# Mr. Dressup
**Mr. Dressup** was a Canadian children's television series broadcast on CBC from 1967 to 1996, hosted by Ernie Coombs (1927–2001), an American-born puppeteer and entertainer who came to Canada working with [Fred Rogers](https://www.edgepedia.org/fred-rogers) and stayed to become one of the country's best-known children's performers.[1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/) • [2](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/coombs-ernie-mr-dressup/) Each half-hour episode combined songs, stories, arts and crafts, and imagination games, anchored by Coombs's trademark Tickle Trunk of costumes and by the puppet characters Casey and Finnegan.[1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/) • [3](https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1960s/mr-dressup/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Performer | Ernie Coombs, born in Lewiston, Maine, on November 26, 1927; came to Canada in 1963 with Fred Rogers[2](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/coombs-ernie-mr-dressup/) |
| Run | First show taped on Valentine's Day, 1967; final episode taped February 14, 1996, a run of about 29 years and roughly 4,000 episodes[2](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/coombs-ernie-mr-dressup/) • [4](https://ottawa.citynews.ca/2022/09/29/production-to-begin-on-mr-dressup-documentary-prime-video-says-5886118/) |
| Puppet co-stars | Casey, a 4½-year-old child, and Finnegan, a silent gray dog, both performed by puppeteer Judith Lawrence; they lived in a treehouse in Mr. Dressup's back yard[2](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/coombs-ernie-mr-dressup/) • [1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/) |
| Signature prop | The Tickle Trunk, a bottomless trunk of costumes from which Mr. Dressup dressed up for make-believe[4](https://ottawa.citynews.ca/2022/09/29/production-to-begin-on-mr-dressup-documentary-prime-video-says-5886118/) |
| Honors | ACTRA Best Program Award (1978), Children's Broadcast Institute Lifetime Achievement Award (1989), Earle Grey Award (1994), Gemini for best performance in a children's program (1996), Member of the Order of Canada[2](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/coombs-ernie-mr-dressup/) |
| Death | September 18, 2001, at the age of 73[1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/) |
| Legacy documentary | *Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe* (2023, 90 minutes), directed by Robert McCallum; won the TIFF 2023 Best Documentary People's Choice Award and streamed on Prime Video[5](https://www.hawkeyepicturesinc.com/mrdressup) |
## Origins with Fred Rogers
Coombs was born in [Lewiston, Maine](https://www.edgepedia.org/lewiston-maine), on November 26, 1927, and pursued a career in children's entertainment after attending North Yarmouth Academy.[2](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/coombs-ernie-mr-dressup/) • [1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/) In the early 1960s he worked as an assistant puppeteer for Fred Rogers on *The Children's Corner*, and he served as understudy to Rogers for several years.[1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/) When Rogers was offered a show at the CBC in 1962, he invited Coombs to join him in Canada, where the two worked on an earlier version of *Mister Rogers' Neighborhood*.[1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/)
Rogers returned to [Pittsburgh](https://www.edgepedia.org/pittsburgh) in 1964, but he recommended Coombs to the CBC, suggesting the network build a show around Ernie's varied creative abilities.[1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/) • [6](https://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/mr-dressup/) Coombs remained in Canada and joined a new production called *Butternut Square*, a children's program that ran from 1964 to 1967 and on which the Mr. Dressup character first appeared.[2](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/coombs-ernie-mr-dressup/) • [3](https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1960s/mr-dressup/)
## The show
After *Butternut Square* ended, Coombs developed *Mr. Dressup*, which aired for the first time in 1967; the first show was taped on [Valentine's Day](https://www.edgepedia.org/valentines-day) that year.[1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/) • [2](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/coombs-ernie-mr-dressup/) The format stayed simple across the decades: a softly spoken host spent half an hour dressing up, playing make-believe, telling stories, drawing pictures, singing songs, and talking about the world, surrounded by puppets.[3](https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1960s/mr-dressup/) The Tickle Trunk, from which Coombs drew an endless array of costumes, became the show's defining prop.[4](https://ottawa.citynews.ca/2022/09/29/production-to-begin-on-mr-dressup-documentary-prime-video-says-5886118/)
**Casey and Finnegan.** The principal puppet characters were created and performed by Judith Lawrence, who had worked with Coombs on *Butternut Square*. Casey was a mop-haired eternal 4½-year-old child and Finnegan was a floppy-eared, silent gray dog; the two lived in a treehouse in Mr. Dressup's back yard.[2](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/coombs-ernie-mr-dressup/) • [3](https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1960s/mr-dressup/) • [1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/) Casey was deliberately never presented as exclusively a boy or a girl, so that any child watching could identify with the character.[7](https://toronto.citynews.ca/2023/10/13/review-mr-dressup/) In later years Lawrence retired to the West Coast, and Coombs was joined by a team of other puppeteers and new puppet characters.[6](https://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/mr-dressup/)
The show ran for about 4,000 episodes over 29 years, making it one of the longest-running children's series in Canadian television history.[4](https://ottawa.citynews.ca/2022/09/29/production-to-begin-on-mr-dressup-documentary-prime-video-says-5886118/) • [3](https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1960s/mr-dressup/) The final episode was taped on February 14, 1996, exactly 29 years after the first.[1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/)
## Recognition and later life
Coombs became a Canadian citizen two years before the show ended, in 1994.[1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/) Among the accolades he received were the 1978 ACTRA Best Program Award, a 1989 Lifetime Achievement Award given by the Children's Broadcast Institute, the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's 1994 Earle Grey Award recognizing television excellence, a 1996 Gemini for top performance in a children's program, two Juno nominations in the best children's album category, and an honorary doctorate of laws conferred by Trent University in [Peterborough, Ontario](https://www.edgepedia.org/peterborough-ontario), in 2001.[2](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/coombs-ernie-mr-dressup/) Sources differ on the date of his appointment as a Member of the [Order of Canada](https://www.edgepedia.org/order-of-canada): the History of Canadian Broadcasting gives 1994, while the Vernon Museum and Canada's Walk of Fame place it in 1996, the year the show ended.[2](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/coombs-ernie-mr-dressup/) • [1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/) • [6](https://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/mr-dressup/)
In 1992, Coombs's wife Marlene was killed in a traffic accident; he continued in the role of Mr. Dressup until the show's conclusion.[6](https://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/mr-dressup/) Beyond the studio, he took the characters on the road, visiting hospitals and hosting live performances in communities across Canada, including a 1970 visit to the children's ward of the Vernon Jubilee Hospital with Judith Lawrence and a 1980s performance at the Vernon Recreation Centre.[1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/)
Ernie Coombs died on September 18, 2001, at the age of 73.[1](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/)
## Legacy
For nearly 30 years, children's television in Canada was shaped by the show, which stood out in a media landscape otherwise dominated by American programming.[7](https://toronto.citynews.ca/2023/10/13/review-mr-dressup/) A 2017 online ranking of Canada's most memorable English-language television programs placed *Mr. Dressup* among the final four contenders, with the series estimated at around 4,000 shows over its run.[8](https://justinmcelroy.com/2017/11/22/canadas-most-memorable-english-tv-thing-final-four/) The 2023 feature documentary *Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe*, directed by Robert McCallum and produced by Marblemedia and Hawkeye Pictures, premiered at the [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival), where it won the Best Documentary People's Choice Award, and was released on Prime Video; it features interviews with collaborators including Judith Lawrence and with fans such as [Michael J. Fox](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-j-fox).[5](https://www.hawkeyepicturesinc.com/mrdressup) • [7](https://toronto.citynews.ca/2023/10/13/review-mr-dressup/)
## References
1. [Mr. Dressup, Vernon Museum](https://vernonmuseum.ca/mr-dressup/)
2. [Ernie "Mr. Dressup" Coombs (1927–2001), The History of Canadian Broadcasting](https://broadcasting-history.ca/personalities/coombs-ernie-mr-dressup/)
3. [Mr Dressup, Nostalgia Central](https://nostalgiacentral.com/television/tv-by-decade/tv-shows-1960s/mr-dressup/)
4. [Production to begin on 'Mr. Dressup' documentary, Prime Video says, CityNews Ottawa](https://ottawa.citynews.ca/2022/09/29/production-to-begin-on-mr-dressup-documentary-prime-video-says-5886118/)
5. [MR. DRESSUP: THE MAGIC OF MAKE-BELIEVE, Hawkeye Pictures](https://www.hawkeyepicturesinc.com/mrdressup)
6. [Mr. Dressup, Canada's Walk of Fame](https://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/mr-dressup/)
7. [REVIEW: The life and legacy of Mr. Dressup, CityNews Toronto](https://toronto.citynews.ca/2023/10/13/review-mr-dressup/)
8. [Canada's Most Memorable (English) TV Thing: Final Four, Justin McElroy](https://justinmcelroy.com/2017/11/22/canadas-most-memorable-english-tv-thing-final-four/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Animated television series (individual series)*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license