William CUNNINGHAM

1932 - 2024

WILLIAM ROBERT CUNNINGHAM Television Journalist July 10, 1932 - January 31, 2024 Bill Cunningham passed away peacefully at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, spending his final days with the love of his life, Agi Gabor Cunningham, by his side. Bill was a familiar face to many Canadians. If you were walking down the street and saw a guy standing in front of a camera you might well have thought 'hey that's Humphrey Bogart'. It was, of course, more likely to be Bill Cunningham, attired in his foreign correspondent trench coat and brown loafers, talking to his Canadian audience. Bill relished his role as a journalist and lived a big, full life. He loved his boats, eating oysters and hosting lobster feasts for family and friends, often accompanied by his favorite tipple, Rum and Coke. Few journalists anywhere have had a more diverse career. Bill embraced the craft at a young age, writing a weekly high school column for the Moncton Times when he was just 14. He went on to become a pioneer of television journalism which, in the second half of the 20th century, helped bind this country together much as the railways, the telegraph and CBC radio did before it. Bill played a large role in shaping all three of Canada's major English networks. He reported from every region of the country and from far-flung corners of the world. He spent several years covering the war in Vietnam for the CBC. He was captured by the North Vietnamese Army while attempting to document their presence in Southern Cambodia and was almost killed by Viet Kong guides. As the head of news at the CBC, Bill pioneered the concept of journalist-anchors, who replaced announcers that simply read copy placed before them. CBC's evening news program is called 'The National' to this day because Bill decided more than 40 years ago that the show needed a title with more oomph and half the verbiage of 'The CBC National News'. In 1974 Bill became Vice President of news for the fledgling Global TV Network. He gave Global News much of the style that remains to this day and Bill pioneered the first on air TV newsroom. He was recruited to CTV where he was a force both behind and in front of the camera, first as executive producer of W5 and then as a host and reporter as well as the program's managing editor. Bill capped off his career by returning to the CBC, not to a sedentary job normally befitting a man his age, but to roam the world providing background reports on international events. Of the many awards Bill received in his remarkable career, he was perhaps proudest of his Gemini Award for life-time achievement followed by an Honorary Doctorate from Ryerson University in 2009. Bill retained his humour, his interest in family, friends and the news business and his love of a good rum and coke until his final days. He will be deeply missed by his wife Agi, brother John Cunningham and his wife Mary, son Tim Cunningham and wife Margaret, his daughter Kathy Cunningham McPherson and grandchildren Carter and Lexi McPherson. The family will receive friends at the Humphrey Funeral Home A.W. Miles – Newbigging Chapel, 1403 Bayview Avenue (south of Davisville) from 2:00 -5:00 p.m. on Saturday, February 24th. A celebration of life will be held in May. For those interested in obtaining details regarding the celebration of life, please leave a private message in the condolences section on the funeral home website (www.humphreymiles.com) with your contact information (email and/or telephone number). In lieu of flowers, donations to the Yonge Street Mission (https://www.ysm.ca/donate/) would be appreciated.