By Nigel Maxwell

Comedian Metro remembered as visionary

Jan 23, 2013 | 11:21 AM

Les Pavelick, better known to many as “Metro”, died Tuesday of a heart attack at his winter home in Arizona.
One of his closest friends said it felt like a kick in the gut when he heard the news.

“I hadn't called him Les in 30 years, he is Metro. And when he phoned it was always ‘it's the Met calling.’ So to hear that he's gone is a pretty big blow,” said Brian Sklar.

According to his website, Metro came to be in the late 1960s. He started with a few shows at conventions, sportsman’s dinners and trade shows. By the early 70s, Metro was doing TV ads.

Sklar said some of his favourite memories of his friend are from the early days.

“My favourite time with Les was when Telemiracle was first starting, and we were heavily involved with that. He had just bought the Birch Hills hotel that he called the Birch Hilton. That's where he would talk about giving you a room with a view overlooking the pool…elevator,” said Sklar.

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Metro's roots can be traced to the Prince Albert area. His dad was a grain buyer in the Meath Park area. Besides his music career, Metro also sold petroleum and he worked for Molson's.

But for Sklar, Metro was a visionary.

“He realized long before the rest of us that you could make money laughing at yourself,” Sklar said, and added that Pavelick was not Ukrainian, but saw what comedians from Newfoundland were doing. Sklar said those comedians had “made an industry out of laughing at their dialect and the silly things people do, and Les turned that into a career.”

One of Metro's bigger hits was “The 11 Days From Christmas,” recorded in 1975.

Sklar said if there is one thing to be thankful for, it's that Metro died somewhere where it is warm and sunny, and where he wanted to be. He adds Metro will always be remembered through his book, his video and his music.

nmaxwell@panow.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell