Canadian Comedian Mike Bullard Passes Away at 67

Stand-up comedian and broadcaster Mike Bullard (R) shares a laugh with Prime Minister Jean Chretien during the taping of “Open Mike with Mike Bullard” in Toronto on May 17, 2001. The Canadian Press/Frank Gunn

Canadian stand-up comedian and broadcaster Mike Bullard, regarded as the only person to successfully host a Canadian late-night talk show, has died at the age of 67.

Bullard’s half-brother, Chuck Jackson, confirmed to The Canadian Press that Bullard’s family learned of his death on Oct. 11. He said the exact cause of death is not known.

Bullard first got into comedy in 1988 at the original Yuk Yuk’s in Toronto. He went on to become the host of two late-night talk shows: “Open Mike with Mike Bullard” from 1997 to 2003 on CTV, and “The Mike Bullard Show” on Global from 2003 to 2004.

Guests on “Open Mike” included Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, songwriter John Mellencamp, television personality Rick Mercer, U.S. Senator Al Franken, and wrestler John Cena.

After leaving television, Bullard turned to radio and hosted “Beyond the Mic with Mike Bullard” on Newstalk 1010 from 2010 to 2017, but lost that Bell Media job after being accused of making harassing calls to his ex-girlfriend, reporter Cynthia Mulligan. In 2018, Bullard pleaded guilty to one count of making harassing phone calls and two charges of breaching a court order.

Bullard, who was on probation for six months and required to attend a domestic violence program, told reporters after the sentencing he had never stalked women or made obscene phone calls. Mulligan had said Bullard phoned her from different pay phones and drove past her workplace several times.

The comedian won two Gemini awards for his work on the CTV show, and received the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal for thousands of hours of charity work. At the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, Bullard travelled to Ukraine on a humanitarian mission to bring food, clothing, and medicine to thousands before returning to Canada in February 2023.

Mark Breslin, co-founder of Yuk Yuk’s, said Bullard was “very generous with his time and concern for other comics” and how they could be better performers.

“He also thought big, which is maybe not a Canadian trait, and wanted to stay in the country and found that thinking big and staying in the country sometimes are mutually exclusive in Canada,” he said.