Murray Westgate

Before becoming an actor, Westgate served as a radio operator in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II.^[3] He then moved to Vancouver to join Everyman Theatre as an actor,^[2] before joining CBC Radio as an actor in radio dramas.^[2]

Westgate began appearing in Esso commercials in 1952, when the company signed on as the main commercial sponsor of Hockey Night in Canada, and retained this role until 1968.^[2]

He also had roles in the television series Jake and the Kid, R.C.M.P., Seaway, House of Pride and Seeing Things, and had some guest and supporting roles in television and theatrical films, but found that he sometimes lost out on roles because he was too recognisably typecast by the Esso commercials.^[2] He won an ACTRA Award in 1979 for his performance in the CBC Television film Tyler.^[4]

He was inducted into the Canadian Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame in 2002.^[2]

Westgate's final acting job was in 1991, at the age of 72, a reprise of his Esso attendant character for two commercials aired by Imperial Oil during that year's Stanley Cup playoffs. The spots featured both a black-and-white clip of one of his original Esso ads and newly recorded footage.^[5][6]

Westgate turned 100 on April 16, 2018.^[6] He died on August 27, 2018, at Sunnybrook Veterans Centre in Toronto,^[7] where he had lived for more than a decade.^[3]

Westgate was married to actress Alice Hill until her death in 1983.^[7]