Alfie Scopp obit

Versatile character actor Alfie Scopp never stopped working

 

He was not on the list.

Mr. Scopp worked on The Wayne and Shuster Show, The Barris Beat and a raft of Canadian television programs. He stepped behind the scenes at Front Page Challenge, hosted by his classmate Mr. Davis. The idea of the program was to pick someone who had been in the news and have four panellists ask questions to guess the story or identity of the guest. Mr. Scopp’s job was to chase down guests from around the world. The guest booking of which he was most proud was landing Sir Edmund Hillary, who was part of the first team to reach the summit of Mount Everest, and Jacques Piccard, the Swiss oceanic engineer who helped build vessels for deep-sea exploration, both on the same program.

“When I spoke to Jacques Piccard, he was a bit reluctant, but when I told him the other guest was Edmund Hilary, he said, I’ll be there,” Mr. Scopp recalled.

Mr. Scopp was involved with coming up with the idea for Hee Haw, the country-themed television show that played in the United States. He suggested they use Canadian performers, in particular Gordie Tapp and Don Harron, who played a hayseed, a version of his Ottawa Valley character.

“I was in Los Angeles with them when they came up with the idea for Hee Haw. They said, ‘Let’s create a country Laugh-In,’ " Mr. Scopp told The Globe and Mail. “They didn’t know anything about country, so I said, get in touch with Gordie Tapp. He knows everything about country, from working on Country Hoedown.’ They called him right away, and Gordie signed on for Hee Haw.”

Mr. Scopp was instrumental in helping start the career of a young singer who went on to superstar status.

“I was idly watching a CBC TV show called Pick the Stars. An accordion player was on, and he was followed by this young fella who sang. A few bars into his song, and I yelled to my wife to come see his kid. We agreed he was something special, not so the audience – the accordion player won – we set a rigorous standard in Canada. Anyway, I learned the young singer’s name was Robert Goulet, and he was a student at the Toronto Conservatory of Music. Next day I met with Bob, liked him, and booked him on a show I was writing for, and Bob’s TV career began.”

After their first meeting, Mr. Scopp landed Mr. Goulet a small role on Howdy Doody. This was long before Mr. Goulet became Lancelot in the Broadway hit Camelot, which made his reputation. Mr. Scopp was the best man at two of Mr. Goulet’s weddings and a pallbearer at his funeral.

Mr. Scopp was in six major feature films, the most prominent being the Canadian director Norman Jewison’s Fiddler on The Roof. He played Avram, the bookseller.

Mr. Scopp slowed down when he was about 65 and worked only when it interested him. In his long retirement, he liked to play golf and was a keen follower of the Toronto Blue Jays.

“My uncle was an avid baseball fan, stretching back to the 1930s. He was a season-ticket holder for the Blue Jays from their inaugural season in 1977 until well into the 2000s and pined away the winters waiting for spring training to start,” Kevin Sacks said.

Mr. Scopp leaves his sister, Frances Sacks, the mother of Kevin Sacks; his long-time partner, Cheryl Wyre; and extended family.