Marilyn Denis

Marilyn Denis (born July 1, 1958) is a Canadian television and radio personality. Denis is the host of The Marilyn Denis Show and co-host of CHUM-FM's Marilyn Denis and Jamar.

Early life and education[]

Born in Edmonton, Alberta, she grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania^[1] and received a bachelor's degree in radio, television and advertising from the University of Idaho.^[2]

Career[]

Marilyn began her broadcasting career at a local radio station in Moscow, Idaho, and later moved to Calgary where she worked at CHFM & CJAY-FM. In addition, she was a sports and entertainment reporter and weather announcer at CFCN-TV and TSN.

From July 2, 1986 until present, Denis has been one of the co-hosts of CHUM-FM's morning show. Originally titled Roger, Rick and Marilyn, co-hosting with Roger Ashby and Rick Hodge, then Roger and Marilyn after the departure of Hodge in June 2008 (Hodge's replacement, Darren B. Lamb, departed from the station in September 2015) until Ashby's retirement in December 2018 and is currently titled Marilyn Denis and Jamar.

From September 1989 to May 2008, she also hosted the syndicated daytime talk show Cityline on Citytv and A-Channel.^[3][4]

With the CTVglobemedia purchase of CHUM Limited, and the subsequent sale of five Citytv stations to Rogers Media, mandated by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, Denis temporarily found herself working for two separate media competitors. To resolve this situation, Denis announced that she would be leaving Cityline after 19 years to pursue current and future projects with the CTV Television Network. Denis hosted her last show on May 23, 2008.^[5]

In June 2008, Denis announced she would be hosting a new show, The Marilyn Denis Show, on CTV, which was scheduled to premiere in fall 2010. However, due to studio construction, the program premiered on January 10, 2011 on CTV.^[6] As of April 2020, she continues to host her highly regarded national show.

Denis was awarded an honorary PhD in Humane Letters from her alma mater, the University of Idaho. Denis also delivered the commencement speech at the University of Idaho on May 13, 2017.

Personal life[]

She lived in Scarborough, Ontario for a number of years, but now resides in downtown Toronto. On May 7, 2018, she announced that she was engaged to her high school prom date.^[7]

Marilyn and Jim married on June 19, 2018. Jim moved to Toronto in October 2019.

Her son, Adam Wylde, was born in April 1988. Adam is the morning time host with TJ and Jax Irwin, at Bell Media's CKFM-FM in Toronto, and the CEO, Head of Content & Partnerships at the Steve Dangle Podcast Network.

Awards[]

In 2005 and 2006, Marilyn won the Viewer's Choice Award at the Gemini Awards.

In 2006, Marilyn was honoured with "The Rosalie Award", named after Canadian radio pioneer Rosalie Trombley, best known as radio programmer for radio station CKLW in Windsor.

In 2007, she won the Gemini for Best Host in a Lifestyle/Information series for Cityline.

The Marilyn Denis Show was awarded Best Talk Program two years in row at the 2016 and 2017 Canadian Screen Awards.

In April 2017, Marilyn became the first female broadcaster to receive the Allan Waters Lifetime Achievement Award, presented at Canadian Music Week during the Canadian Music and Broadcast Industry Awards in Toronto.

References[]