No, that’s not Wilford Brimley on the right in the tie. That is me, in 2018, back when I was invited by executive producer Peter Mitchell to lark about Murdoch Mysteries for a few lines as an early 20th century ticketmaster.
The fake stomach was, well, all me at the time. The Lanny McDonald moustache was courtesy the lady on the right, Debi Dennan, Murdoch‘s Emmy award-winning head of makeup since the very early days on the CBC series.
For over 300 episodes, Drennan has been perfecting Yannick Bisson’s look as well as all the leading actors on Murdoch Mysteries. She first did his makeup way back when he was just a teenager and she was doing dailies at CFTO in Toronto on Learning the Ropes with Lyall Alzado.
With Murdoch Mysteries winding down its 19th season, Drennan hints that the season finale, set for Monday, April 13, sets up a nail-biter of a cliffhanger.
Before and during Murdoch, Drennan worked on several other Canadian favourites, including Dragon’s Den, Bomb Girls (which she co-created), This is Wonderland, and Due South. She won an Emmy working on the TV-movie Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows, which starred Judy Davis. Her very first job in TV? Doing makeup on The Littlest Hobo — and, yes, that included the dogs!
Drennan agreed to go this interview even though she just had knee replacement surgery. What a trooper! Please give us a listen by clicking on the white arrow in the blue dot above.
