Eleanor Collins was a jazz singer widely known as Canada’s First Lady of Jazz, who broke ground on television when she became the first woman and first Black artist in Canada to host her own national television series, “The Eleanor Show.”
- Died: March 3, 2024 (Who else died on March 3?)
- Details of death: Died at the age of 104.
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Eleanor Collins’ legacy
Collins’ parents emigrated to Canada from Oklahoma in the early 1900s as part of a wave of Black homesteaders to do so. She sang in church as a child and won a talent contest in Edmonton at age 15. Her career began to gain traction in 1938 when she moved to Vancouver to perform with the Swing Low Quartette. Soon she was making radio appearances.
When she and her husband, Richard, moved to Burnaby, B.C., they were the first Black family in town. Some of their white neighbors began circulating racist petitions to prevent the couple from moving in, but they failed, and Collins volunteered at the local school.
Collins made her television debut in 1954 when she appeared on “Bamboula: A Day in the West Indies,” the first Canadian show with an interracial cast. The following year, she was the host and star of “The Eleanor Show,” breaking ground as the first woman and first Black artist in Canada to host her own national television series.
She continued to perform on stage and screen well into her 80s, briefly having a second TV show of her own, “Eleanor,” and performing with jazz legends like Dizzy Gillespie (1917– 1993) and Oscar Peterson (1925–2007). Collins earned numerous honors, such as the Distinguished Centennial Pioneer Award, a Black Canadian Awards Lifetime Achievement Award, and a BC Entertainment Hall of Fame Star. She was unofficially dubbed Canada’s First Lady of Jazz.
Quoting Shirley Horn on her 100th birthday:
“No complaints and no regrets, I still believe in chasing dreams and placing bets. But I have learned that all you give is all you get, so give it all you’ve got.”—from a 2020 interview for CBC News
Tributes to Eleanor Collins
Full obituary: The Washington Post
