts degree in economics and psychology, he spent time working with mentally and physically disabled children, using music to comfort and entertain.
===Music and television career=== By 1972, Penner was a full-time professional musician, performing folk music songs in Winnipeg. In the mid-70s, Penner performed in a number of groups, most notably the folk music group Kornstock, along with Al Simmons, Bob King, both of whom also became well-known children's entertainers, and drummer Mike Klym.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Kornstock revolution|author=John Einarson|date=September 2013 |publisher=Winnipeg Free Press|url=https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/entertainment/music/The-Kornstock-revolution-222000331.html}}</ref>
In 1977, Penner met choreographer and future wife, Odette Graziella Heyn, with whom he started a children's dance theatre company called Sundance.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Vallis |first=Jeffrey |date=September 13, 2019 |title=Fred Penner just couldn't stay away, and his audience couldn't either {{!}} CBC.ca |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/fred-penner-just-couldnt-stay-away-and-audiences-couldnt-either-1.5188186#:~:text=In%20the%20late%201970s%2C%20Penner%20was%20the%20composer%20and%20musician%20for%20a%20children%27s%20dance%20theatre%20company%20called%20Sundance |work=CBC News}}</ref> Penner accepted an offer to do a recording, which resulted in the album ''The Cat Came Back''.
In 1984, he appeared on the children's television show, ''The Elephant Show'', singing "The Cat Came Back" and was given his own show, ''Fred Penner's Place'' the next year.<ref name="Zoratti"/> The show became a hit and aired on CBC in Canada from 1985 to 1997 and in the United States on Nickelodeon from 1989 to 1993. The show is known for Penner's musical performances, special guests, puppets including Word Bird, and the famous title sequence, which features Penner's entry through a hollow log. The show won or received nominations for several awards including a Juno Award in 1989 and a Gemini Award in 1994. Penner recorded more than 900 episodes of the show. Since the show ended, Penner continues to perform and record regularly.<ref>{{cite web|title=Fred Penner returns to Nanaimo|date=16 May 2022 |url=https://www.nanaimobulletin.com/entertainment/fred-penner-returns-to-nanaimo-for-the-cat-came-back-40th-anniversary-tour/|website=Nanaimobulletin.com}}</ref>
==Accolades== Penner has received a Juno Award for Children's Album of the Year four times: in 1989, 2003, 2015 and 2018.<ref>[https://www.cbc.ca/music/junos/news/junos-2018-the-complete-list-of-winners-1.4579405 "Junos 2018: the complete list of winners"]. ''CBC News'', March 25, 2018</ref>
In 1991, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada for "using music and song to entertain and educate his young audience".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=2970|title=Order of Canada|publisher=Governor General of Canada|access-date=2008-01-09|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20070930023745/http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=2970|archive-date=2007-09-30}}</ref> In 2011, he was made a Member of the Order of Manitoba.
Penner received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Alberta June 15, 2023 for his lifetime of work supporting inclusivity and children's advocacy.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/mobile/video?clipId=2708989&referrer=https://www.google.com/ | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616142703/https://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/mobile/video?clipId=2708989&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F | url-status=dead | archive-date=June 16, 2023 | title=Fred Penner honoured by U of A|website=Edmonton.ctvnews.ca | date=15 June 2023 }}</ref>
==Personal life== As of 2022, Penner lives with his second wife in Courtenay, British Columbia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-06-15 |title=Fred Penner hits the road to mark 40 years of The Cat Came Back |url=https://www.timescolonist.com/entertainment/fred-penner-hits-the-road-to-mark-40-years-of-the-cat-came-back-5484185 |access-date=2023-07-08 |website=Times Colonist |language=en}}</ref> Previously he split his time between Winnipeg and Toronto. He has four children by his first marriage to Odette Heyn. He remarried in 2016, to theatre director Rae Ellen Bodie.<ref name="officialbio"/> His daughter Hayley Gene Penner is a songwriter.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hayley Gene Penner's latest slice of folk magic|publisher=CBC|url=https://www.cbc.ca/music/hayley-gene-penner-s-latest-slice-of-folk-magic-and-4-more-songs-you-need-to-hear-this-week-1.6284175}}</ref>
Penner has promoted a number of humanitarian causes with UNESCO, UNICEF, World Vision and the National Conference on Down Syndrome.<ref name="officialbio"/>
==Filmography==
===Film===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 1984 | ''Reunion'' | | Short film |- | 1993 | ''What a Day!'' | rowspan=3|Himself | Short film<br />Director<br />Writer |- | rowspan=2|2014 | ''Fred Heads'' | rowspan=3|Documentary |- | ''Lennon or McCartney'' |- | 2016 | ''Lovesick'' | |- | 2017 | ''Northern Folk'' | Himself | Documentary<br />Composer |}
===Television===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! Notes |- | 1984 | ''Sharon, Lois, & Bram's Elephant Show'' | rowspan=3|Himself | Season 1, episode 10: "Lifestyles" |- | 1985-1997 | ''Fred Penner's Place'' | Composer<br />Writer |- | 1992 | ''Mr. Dressup'' | Episode: 25th Anniversary cameo |- | 1994 | ''The Biggest Little Ticket'' | | Television film |- | 1998 | ''The Adventures of Shirley Holmes'' | Bill Marshall | Season 2, episode 6: "The Case of the Exploding Puppet" |- |2001 |It's A Living - S13, Ep 12 |Himself/Captain Hook |Sword fights actor Derek Aasland in a flying machine. |- | 2003-2007 | ''Tipi Tales'' | Composer | Composer of the theme song |- | rowspan=2|2015 | ''The Plateaus'' | Fred Penners | Appeared in three episodes |- | ''Sunnyside'' | Barber | Season 1, episode 12: "Sunnyside Tours" |- | 2019 | ''Cavendish'' | Himself (poster, wax statue) | Season 1; multiple episodes |- | 2019 - |Miss Persona |Grampy |Multiple episodes |}
==Discography== thumb|200px|Penner performing in 2011 * ''The Cat Came Back'' (1979) * ''The Polka Dot Pony'' (1981) (reissued as ''Poco'') * ''Special Delivery'' (1983) (reissued as ''Ebeneezer Sneezer'') * ''A House for Me'' (1985) * ''Fred Penner's Place'' (1988) * ''Collections'' (1989) * ''The Season'' (1990) * ''Happy Feet'' (1992) * ''What A Day!'' (1994) * ''Moonlight Express'' (1996) * ''Sing With Fred'' (2003) * ''Where In The World'' (2014) * ''Hear the Music'' (2017)
==Sources== * {{cite web|url=http://www.utpress.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/cw2w3.cgi?p=penn&t=4248&d=2007|title=Canadian Who's Who 1997 entry|access-date=May 8, 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090802234808/http://www.utpress.utoronto.ca/cgi-bin/cw2w3.cgi?p=penn&t=4248&d=2007|archive-date=August 2, 2009}}
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== * {{Official website}} * {{youTube|c=UCisOSgH_xEm6YkaYjaa76gQ}} * [http://www.paquinentertainment.com/agency-roster-bio.php?art_id=392 Biography], on Paquin Entertainment's representation site * {{IMDb name | id=0672094| name=Fred Penner}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Penner, Fred}} Category:1946 births Category:20th-century Canadian guitarists Category:20th-century Canadian male singers Category:21st-century Canadian guitarists Category:21st-century Canadian male singers Category:21st-century Canadian singers Category:Canadian children's musicians Category:Canadian children's television personalities Category:Canadian children's television presenters Category:Canadian folk guitarists Category:Canadian Folk Music Award winners Category:Canadian folk singers Category:Canadian male guitarists Category:Canadian Mennonites Category:Mennonite musicians Category:Juno Award for Children's Album of the Year winners Category:Living people Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:Members of the Order of Manitoba Category:Musicians from Winnipeg Category:University of Winnipeg alumni Category:Singers from Manitoba