{{Short description|Canadian actor (1918–2018)}} {{Infobox person | name = Murray Westgate | image = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1918|4|16}} | birth_place = Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada | death_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | death_date = {{death date and age|2018|8|27|1918|4|16}} | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1940s–1991 | spouse = Alice Hill (? - 1983) | website = }} '''Murray Westgate''' (April 16, 1918 – August 27, 2018) was a Canadian actor.<ref>"DIDN'T YOU USE TO BE...? MURRAY WESTGATE: Canada's most famous Esso dealer never pumped a gallon". ''The Globe and Mail'', September 18, 1987.</ref> He is best known for his longtime role as a television pitchman in Canadian commercials for Esso on ''Hockey Night in Canada'' in the 1950s and 1960s, and also for his roles in ''Blue City Slammers'', for which he garnered a Genie Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor at the 9th Genie Awards in 1988, and in the film adaptation of ''Two Solitudes'', in which he portrayed the Prime Minister of Canada.<ref name=ccf>[http://www.broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/westgate-murray "Westgate, Murray (1918- )"]. Canadian Communications Foundation, November 2002.</ref>
== Early life == Before becoming an actor, Westgate served as a radio operator in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II.<ref name="Vet">[https://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/health/the-hospital/veterans-at-sunnybrook-show-us-how-to-age-gracefully/article15767113/ "Veterans at Sunnybrook show us how to age gracefully"]. ''The Globe and Mail'', December 5, 2013.</ref> He then moved to Vancouver to join Everyman Theatre as an actor,<ref name=ccf /> before joining CBC Radio as an actor in radio dramas.<ref name=ccf />
== Career == Westgate began appearing in Esso commercials in 1952, when the company signed on as the main commercial sponsor of ''Hockey Night in Canada'', and retained this role until 1968.<ref name=ccf />
He also had roles in the television series ''Jake and the Kid'', ''R.C.M.P.'', ''Seaway'', ''House of Pride'' and ''Seeing Things'', and had some guest and supporting roles in television and theatrical films, but found that he sometimes lost out on roles because he was too recognisably typecast by the Esso commercials.<ref name=ccf /> He won an ACTRA Award in 1979 for his performance in the CBC Television film ''Tyler''.<ref>"CBC scores landslide in ACTRA awards". ''The Globe and Mail'', April 5, 1979.</ref>
He was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2002.<ref name=ccf />
Westgate's final acting job was in 1991, at the age of 72, a reprise of his Esso attendant character for two commercials aired by Imperial Oil during that year's Stanley Cup playoffs. The spots featured both a black-and-white clip of one of his original Esso ads and newly recorded footage.<ref>"Service with a smile". ''Financial Post'', April 5, 1991.</ref><ref name="Cent">{{cite news|title=Hockey Night in Canada’s original TV pitchman turns 100|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2018/04/06/hockey-night-in-canadas-original-tv-pitchman-turns-100.html|accessdate=April 16, 2018|work=Toronto Star|date=April 15, 2018}}</ref>
Westgate turned 100 on April 16, 2018.<ref name="Cent"/> He died on August 27, 2018, at Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto,<ref name="Obit">{{cite news |last1=Hunter |first1=Paul |title=‘They treated him like he was a hockey star’: Actor and Hockey Night in Canada fixture Murray Westgate dies at age 100 |url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2018/08/27/they-treated-him-like-he-was-a-hockey-star-actor-and-hockey-night-in-canada-fixture-murray-westgate-dies-at-age-100.html |accessdate=August 28, 2018 |work=Toronto Star |date=August 27, 2018}}</ref> where he had lived for more than a decade.<ref name="Vet"/>
==Personal life== Westgate was married to actress Alice Hill until her death in 1983.<ref name="Obit"/>
==Filmography== {| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |- |1957|| data-sort-value="Dangerous Age, A" | ''A Dangerous Age'' || Police Officer || |- |1959|| data-sort-value="Cool Sound from Hell, A" | ''A Cool Sound from Hell'' || Police Officer || |- |1961 || ''Jake and the Kid'' || Jake || |- |1969|| data-sort-value="First Time, The" | ''The First Time'' || Customs Officer || Uncredited |- |1969|| ''Change of Mind'' || Judge Stanton || |- |1970|| ''Homer'' || Mr. Cochran || |- |1972|| data-sort-value="Rowdyman, The" | ''The Rowdyman'' || Mr. Lowe || |- |1973|| ''Class of '44'' || Principal || |- |1973 || ''Our Ms. Hammond'' || || |- |1974|| ''To Kill the King'' || Vincent O'Connell || |- |1974|| ''Sunday in the Country'' || Conway || |- |1977|| ''Rituals'' || Pilot || |- |1978|| ''Two Solitudes'' || Prime Minister || |- |1978|| ''Tyler'' || || |- |1979|| ''Running'' || Mr. Finlay || |- |1979|| ''Fish Hawk'' || Billie Firman || |- |1979|| ''Bye, See You Monday'' || Pere de Lucie || |- |1980|| data-sort-value="Kidnapping of the President, The" | ''The Kidnapping of the President'' || Archie Standler || |- |1981|| ''Happy Birthday to Me'' || Gatekeeper || |- |1981|| ''Threshold'' || Lecture Host || |- |1981|| ''Silence of the North'' || Dr. Miller || |- |1984|| ''Heavenly Bodies'' || Coach Hudson || |- |1988|| ''Blue City Slammers'' || Bill || |- |1991|| ''Scanners II: The New Order'' || George Kellum || (final film role) |}
== References == {{reflist|2}}
== External links == *{{IMDb name|0922743}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Westgate, Murray}} Category:1918 births Category:2018 deaths Category:Canadian male film actors Category:Canadian male television actors Category:Canadian male stage actors Category:Canadian male radio actors Category:Male actors from Regina, Saskatchewan Category:Royal Canadian Navy personnel Category:Canadian men centenarians