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Dinah Barbara Christie, actress, singer, television host, comedienne (born 29 December 1942 in London, England; died 10 April 2026 in Toronto, ON). Dinah Christie worked in Canadian television for over four decades; she is best remembered as the host of CBC TV’s This Hour Has Seven Days.
Early Years
Daughter of the British-Canadian actors Robert and Margot Christie, Dinah Christie was two when her family moved to Canada. She began her career at 17, singing to her own guitar accompaniment in Toronto folk clubs and night spots. Later she studied voice with Portia White.
Career Highlights
After taking roles at the Stratford Festival and on CBC TV, Dinah Christie starred in 1965 at Toronto’s Theatre in the Dell in Ding Dong at the Dell, the first of many variety shows in which she appeared alongside Tom Kneebone. She came to national attention as a singing host for CBC TV's controversial public-affairs program This Hour Has Seven Days (1965–66). Further nightclub and stage engagements followed. Among the latter: Spring Thaw (1967, on tour), Mavor Moore's The Best of All Possible Worlds (CBC TV, 1968), Your Own Thing (off Broadway, 1968), The Satyricon (Stratford, 1969), and Annie Get Your Gun (as Annie, at the Rainbow Stage theatre, 1973).
Her revues with Kneebone have included Oh Coward! (1970), Non-Stop Britain (1971–73), The Apple Tree (1973, recorded for the Trillium label, TR-2000), An Evening with Noel Coward and Cole Porter (1973) and An Evening with Tom Kneebone and Dinah Christie (1977). The duo has been seen across Canada and in the United States, performed on CBC radio, and appeared in pop presentations with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, Hamilton Philharmonic, Orchestra London Canada, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Christie also has had a busy TV career as a comedienne (CHCH TV's Party Game 1970-80, CTV's Check It Out 1985–88), singer (a CBC Superspecial in 1980), and/or host (CBC TV's Dress Rehearsal in 1978, Global TV's Dinah Christie Presents Canada in 1983, and many charity telethons during the 1980s). She has performed in one-woman shows (e.g., at Old Angelo's in 1979 and the Talk of Toronto in 1982) and appeared in productions of Supporting Cast (Teller's Cage, Toronto, 1982) and Hometown (Hamilton Place, 1983). In 1984 she was host for the province of Ontario's Bicentennial Showcase, which toured to 26 communities. Her musical Ruthie, based on the life and songs of Ruth Lowe (see “I'll Never Smile Again”), was presented by Kneebone's Smile Theatre Company in 1990.
