Dennis Gerrard Stephen Doherty (November 29, 1940 – January 19, 2007) was a Canadian singer, songwriter and musician. A tenor, he was a founding member of the 1960s musical group the Mamas & the Papas for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998.

Early life

Denny Doherty was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, on November 29, 1940, the youngest of five children. He grew up in Halifax's North End in a devout Roman Catholic household. His father was a dockworker and Doherty has described his mother as "a housewife and mystic".

Career

Early career

Doherty and three friends, Richard Sheehan, Eddie Thibodeau, and Mike O'Connell, began their musical career in 1956 with a band called the Hepsters. Two years later they disbanded. In 1960, still in Halifax, Doherty, aged 19, along with Pat LaCroix and Richard Byrne, began a folk group, called the Colonials.

Columbia Records signed the group several months later, at which time they changed their name to the Halifax III.

The Mamas and the Papas

In 1963, Doherty established a friendship with Cass Elliot when she was with a band called the Big 3. While on tour with the Halifax III, Doherty met John Phillips and his wife, model Michelle Gilliam.

A few months later, the Halifax III dissolved, and Doherty and their accompanist, Zal Yanovsky, were left broke in Hollywood. Elliot convinced her manager to hire them. Thus, Doherty and Yanovsky joined the Big 3 (increasing the number of members to four). Soon, after adding even more band members, they changed their name to the Mugwumps, a CBC Television children's show chronicling the "lives" of vessels in a busy harbour loosely based upon Halifax Harbour.

In 1999, he played Charley McGinnis in 22 episodes of the CBC Television series Pit Pony.

In 2004, Doherty appeared on Sharon, Lois & Bram's 25th Anniversary Concert special, 25 Years of Skinnamarink, that aired on CBC on January 1, 2004. He sang two songs with the trio: "California Dreamin'" and "Who Put the Bomp?"

One of his last appearances was in the Canadian TV series Trailer Park Boys, Season 7 Episode 10 (season finale) as FBI Special Agent Ryan Shockneck. Filming was completed just shortly before his death in early 2007 and the end credits dedicate the episode to him.

Personal life and death

Doherty had three children: a daughter from a brief first marriage, and a daughter and son, John, by his 20-year marriage to his second wife, Jeannette, who died in 1998 from ovarian cancer. John Doherty is in the Canadian ska punk band illScarlett.

Death

Doherty died on January 19, 2007, aged 66, at his home in Mississauga, Ontario. The cause was not immediately known, but he had suffered from kidney failure following surgery for an abdominal aortic aneurysm. His funeral service was held at St Stephen's Roman Catholic Church in Halifax. He was interred at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Lower Sackville, Nova Scotia.

Other media

Shortly after his death, a documentary about his life was released titled Here I Am. The title song was written by blues guitarist James Anthony.

Discography

{| class="wikitable"

!Single

!Year

!Adult Contemporary (chart)

|-

|"Watcha Gonna Do" / "Gathering the Words"

|1971

| -

|-

|"To Claudia on Thursday" / "Tuesday Morning"

|1971

| -

|-

|"Indian Girl" / "Baby Catch the Moon"

|1973

| -

|-

|"My Song" / "Indian Girl"

|1973

| -

|-

|"You'll Never Know" / "Good Night and Good Morning"

|1974

|#13

|-

|"Simone" / "Simone"

|1976

| -

|}

"-" indicates did not chart in that territory

{| class="wikitable"

!Album

!Year

|-

|Watcha Gonna Do?

|1971

|-

|Waiting for a Song

|1974

|}

Filmography

{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-

! Year

! Title

! Role

! class="unsortable" | Notes

|-

| 1984

| Windows

| Billy Cooper

|

|-

| rowspan="2" | 1992

| Hurt Penguins

| Bilbo Roberts

|

|-

|Oh, What a Night

| Harold

|

|-

| 1993–2001

| Theodore Tugboat

| Harbourmaster, Narrator

| All episodes

|-

| rowspan="2 | 1997

| Elvis Meets Nixon

| Vernon

|

|-

| Pit Pony

| Charley McGinnis

| Television film

|-

| 1998

| The Real Howard Spitz

| Balthazar Mishkin

|

|-

| 1999–2000

| Pit Pony

| Charley McGinnis

| 22 episodes

|-

| 2001

| Prince Charming

| Jeweller

| Television film

|-

| 2004

| 25 Years of Skinnamarink

| Denny

|

|-

| 2005

| This Is Wonderland

|

| Season 3, Episode 4

|-

| 2007

| Trailer Park Boys

| Ryan Shockneck

| Episode: "A Sh** River Runs Through It"; Final role

|}

See also

  • Canadian rock
  • Music of Canada

References

  • The Official Denny Doherty Website
  • Dream a Little Dream – Doherty's narrative of the Mamas & the Papas
  • CBC obituary