Don Cullen, Lorne Michaels, and the Bohemian Embassy

Don Cullen remembers working with a young Lorne Lipowitz — later known as Lorne Michaels — on a 1960s revue at Toronto’s Bohemian Embassy, an experience that opened new creative doors for both men.

Actor and writer Don Cullen, founder of the Bohemian Embassy coffee house in Toronto, gave many artists, singers, performers and producers opportunities to hone their skills back in the 1960s.

One of those people was Lorne Michaels, who, with the folks at SNL, recently celebrated the 50th anniversary of the sketch show he founded in 1975. When reminiscing about the Bohemian Embassy for one of our seniors’ videos, Don mentioned some of the people who went on to great success after gaining some experience at the Embassy on St. Nicholas St. The list is impressive: Margaret Atwood, Ian and Sylvia, folk festival founder Mitch Podolak and, of course, Lorne Michaels.

In this short video, Don remembers how he first met Lorne Michaels (then known as Lorne Lipowitz) as a high-school student at Forest Hill Collegiate and how some years later Lorne, fresh out of university, asked if he could direct Don in a new revue he was planning at the Bohemian Embassy. By that time, Don had considerable experience, having acted on Broadway and elsewhere in “Beyond the Fringe.” Nevertheless, he always encouraged new talent, and Lorne got to direct the show.

Their collaboration, which led to performances at various venues, including the Colonade Theatre at 131 Bloor St. West proved serendipitous for Don, landing him a 25-year gig on Canada’s comedy TV show “Wayne and Shuster.” If you enjoy this short video, you may be interested in “Don Cullen: Cultural Catalyst,” a longer documentary made by a team of seniors at Back Lane Studios.