Canadian media icon Nerene Virgin, best known for her role on TVO children’s show Today’s Special, has died at 77.

Virgin died at a hospital in Burlington on Jan. 15 surrounded by her family, according to a report from CBC News.

TVO Media Education Group paid tribute to Virgin in a statement on Friday (Jan. 19), remembering her as “a trailblazer in many rights, especially at a time when she was one of few Black women on Canadian television.”

Virgin played the role of Jodie on Today’s Special, a show about the magical world of a store’s children’s department. It ran from 1981 to 1987. She also hosted several episodes of TVOkids’ Polkadot Door in 1980.

“Today’s Special was magic, and Nerene was a big part of why it resonated so well with kids and parents alike,” added TVO.

Virgin’s career also saw her anchor Saturday Report on CBC-TV, and host CBC Newsworld and Newsworld International, as well as the CTV public affairs show Eye on Toronto.

Her credits include roles in CTV and CBS crime drama series Night Heat, children’s series Ramona, and the TV movie Murder in Space, among others.

But it was her role on Today’s Special that her “most cherished and important professional experience.”

Today’s Special co-star Nina Keogh remembered Virgin as a “great role model.”

“She was smart, funny, talented and a beautiful woman. A great role model, an activist and a passionate mother,” said Keogh in a LinkedIn post, adding, “an awful lot of us will miss her so much.”

The Canadian Museum of History also paid tribute in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“Over the past few years many of us at the Museum worked closely with Nerene as we prepared the special exhibition From Pepinot to PAW Patrol® – Television of Our Childhoods … We will remember Nerene’s charisma and dedication to her work. From Today’s Special to broadcast news to provincial politics, she was a leader in challenging racism and championing education in Canada,” read the post.

Photo © TVO