Rick Mercer celebrates Walk of Fame induction in the hometown that shaped his craft

Actor and comedian Rick Mercer returned to his hometown of Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove — on the island he says shaped the course of his career — on Friday to celebrate joining Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Mercer’s induction was announced in December during the celebration of the Walk of Fame’s 25th anniversary in Toronto. But it was at the Justina Centre in his hometown in eastern Newfoundland where a crowd of fans and government officials showed up to celebrate with the actor.

Mercer told CBC News he never thought his name would be on the Walk of Fame.

“I was never one of those people that would practise an award speech in a mirror or anything like that. I always thought that God would strike you dead if you did that.”

Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Andrew Furey told the crowd Mercer is a Canadian icon.

“But he is first and foremost a Newfoundlander.”

Mercer received $10,000 from Canada’s Walk of Fame to donate to a charity of his choice. He and his partner, Gerald Lunz, matched the donation and gave the money to the Easter Seals organization during the ceremony.

He’s a Canadian star, but Rick Mercer shines brightest in hometown of Outer Cove, N.L.

Rick Mercer is already part of Canada’s Walk of Fame. There was a hometown celebration Friday at the local rec centre in his hometown Logy Bay-Middle Cove-Outer Cove. The CBC’s Arlette Lazarenko was there to hear what Mercer thought about all the hoopla.

In the years he worked on his show the Rick Mercer Report, Mercer said, he would pass by the Walk of Fame in Toronto, never imagining that one day he would be there himself.

Canada’s Walk of Fame CEO Jeffrey Latimer told the crowd the organization brings inductees back to their hometowns for celebrations to honour and celebrate their origins and the people who were part of their journey.

“We are not only honouring them, but also the people that were part of their walk to fame, their journey, their highs, their lows, their struggles and their successes.” Latimer said.

For Mercer, one such person was teacher Lois Brown.

Brown, an artist and writer, met Mercer while teaching literature and theatre art at Prince of Wales Collegiate.

She told the crowd about the time she ran the St. John’s high school’s drama club and asked Mercer to stage manage. She says she saw the talent he had and encouraged him to write.

“As a teacher, my main job was to say, ‘Try it, do it,'” Brown said. “And he did do it.”

Mercer says that it was a pivotal moment that changed the course of his life. The foundation of his career as an artist and performer was the island that shaped him, he said, especially the community in which he grew up.

“I realized just how incredibly lucky and fortunate I was to grow up in a community that was just so incredibly wonderful and supportive.”

Download our free CBC News app to sign up for push alerts for CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Click here to visit our landing page.