Aboriginal Canadian actor Pat John, best known for his portrayal of Jesse on the CBC TV series The Beachcombers from 1972 to 1990, passed away on Wednesday after a long illness. He was 69.
A member of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation in British Columbia, John survived residential school and in his late teens was cast in The Beachcombers alongside Bruno Gerussi.
If you are a Canadian of a certain age, chances are you watched The Beachcombers. Gerussi starred as the Greek immigrant Nick Adonidas who becomes partners with John's Jesse Jim in the log salvaging business aboard their boat The Persephone and must stay one step ahead of their rival Relic (played by Robert Clothier) while gathering at Molly's Reach in Gibson, B.C.
Although Jesse was occasionally comic foil, he was an equal to Nick in every respect both on and off screen. When John had a scrape with the law in 1974 and was fired from the series, Gerussi stood up for his friend and said, "If Pat John goes, then I go too." John was quickly rehired and things went smooth sailing until the show ended in 1990. He would reprise his role as Jesse in a reunion movie in 2002 but would never act in any other role outside of The Beachcombers.
John's Jesse was among the first Aboriginal actors to be treated as a full dimensional person in good standing in the community. The Beachcombers didn't hit you over the head, but it did show how people from divergent backgrounds lived and worked together in good humor and relative harmony. In this respect, it is easy to see why The Beachcombers aired in more than 30 countries.
To give you a sense of Pat John's work as Jesse, I leave you with a 1987 episode of The Beachcombers in which Jesse wins a freezer full of beef but ends up getting steered in another direction. R.I.P.
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