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IMDbPro

Gordon Lightfoot(1938-2023)

  • Music Artist
  • Actor
  • Music Department
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Gordon Lightfoot
With unprecedented access to the artist, directors Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni chart Gordon Lightfoot's profound evolution from Christian choirboy to troubled troubadour, international star and beloved Canadian icon with 5 Grammy Nominations and over 10 million albums sold.
Play trailer2:22
Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind (2019)
3 Videos
6 Photos
Gordon Lightfoot may have been one of the most accomplished and well-known singer-songwriters to come out of Canada.

He is internationally known for such monumental folk/pop/rock hits as "Sundown", "If You Could Read My Mind", "Early Mornin' Rain", "Wreck of The Edmund Fitzgerald", and many more. His songs have been covered by such music giants as Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand, Glen Campbell and Don Williams. Lightfoot began his music career fronting a variety of rock & roll bands around Toronto while still in his teens.

In 1958, aged 19, he relocated to Los Angeles where he found work writing jingles for TV commercials but returned to Toronto in 1962 where he rapidly became a fixture in the city's burgeoning folk music scene. He made his first records for a local Toronto label in 1963 but it wasn't until he signed a major record deal and released his first album in 1966 that he became widely known. In 1970, he scored his first top ten hit with "If You Could Read My Mind", beginning a decade of chart-topping albums and hit songs highlighted by his #1 hit in 1974 with "Sundown".

After nearly 20 years of success, Lightfoot went into self-imposed semi-retirement in the late 1980s but reemerged in 1993 with the highly acclaimed album, "Waiting For You". His 1998 album, "Painter Passing Through", drew high praise from critics and fans.
BornNovember 17, 1938
DiedMay 1, 2023(84)
BornNovember 17, 1938
DiedMay 1, 2023(84)
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • Awards
    • 2 wins

Photos6

Gordon Lightfoot in Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind (2019)
Gordon Lightfoot in Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind (2019)
Gordon Lightfoot in Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind (2019)
Gordon Lightfoot in Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind (2019)
Gordon Lightfoot in Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind (2019)

Known for:

Jamie Lee Curtis, Don Johnson, Toni Collette, Christopher Plummer, Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Michael Shannon, Ana de Armas, LaKeith Stanfield, Jaeden Martell, and Katherine Langford in Veitset esiin - kaikki ovat epäiltyjä (2019)
Veitset esiin - kaikki ovat epäiltyjä
7.9
  • Soundtrack("Sundown")
  • 2019
Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Christine Ebersole, Bradley Cooper, Harriet Sansom Harris, Maya Rudolph, Nate Mann, Cooper Hoffman, Benny Safdie, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Skyler Gisondo, and Alana Haim in Licorice Pizza (2021)
Licorice Pizza
7.1
  • Soundtrack("If You Could Read My Mind")
  • 2021
Leah Lewis, Daniel Diemer, and Alexxis Lemire in Tietäisitpä vain (2020)
Tietäisitpä vain
6.9
  • Soundtrack("If You Could Read My Mind")
  • 2020
Matthew McConaughey in We Are Marshall (2006)
We Are Marshall
7.0
  • Soundtrack("If You Could Read My Mind")
  • 2006

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actor

  • Anne Baxter, James Brolin, and Connie Sellecca in Hotel (1983)
    Hotel
    6.4
    TV Series
    • Joe Daniels
    • 1988
  • Floating over Canada with Murray Mclauchlan (1985)
    Floating over Canada with Murray Mclauchlan
    TV Movie
    • 1985
  • Harry Tracy, Desperado (1982)
    Harry Tracy, Desperado
    6.1
    • U.S. Marshal Morrie Nathan
    • 1982
  • The Wayne & Shuster Comedy Special
    7.9
    TV Series
    • 1970
  • One Hundred Years Young
    TV Movie
    • 1967

Music Department

  • Ghosts of Cape Horn
    • song
    • 1980
  • The 50 Years CAPAC Song Special
    TV Special
    • songwriter
    • 1975
  • Tiger Child (1970)
    Tiger Child
    5.7
    Short
    • with songs by
    • 1970
  • One Hundred Years Young
    TV Movie
    • composer: song "Canadian Railroad Trilogy"
    • 1967

Videos3

Trailer
Trailer 1:56
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:22
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:22
Official Trailer

Personal details

Edit
  • Official sites
    • Artist's
    • Canada's Walk of Fame
  • Alternative names
    • Gordie Lightfoot
  • Height
    • 1.83 m
  • Born
    • November 17, 1938
    • Orillia, Ontario, Canada
  • Died
    • May 1, 2023
    • Toronto, Ontario, Canada(natural causes)
  • Spouses
      Kim HasseDecember 19, 2014 - May 1, 2023 (his death)
  • Other works
    Hit #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop charts with "If You Could Read My Mind" in 1971.
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Articles

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    In 2002, suffered a near-fatal ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, similar to the condition that took the life of actor John Ritter. He withstood six weeks in a coma, four surgeries and two years of extensive rehab. His first extensive tour did not happen until 2005.
  • Quotes
    I was under contract for 33 years, and when you're like that you're always under the gun to produce. You tend to ignore certain things and to become isolated, and you don't spend enough time thinking about other things like the business end and the family and even the live performances. Now I can concentrate on my shows, which is great because that's what I like best anyway. -- GL, during 2007 interview
  • Trademarks
      His distinctive baritone voice

FAQ12

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