Steve Douglas (sportscaster)

The only child of Hockey Hall of Fame goaltender Percy LeSueur, Douglas was born in Ottawa. He attended Walkerville Collegiate Institute, where he was a standout golfer.{{cite news |title=Doug LeSueur Low Medalist |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0QA_AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA18 |access-date=26 February 2024 |work=The Border Cities Star |date=September 24, 1928}} After his father got a job in Buffalo, New York, Douglas attended high school in Fort Erie, Ontario.

Douglas broadcasting career began in 1930 as the play-by-play announcer for the home games of the Syracuse Stars of the International Hockey League on WSYR.{{cite news |author= |date=October 10, 1981 |title=Steve Douglas Broadcaster began in '30 |url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/386753013 |work=The Globe and Mail |access-date=June 8, 2022 |id={{ProQuest|386753013}} | url-access=limited}}{{cite news |last1=Gibson |first1=Dick |title=What's What in Sport |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2U0_AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA18 |access-date=27 February 2024 |work=The Border Cities Star |date=March 26, 1931}} In 1937, while working as the traffic manager for CKLW in Windsor, Ontario, Douglas left a suicide note and disappeared for a while before returning.{{cite news |title=Stop Search For LeSueur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AR8_AAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8 |access-date=26 February 2024 |work=The Windsor Daily Star |date=December 14, 1937}} By 1939, Douglas was working for WWNC in Asheville, North Carolina, where he called high school football.{{cite news |title=Football Game To Be Described |url=https://tennessean.newspapers.com/article/asheville-citizen-times-1939-ghs-ashevil/16021212/ |access-date=26 February 2024 |work=The Ashville Citizen |date=September 15, 1939}}

Following the outbreak of World War II, Douglas enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, serving for three years. After the war, he worked freelance in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore. In 1953, he returned to Canada to call college football in Toronto, which led to him getting an offer from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to call Interprovincial Rugby Football Union games for the network.

Douglas was a sports anchor for CBLT in Toronto and an announcer for the CFL on CBC from 1953 to 1965. At the CBC, Douglas called ten Grey Cups and the 1964 Tokyo Olympics{{Cite web |url=http://archives.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/clips/7327/ |title=Tokyo 1964: A tough job but.. |access-date=2009-04-30 |archive-date=2008-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080614092943/http://archives.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/clips/7327/ |url-status=live }} and hosted Weekend in Sports,{{Cite web|url=http://www.tvarchive.ca/database/18993/weekend_in_sports/details/|title=Weekend in Sports|access-date=2009-04-30|archive-date=2008-05-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080510231509/http://www.tvarchive.ca/database/18993/weekend_in_sports/details/|url-status=usurped}} Football Huddle,{{Cite web|url=http://www.tvarchive.ca/database/17027/football_huddle/details/|title=Football Huddle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080207094409/http://www.tvarchive.ca/database/17027/football_huddle/details/ |archive-date=7 February 2008 |url-status=usurped}} Locker Room,{{Cite web|url=http://www.tvarchive.ca/database/17593/locker_room/details/|title=Locker Room|access-date=2009-04-30|archive-date=2007-10-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071029174103/http://www.tvarchive.ca/database/17593/locker_room/details/|url-status=usurped}} and World of Sport.{{Cite web|url=http://www.tvarchive.ca/database/19081/world_of_sport/details/|title=World of Sport|access-date=2009-04-30|archive-date=2007-12-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213160223/http://www.tvarchive.ca/database/19081/world_of_sport/details/|url-status=usurped}} He covered the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games for the CBC and called Roger Bannister and John Landy's "Miracle Mile".{{cite news |title=Holds the inside-stadium dash record |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QdsxAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA49 |access-date=26 February 2024 |work=Ottawa Citizen |date=September 10, 1960}} Douglas' contract was not renewed by CBC in 1965.{{cite news |title=CBC change |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6S9gAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA25 |access-date=26 February 2024 |work=Saskatoon Star-Phoenix |date=July 14, 1965}}

Douglas worked for on the public relations staff of the Ontario Jockey Club from 1965 to 1968. He then moved to Barrie, where he covered sports for CKVR-TV and CKBB until he was hospitalized in May 1981.{{cite news |title=Veteran Broadcaster Dead |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_IxVAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA21 |access-date=26 February 2024 |work=The Leader-Post |date=October 9, 1981}} Douglas died October 8, 1981, at the age of 70 following an illness. He was survived by his wife Maria and four children: daughters Ilma Mowery, Frances Nickolaus and Kathryn, and son Michael.

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Category:1910s births

Category:1981 deaths

Category:Canadian television personalities

Category:Canadian radio sportscasters

Category:Canadian Football League announcers

Category:Royal Canadian Air Force personnel

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