Bruno Gerussi - Canada's Med Hatter
One of Medicine Hat's most famous sons deserves to be on the city hall wall of fame. Most Hatters don't know he was born here.
Bruno Gerussi (17 May 1928 - 21 November 1995) was born in Medicine Hat, Alberta, as the eldest son of Enrico Gerussi, a coal miner working in Lethbridge, who had trained in Italy as a stonemason, and his wife Teresina Lazzorotto. The family subsequently moved to Exshaw, where Enrico worked as a sectionman on the Canadian Pacific Railway.
He attended the Banff School of Fine Arts on a scholarship and later moved with his family to New Westminster, British Columbia.
Though he was a fixture on stage and the small screen for many years, most Canadians of a certain age will remember him best for his character Nick Adonidas he played on the TV series the Beachcombers for 18 seasons.
Gerussi received a Gemini Award nomination for Best Performance by a Lead Actor in a Continuing Dramatic Role in 1990 for the final season of The Beachcombers. He won the Geminis' Earle Grey Award posthumously for lifetime achievement in 1996. His children Rico and Tina accepted it on his behalf.
He is truly one of the most famous Med Hatters and we should honour him with a place on our city hall Wall of Fame.
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