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Gino Emprey, 83
( i know it's a few days late..)
| quote: | Gino Empry, a long-time Toronto entertainment promoter and an icon in the international artistic community, died yesterday [saturday] at the age of 83.
Empry, known for his work behind the scenes, will be remembered by friends and acquaintances as a man who pushed others to stay true to themselves, said Gordon Pinsent, a prolific Canadian actor and long-time friend.
"He was there as the constant angel on your shoulder, reminding you not to give up and that you are important," Pinsent said. "He was a dear man who was loved by all of us who truly knew him."
Born in Toronto, Empry got involved in the entertainment industry while still a teenager by starting his own drama group and establishing himself as an actor, director and producer. It wasn't until 1964 that he immersed himself in the work he would become famous for, founding his own agency for booking and public relations. By 1970, he was an entertainment director and consultant for the Royal York Hotel's Imperial Room, which was then the top nightclub in the country.
Empry went on to represent some of the biggest names in show business, including Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, Bob Hope and Ella Fitzgerald.
But it was always his representation of local talent that set him apart.
"Gino was a truly a champion of Toronto talent," Pinsent said. "He was a man who wanted the very best for us ..."
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Gino Empry rubbed shoulders with the biggest names in show business.
As entertainment director for the Royal York Hotel's Imperial Room in the 1970s, the Toronto-born agent booked such musical giants as Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee and Roy Orbison. At various points, he managed the careers of Tony Bennett and Robert Goulet. For many years, he ran PR for the Royal Alexandra Theatre.
His list of professional contacts included Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Lena Horne and Marlene Dietrich.
"He was the big gun when I first came to Canada," recalled Arkansas-bred rock legend Ronnie Hawkins, who moved to Toronto in 1958. "He was the big cat that ran with the movie stars. He was the guy that ran with the big-time boys that would come in — the heroes of that time."
Everyone who knew Empry, who died Saturday, can testify to how much he loved that life.
"From the moment I heard he died," said actor Shirley Douglas, "I just kept singing, `There's no business like show business' all through my house. He really personified that kind of person. He loved show people because I really think he was an artist himself. It was impossible to be in our business without knowing him."
Hawkins owes his own appearances at the Imperial Room to Empry.
"When I first arrived in Canada, they wouldn't even allow me into the Imperial Room, let alone play there," Hawkins said. "Gino was the one who finally got me booked there.
"You aren't gonna believe what he booked me for once," Hawkins continued. "It was a show for 400 nuns that had just finished boot camp. They were having a big graduation party before they got shipped out all over the world. They got into the wine. And, baby, it got as loose as a rock concert."
"I don't know why Gino did that. He said that's what the nuns wanted. Gino did things like that."
Empry, who is credited with practically inventing showbiz PR in Toronto, started his own booking and public relations firm in 1964, a time when most big international stars were represented by big-time New York agencies.
"He was more like the Broadway agents I used to know," said Mary Jolliffe, another Canadian PR pioneer who served as the Stratford Festival's first communications director and met Empry in the early 1960s when she was doing public relations for the then newly opened O'Keefe (now Hummingbird) Centre.
"He pioneered, in a very flamboyant way, the promotion of artists in the industry, including Canadian artists. He was unique in his aggressive promotion of his artists.
"He loved the glamour, but he was very assiduous in his job. He was very loyal. He served his clients well."
In the 1960s, when Stratford Festival acting great William Hutt was looking for someone to represent his interests outside of theatre, he turned to Empry.
"I made the arrangement with him up front that I didn't need an agent for theatre because I knew exactly what the market would take," Hutt said. "He absolutely understood that.
"He negotiated everything that had to do with film, television and radio. And he was also my PR representative. He would see that news items about me would get into the paper every once in a while.
"He was an extremely good agent — very knowledgeable, very helpful, very supportive. He was very energetic — and a sweet-hearted man."
Few, if any, friends, acquaintances and associates successfully uncovered the truth to Empry's most closely guarded secret: his age. A friend who asked not to be identified is certain he was 81 at the time of his death. In media reports yesterday, Empry's age ranged from "in his 60s" to 83.
"He was always saying that he was 49 years old," said Star columnist Rita Zekas. "Jack Benny was always 39. And Gino Empry was always 49. I said to him once, `If you're 49, that means you were 3 years old when you booked Tony Bennett."
Zekas, who crossed paths with Empry countless times in her former capacity as the Star's celebrity columnist, recalled his insatiable need to be at every big entertainment event in the city, from movie screenings to theatrical openings. It was at many of these events that he earned a reputation for nodding off whenever the lights went down.
"He fell asleep at everything," Zekas said. "I remember being at the Floating Film Festival. They screened Silence of the Lambs. Just when you knew something dire was going to go down, Gino would break out with an incredible snore and scare the hell out of you. I kept pounding him to wake him up. The next day he said to me, `I'm black and blue. I don't know what happened.' And I said, `That was me.'
"The only time I ever saw a movie with Gino where he stayed awake through the whole thing was Dirty Dancing. He really liked Patrick Swayze."
In recent years, Empry's influence receded to the point where he no longer had a role in the big shows and couldn't even count on being invited to the opening night galas. But only illness could stop him from trying to keep his hand in. Last year, he enlisted the support of various city musicians and performers for an event he was organizing to shed light on increased gun violence in Toronto.
"I remembered thinking at the time that his life had gone from vaudeville to working with rappers," said Douglas, who attended the event.
It was an extension of Empry's abiding need to be at the centre of things. In his heyday, no one was closer to the vortex of entertainment in Toronto.
"At times, it must have been a terrible place to be," Douglas said. "He dealt with the artists, the audience and the press, each one saying, `Give me. Give me. I need this. I want that. I'm more important.'
"There were the artists who needed everything, the audience members who needed better seats and the press saying, `What do you mean she can't meet me at 2 o'clock?'
"He was often under enormous pressure. And he loved it."
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As someone that I knew on a casual Social level, for his age he was full of life, laughter, and stories from 'the good ole days'. He was a man who took great pride in his work, and was always giving, from giving support to a very close friend of mine in his aspiring music carreer, ( even in death, where my friend was part of a trio that sang Amazing Grace at the funeral), to many a story told over a drink at a social event... to even giving my ex-boyfriend the heebeegeebees when ever Gino would flirt and hit on him. He will surely be missed by everyone he has ever encountered. Rest in Peace Gino, well miss you. |
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