Barbara Budd

Barbara Budd (born 1953) is a Canadian actress, narrator and radio announcer. Between 1993 and April 30, 2010, she was the co-host of CBC Radio One's As It Happens.

Early life

Budd was born in St. Catharines, Ontario. She studied theatre performance at York University and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1974.

Career

Budd worked for five seasons as a company member at Canada's Stratford Festival under Robin Phillips (1975-1980). She had minor film roles in the 1980s before joining CBC Radio, for whom she worked as a continuity announcer and substitute host, as well as an occasional guest performer on Royal Canadian Air Farce, until becoming a permanent host on As It Happens. Three of her guest appearances with Air Farce appear on the troupe's 1990 album To Air Is Human, To Farce Divine. In one of her most famous sketches with Air Farce, a businessman befuddled by the complexities of the new GST calls the government's information line; Budd plays the customer service representative, who answers his tax questions in the steamy and seductive tone of a phone sex operator.