Frank “Tiny” Elphicke (1900-1959)

Frank "Tiny" Elphicke
Frank “Tiny” Elphicke

Year Born: 1900

Year Died: 1959

Year of Induction: 1985

Pioneer – Member of CAB Hall of Fame

Elphicke, Frank “Tiny” (1900-1959)

Singer – entertainer – radio announcer – program manager – managing director – 

  industry leader.

A gifted entertainer who served with the Allied Forces in WW I, Tiny Elphicke, came to Canada following the Armistice and settled in Vancouver, earning his living as a singer.

His first job in radio came in 1931 at CFAC in Calgary, working as an announcer and writer. In 1932, he became program manager, and, in 1933, the manager of the station.

When Taylor-Pearson-Carson formed the radio management company All-Canada Mutually Operated Radio Stations, they appointed Tiny to the managership of CJCA Edmonton.

In 1940, when the Sifton group bought CKRC Winnipeg, ACMO transferred him to the Manitoba capital.

Shortly after ACMO principals acquired a major interest in CKWX Vancouver, Tiny became president and managing director in 1942. During his tenure at ‘WX, he had a shareholding in CFUN (formerly CKMO), and also founded CKPG in Prince George. Six-feet tall, broad-shouldered and a whirlwind of energy, Tlny Elphicke was one of the best known and probably the most popular private broadcaster of his day. A consummate diplomat and skilled orator, he infused in the Canadian Association of Broadcasters a spirit and aura of enthusiasm and vigour which sustained it for many years and vastly improved its morale and effectiveness. He served the industry in many ways. In 1953, he was Chairman of the CAB.

The industry was shocked when it learned that Tiny Elphicke, while visiting Edmonton on May 26th, 1959 on his way to a meeting in Toronto, had died in his sleep.

Tiny Elphicke was named to the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame in 1985.

Written by J. Lyman Potts – September, 1996