Ernie Coombs - Television Performances

Television Performances

Ernest Coombs was born in Lewiston, Maine, and pursued a career in children's entertainment after attending North Yarmouth Academy in Yarmouth, Maine. He was an understudy to Fred Rogers. He travelled to Canada in 1963 to work for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation on an early version of Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. Rogers moved back to the United States three years later, but Coombs decided to stay in Canada, joining a new show called Butternut Square. Butternut Square ran from 1964 to 1967. During the run, Coombs appeared as the character in a stack show at the Poor Alex Theatre.

After Butternut Square ended, Coombs developed Mr. Dressup, which became one of English Canada's longest-running and most beloved children's programs. As Mr. Dressup, he presented arts and crafts, songs, stories and games for children with his friends Casey and Finnegan, a child and a dog who lived in a treehouse in Mr. Dressup's back yard. Casey wasn't given a unisex name intentionally, but it was a serendipitous choice because the character's childlike voice left Casey's gender ambiguous. Over the years, when viewers would ask Coombs whether Casey was a boy or a girl, he would ask, "What do you think?" However the questioner responded, he would say, "You're right!"

Later in the series, when the show's principal puppeteer, Judith Lawrence, retired, Casey and Finnegan were replaced by a small cast of anthropomorphic animal puppets. Coombs believed very strongly in gentle, wholesome children's programming that encouraged kids to use their creativity and imagination. In each episode, Mr. Dressup would dress up (hence his name) in a costume from his Tickle Trunk, and lead children in an imagination game. Many times his puppets would also appear in costume as well.

The series continued production until its final taping in February 1996, when Coombs retired. Repeats continued to be shown on CBC Television until they were discontinued in 2006. After retirement, Coombs continued to work as an entertainer, playing roles in Ross Petty's Christmas pantomimes of Peter Pan, Cinderella, and Aladdin, and acted as a spokesman for children's charities.

Coombs also did a travelling stage show called "Tales from the Tickle Trunk." In this show he would share stories about the making of the Mr. Dressup show, as well as the origins, and fates, of some of the characters.