Ken John "KJ" Grant

Actor-singer-writer Ken John Grant was perhaps best known in theatre for Blue Champagne, a theatrical essay on the popular music of the 1940’s, which he created and performed in. The original cast of this musical ran for a year in Toronto, played to standing-room-only houses at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre for three weeks, was broadcast on CBC television and radio networks and became a fine record album. A national touring company was mounted with the encouragement of the Canada Council Touring Office and it toured for a year to every major theatre from one coast to the other in Canada, including Halifax’s Neptune Theatre, Montreal’s Centaur Theatre and the Saidye Bronfman Centre, Hamilton Place, London’s Grand Theatre, Manitoba Theatre Centre, Edmonton’s Citadel Theatre and Vancouver Playhouse, to only some of its stops, before culminating in a triumphant return home to Toronto’s prestigious Royal Alexandra Theatre. Blue Champagne was produced regularly on the summer theatre circuit.
Ken John performed professionally as an actor in everything from the classics, musicals and comedy, including a great deal of specializing in children’s theatre with Young People’s Theatre, Theatre-On-The-Move and the now defunct underground Global Village in Toronto. His professional life also included being a director in Canadian theatre. He was a THEA award winner for directing in 1989.
Television viewers of the 1970-80’s will recognize him as one of the original long-running hosts of TV Ontario’s popular Polka Dot Door series for which he was also a scriptwriter. He had made countless concert appearances for children at the Ontario Place Forum, The C.N.E. Bandshell, as well as annually for years over March breaks in the Sherway Gardens Quadrangle.
Ken John had done guest appearances on CBC television and a music series, Your Number One Song, for CBC network radio.
When he wasn’t performing, he was writing fiction. As a freelance writer over the years he had written political speeches, newsletters, promotional material and contributed to magazines and newspapers.
Ken John was a teacher, master gardener, health enthusiast and musician, among other pursuits, his wide range of interests informed and enlivened his fictional writings.
Ken John passed away in February 14, 2014 in Toronto.