Biography: Hal Johnson & Joanne McLeod



"Keep Fit, and Have Fun" is their motto, and Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod are two perfect examples of it. They are rapidly becoming Canada's television "active living" gurus. You've probably seen their smiling, enthusiastic faces on "BODY BREAK". A 90 part series of active lifestyle shows being played across the country.

Another motto which comes to mind when you look at the lives of these personable athletes and broadcasters might be "Do It All, and Do It Right". They both have been outstanding examples of athletic achievement and personal accomplishment.

As a youngster growing up in North York, Hal would listen to his father telling stories of the old Negro Baseball League, and how he played on the same team with Hank Aaron. These stories inspired Hal, and with his father's encouragement, he focused on baseball. Although he had to travel all the way across the city to play, he soon became a local all-star, winning several batting titles, and a scholarship to the University of Colorado.

While at Colorado, this Canadian boy showed the Americans how to play their own game, and led the Big 8 Conference in home runs, RBI's and batting average. He was drafted by Cincinnati for the pro game, but opted to finish his business degree.

Hal's accomplishments didn't fall on deaf ears as he was asked to tryout for the Canadian Baseball team. He made Team Canada, travelled the world and experienced one of his greatest thrills, representing his country at the world championships.

While he was busy with his baseball career, Hal managed to become Captain of his high school basketball, tennis, and football teams, be voted High School Athlete of the Year, play Junior A and Senior hockey, and became an advanced golfer, skier, and weightlifter. In his "spare" time you might find him running, cycling, playing racquetball or rollerblading.

After University, Hal became involved in the computer business in the San Diego area, but the classes he had taken at the University of Colorado Theatre School sparked his interest in acting and broadcasting. He burned up the highway between San Diego and Los Angeles, juggling his job, acting classes, and auditions. During this period he became a National Spokesperson in television commercials.

Hal realized that he had to become fully committed to his television career with "no fear of failure", and decided to come home to Canada to give it his best shot. He won several roles on series television such as T.N.T., Diamonds, and Hitchcock, but his love of sports drew him to Sportscasting. He was offered jobs as a Network sportscaster, and was on the verge of taking one of them.

During this time, Joanne growing up in Scarborough had been busy too. An honour student and exceptional athlete led to many awards. Her passion was sports and tried everything. She enjoyed the people, the challenge and discipline it required.

It was Track and Field where she really made her mark. Joanne became nationally ranked in the 100 meter, 200m and 400m sprints but her specialty was the hurdles. She won 4 national and 7 provincial championships and became a Canadian record holder. She was named to several Canadian teams to compete internationally and was nominated Canadian Female Athlete of the year. The pinnacle of her track career was when she was asked to represent Canada at the first World Cup Meet in Germany. Like Hal, Joanne says there's no thrill like watching the flag go up and the Anthem being played, knowing that you're representing Canada to the world.

During her years in Track, Joanne had become acquainted with weight training, and after retiring from the Canadian Team she got involved in bodybuilding. She placed second at her first competition. With Joanne's outgoing and warm personality, she was also asked to be the fitness expert for several local cable shows, and represented CityTV at the Goofy Games at Walt Disney World, along with ex-NHL players Jim McKenny, Darryl Sittler and Brian Glennie.

Call it fate, or call it coincidence, Hal happened to join the same gym as Joanne, and one day between workouts they struck up a conversation about exercise and diet. They found they shared many of the same experiences and views about "keeping fit, and having fun", and realized that there was a need in the Television industry for a male and female team, speaking as equals, to extol the values of fitness, nutrition and a healthy, active lifestyle.

They put their heads together and came up with the "Body Break" concept, Hal put his Sportscasting career on the backburner for a while, and using their own money they produced pilot shows featuring their unique approach. The response throughout the industry was extremely favourable, with interest from all the networks.

PARTICIPaction was looking for a new approach to promote active living across the nation, and when they met Hal and Joanne, they found the tailor-made combination that they needed. They contracted Hal and Joanne to produce and host a series of 90 shows, and "Body Break " was born. The series has been very successful and has led to other offers such as being the spokespeople for HEALTH CANADA's Vitality Program.

Today, Hal and Joanne, with their hundreds of tips on nutrition, exercise and attitude are encouraging millions of Canadians to be active and involved. Along with their 90 second Body Break programs, they spend their time doing TV and radio talk shows, corporate presentations, charity functions, special appearances and visiting schools. Hal and Joanne also distribute a computer program to help educate people on how to manage their nutritional needs and activity levels as well as a home video. They are also working on a half hour series. Genuinely enjoying what they do, they truly are a living example of their motto "Keep Fit, and Have Fun".

Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod, a winning combination!