Biography

Juliette Sysak performed Big Band and Country songs on stage and radio from the age of 13. She began performing on CBC television variety programs in 1954 and became popular enough for the network to create a show specifically for her. She recorded, made public appearances, and appeared in many radio and television music programs until her retirement in 1975.

She was made a member of the Order of Canada in 1975.
- IMDb mini biography by: Corvus-9

During the 1960s she was arguably Canada's most popular celebrity, but critics at the time ridiculed her taste in music and fashion. More recently, however, she has been hailed as a trailblazer for female entertainers who wish to control their own image and career.

Her sister Suzanne, also known only by her first name as a vocalist, is also a member of the BC Entertainment Hall of Fame.

[on Rita MacNeil]: I knew by the way she looked that producers were going to try to change Rita. They're going to demand she lose weight, forgetting what made Rita such a big hit. She's got a very sweet face. Rita is very sensitive about her weight and I was too. And she's sensitive about the media and I was too. If they can pick on your voice, they'll pick on your body.

Sorry I was so long. I met a friend in there. The mirror. I know I'm a big Polish broad, but I don't want to look like one.

They wanted to change me or the songs I sang. They wanted me to dance around with male dancers. They wanted to do long-distance shots, but you lose eye contact with the audience if you do that, and they wanted to do up-your-nostrils extreme close-up shots. I've got a nose with a bump on it, and it wasn't a perfect nose for television. I wanted straight-on shots. If I saw the camera was moving, I moved with it. I wouldn't let them get away with it. Oh, there a lot of quiet little wars going on.

They used to say I had wall-to-wall teeth. They called me Florence Welk. I guess I was criticized the most of anyone on Canadian television for my hair, my smile, my teeth, for my happy attitude. They just didn't think I was real. They thought it was phony and maybe hokey. But it wasn't. It was just the way I am, and people liked it.

It hurt me when they called me a bitch. But sure, I was demanding. I was called the Iron Butterfly long before Margaret Thatcher came along.