Mr.Canoehead

Real Name: Unknown

Identity/Class: Mutated (?) human

Occupation: Prior to accident he was an insurance salesman; afterwards superhero, cub scout leader

Affiliations: None known

Enemies: The Evil Dr.Perm; The Kung-Fu Nun; Ultramind; Karate Clifford

Known Relatives: Ted (brother)

Aliases: "Canadas aluminum-headed crime fighter"; Patron Saint of Rogue Nuns, (disguises he took on): Mr. Sports Car Head, Mr. Beaver Head, a salad bar

Base of Operations: Canada

First Appearance: (voice only) Frantic Times (CBC Radio, late 1970s);

(seen) Four On The Floor (CBC, 1980s)

Powers/Abilities: Able to disguise himself or hide by throwing a tarpaulin over his head. His head is bulletproof.

History: "Once a mild-mannered insurance salesman, who while portaging his canoe through Algonquin Park, was suddenly hit by a giant bolt of lightning and had the canoe welded to his head. Thus he became Mr. Canoehead, Canada's greatest aluminum crime fighter. Brother of Ted."

With no chance of returning to his mundane former existence, the camper decided to forever dedicate himself to the eradication of crime.

Comments: Bill Griggs wrote in to say "Mr. Canoehead first appeared on an old CBC Comedy show about four comedians (The Frantics, long since disbanded) called Four On The Floor." Many thanks for this information Bill.

Michael Chevalier kindly sent me a long e-mail with a lot of additional information. He notes that the character was "played by Paul Chato"; he provided the introduction quote used in the history above, which originally opened the character's sketches, as well as listing aliases and more enemies. He also provided copies of the hero's battle cries

"Bullets bounce off me like raisins off an Oldsmobile!"

"Taste gunnels!" (his usual method of dispatching villains was to bounce their head inside the gunnels of the canoe)

Finally, he added the following information about one of Mr.Canoehead's main enemies - The Evil Dr. Perm was a crazy French Canadian trapper named Mad Claude who, while in battle with Mr. Canoehead in a beauty salon, had a hair drier welded to his head. "From now on, I am the evil Dr. Perm! And I shall defeat you, Canoehead!"

"Bart Simpson" adds to the above with "Mr. Canoehead first appeared on a radio programme called Frantic Times, which The Frantics had on CBC Radio (our national radio) on weekend afternoons in the late 70s-early 80s.

Four on the Floor was the attempt to spin them into television, and it lasted a short time (I think one season). In the meantime, the 4 members of The Frantics went on to other things  one of them, Rick Green, had a great sci-fi/comics show on TVOntario called Prisoners of Gravity. Dan Redican is a writer who works with a lot of Canadian comedians now."

Thanks to the wonder of Youtube, if you want to you can now see all his adventures online.

Devon Gates informs me In 2006, The Frantics did a reunion special on Canadian TV, and one of the last bits was Mr Canoehead, appearing before a parole committee. He was framed by police because he was taking all their work capturing criminals. They slipped him a mickey, and got him for stealing a lot of money, beheading a man, and *gasp* removing the 'do not remove' tag from a mattress. When they sent him back to jail, his bus went into the river. "Nobody could have survived in those frigid waters, unless they had a boat or something."

Mr. Canoehead interview.

CLARIFICATIONS: None

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

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