Juul Haalmeyer to be Nobis Industry Icon Recipient at the 2020 CAFTCAD AWARDS

Ingenious costume designer, Juul Haalmeyer, will be the 2020 recipient of The Nobis Industry Icon Award.

The Nobis Industry Icon Award is presented to a Costume Designer or Costume Creator or Contributor who has distinguished themselves over the breadth of their career and their contributions to Canadian Costume Design and Arts for film, television and digital media. This award is the perfect opportunity to turn the spotlight onto those who have earned it, those who deserve it, those who have become a legend most.

Feathers, sequins, beads, and mylar: the makings of a classic Haalmeyer design. Worn in the White House, on The Muppet Show and selected for permanent display in the Anne Murray Centre in Springhill, Nova Scotia -- Juul Haalmeyer made his mark as a costume designer during the golden age of Canadian television. From Phyllis Diller to Jethro Tull and Shari Lewis to Vincent Price - the Emmy-award winning designer has personally dressed them all. He calls himself a "poor man's Bob Mackie", though what he managed to pull off within the limited Canadian budgetary constraints of his time speak to his incredible talent and vision. Formally untrained, but theatrical by nature, Juul forged his way into the Canadian film and television industry with perseverance, a vision, and a glue gun.

Best known for his work on SCTV and CODCO (including his on-screen roles as the inept leader of SCTV's "Juul Haalmeyer Dancers"), Juul began his 45-year career in 1969 after answering an advertisement in the Toronto Star, looking for a shipper to send wardrobe to opera houses across North America. His first break as a costume designer began on the iconic The Pig and Whistle variety show, completing 66 episodes between 1971-74. At the same time, he keyed on the ABC /CTV Rollin' on the River (later shortened to Rollin) variety series with Kenny Rogers, where he dressed multiple guest celebrities including Ike and Tina and Dolly Parton. This began Juul's run on multiple American-Canadian variety show co-productions including the Half the George Kirby Comedy Hour, The Bobby Vinton Show and The Julie Show. While on staff at CFTO, he also designed multiple iconic Canadian kids' shows whose visuals are burned into our collective nostalgic memories: Kidstuff, Razzle Dazzle, Monkey Bars, and Read All About It, among them. Around the time he began working on Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare special, he put his keen comedic wit to work as designer on the The David Steinberg Show where he worked began dressing John Candy, Martin Short and Joe Flaherty.

Twice nominated for an Emmy, Juul took it home in 1999 for his work with Jayne Eastwood on the PBX/BBC/TVO show Noddy and Friends. He is also the subject of an upcoming documentary, Juul Haalmeyer: The Movie, from director, Erin McMichael.

"We are proud to recognize the bold originality of Juul's work and the mark it made on iconic Canadian television. From Christmas balls and glue guns to mylar fringed wings, Juul encompasses the camp and flair of the Canadian comedy scene," said Joanna Syrokomla and Cynthia Amsden, Co-Chairs of the Awards.

"I am very humbled and honoured to receive the Nobis Industry Icon Award from CAFTCAD. Curiously, this will be the first Canadian award I will have ever received for my work. Over the 40 years I have been designing, I have received an Emmy and an Ace, but they were from outside of Canada. I don't think anyone needs to receive awards, but I feel privileged to be acknowledged as such as I never considered myself in that light," said Juul Haalmeyer.

The CAFTCAD Awards will take place on Sunday, March 1, 2020 at the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto.

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