- King of Kensington
infobox television
show_name = King of Kensington
caption =
format = Sitcom
runtime = 30 minutes
creator =
starring =Al Waxman Fiona Reid Helene Winston Rosemary Radcliffe
Jayne Eastwood
country = CAN
network =CBC Television
first_aired = 1975
last_aired = 1980
num_episodes = 111
imdb_id = 0072529|"King of Kensington" was a Canadian television
sitcom which aired onCBC Television from 1975 to 1980.The show starred
Al Waxman as Larry King, a convenience store owner inToronto 'sKensington Market who was known for helping friends and neighbours solve problems. His multicultural group of friends consisted of Nestor Best (Ardon Bess ), Max (John J. Dee ), and Tony "Duke" Zarro (Bob Vinci ), who hung around regularly to the perennial disapproval of King's mother Gladys (Helene Winston ).For the first three seasons,
Fiona Reid played his wife Cathy. At the end of the third season, Reid decided to leave the series, so Larry and Cathy divorced. The show never fully recovered its stride or chemistry as Larry pursued other relationships, most notably with Gwen Twining (Jayne Eastwood ) in the final season.The show's gentle but politically conscious humour is seen by some critics as a Canadian version of the topical
Norman Lear sitcoms of the 1970s, such as "All in the Family " and "Maude". The series did clear a few American markets during the height of its popularity, including "WTTG " in Washington, D.C.The show was created by
Perry Rosemond , who also produced the first season. Other producers included Jack Humphrey (1976-1980) andJoe Partington (1978-1980).The series featured many Canadian actors as guest stars, including Mike Myers,
John Candy ,Eugene Levy , Dave Thomas, andMark Humphrey .After "King of Kensington" ended in 1980, head writer
Louis Del Grande went on to create and star in "Seeing Things", and Waxman was cast in the American series "Cagney & Lacey ".In the first episode of the 1990s television series "
Twitch City ", also set in Kensington, the character Nathan (played byDaniel MacIvor ) was sent to prison for killing a homeless man with a can of cat food. The producers of "Twitch City" cast Al Waxman in the role of the murder victim, as a symbolic wink to "King of Kensington", although they claimed that they did not at all intend for the character to be seen as Larry King himself.Following Waxman's death on
January 18 ,2001 , a memorial to him was erected in Kensington Market.External Links
* [http://www.contentfilm.com/common/file.php/pg/localhost74/contentfilm.com/binaries/1914/King%20of%20Kensington.pdf "King of Kensington" Cast Photo and Synopsis]
* [http://www.tvarchive.ca/database/17483/king_of_kensington/episode_guide/ "King of Kensington" Episode Guide at TV Archive Site]
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