Canadian comic and late-night talk show host Mike Bullard has died at the age of 67, confirmed Yuk Yuk’s co-founder Mark Breslin.
Regarded as the only person to ever host a successful Canadian late-night talk show, Bullard was the host of two television talk shows, “Open Mike with Mike Bullard,” which ran between 1997 and 2003 on CTV and “The Mike Bullard Show,” which ran briefly on Global between 2003 and 2004. In 2006, he hosted a real estate show, “Housecapades.”
He won two Gemini awards for his CTV talk show. At the height of its popularity, the show had better Canadian ratings than “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Show with David Letterman,” according to the Canadian Communications Foundation.
“He was probably the best emcee and host in the country. Nobody did crowd work like Mike. That was his real super strength,” Breslin said.
Bullard’s half-brother, musician Chuck Jackson, said Bullard’s family learned of his passing on Friday.
Jackson says the coroner is investigating and the exact cause of death remains unknown for now, but Bullard did have health problems.
A friend found him at a residence where he was staying and that the body was being held by authorities, Jackson says. The coroner is expected to confirm a cause of death later this week.
Breslin and Bullard first met roughly 35 years ago, through Bullard’s brother Pat, a television writer and comedian. Bullard had decided to get into comedy, and asked Breslin for as many emcee spots as possible at Yuk Yuk’s, when every other comedian was working towards headlining shows.
“He said: ‘I want emcee spots, because that will prepare me the best for working as a talk-show host, which is my ultimate goal.’ And of course, a lot of people say that, and he was the only one who managed to actually make it happen,” Breslin said.
In 1999, the Star’s Rita Zekas reported on his meteoric rise (TV Guide’s national poll ranked him as “Canada’s favourite talk show host”), noting that he had quit university to work at Bell Telephone, then joined the Peel Region police force, but left because they wouldn’t allow him to moonlight in comedy clubs. He returned to Bell and worked his way up to associate director of corporate investigation before taking on comedy full-time.
Following his years on television, the Mississauga native hosted “Beyond the Mic with Mike Bullard” on Newstalk 1010 from 2010 until 2016. “He used to do one of the best hours of Toronto radio,” wrote Newstalk 1010 Morning Show host John Moore on X.
“Mike was a force of nature in Canada’s world of comedy, late-night TV, and radio,” wrote provincial government communications director and former journalist Justine Teplycky on LinkedIn. “Will miss you, my friend. Will never forget the laughs.”
In 2013 the comedian received the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal for his numerous voluntary efforts supporting charities such as Trillium Health Foundation, Oakville-Trafalgar Hospital, the United Way, SickKids Hospital and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation.
But, the comedian leaves behind a complicated legacy. He has spent the better part of the past six years living with family and dealing with the legal consequences and public fallout from the harassment of journalist and ex-girlfriend Cynthia Mulligan. He lost his Newstalk 1010 show after charges were laid against him.
In 2018, he pleaded guilty to one count of making harassing phone calls and two charges of breaching a court order. He was discharged from court with a clean criminal record and six months of probation.
Mulligan discussed Bullard’s harassment in an interview with Chatelaine magazine in 2018. Following publication, Bullard launched a $6-million dollar defamation suit against the magazine after the article’s publication. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2020. The Chatelaine article has been recirculated on X following the news of Bullard’s death. Women’s rights advocate Julie S. Lalonde posted about his charges, calling him a “deeply misogynist man.”
Writer and podcaster Will Sloan said on X that Bullard was “Canada’s own Johnny Carson,” but was “an awful person in a lot of ways.”
In 2022, a private investigator hired by Bullard’s lawyer was found guilty of trying to intimidate witnesses. Bullard said he was unaware the investigator, Mitch Dubros, had been hired and Dubros testified in court he did not know Bullard and was retained by his lawyer. Dubros was given 18 months in jail for obstruction of justice and appealed the decision.
”(Bullard) can be a very generous guy. He can also be very gruff,” Breslin said in a phone interview with the Star on Sunday. “He’s got kind of a hard exterior and a soft, soft heart.”
Bullard’s harassment scandal took a toll on his career, he told the Star last year. Though he still had regular standup work from Breslin and Yuk Yuk’s in Toronto, he slid from public view. He said he was treated unfairly by the media, public and the prosecutors.
In 2022, Bullard went to Ukraine to volunteer with humanitarian organizations for four months following Russia’s invasion. He helped deliver food, medical and other supplies and assisted with evacuating people from hot zones. He also promoted fundraising on social media for organizations helping Ukrainians.
While in Ukraine, Bullard was in a car that was hit by a bus going 60 km/h. If he hadn’t been wearing his seatbelt, a doctor told him, he would have died. With the high cost of medical care in Ukraine, the car accident was part of the reason Bullard cited for returning to Toronto.
When asked if he went to Ukraine for a public relations offensive, Bullard rejected the idea, but said he does think his efforts in Ukraine will change how people see him.
“Do I think the trip rehabilitated my reputation? Yeah.” He went to the country, he says, “to help Ukrainian people,” but also “to show the man I always was and always have been.”
Jackson said no funeral arrangements have been made, but a celebration of life will be held down the road when family from abroad are able to gather, but for now the family is asking to grieve in private.
With files from The Canadian Press.
