Born in 1926, Charlie Biddle was an American-Canadian jazz bassist.  Originally from Philadelphia, he moved to Montreal as a member of Vernon Isaac’s Three Jacks and a Jill in 1948, after serving in the Second World War. While living in Montreal he helped organize and performed at many jazz events. He performed alongside pianists and later became a promoter as well. He frequently organized jazz events including Jazz Chez Nous (a three-day event held from 1979-1983) which laid the foundation for the Montreal International Jazz Festival—now the world’s largest jazz festival. In 1981 Biddle allowed his name to be used in the naming of the now-closed House of Jazz club in downtown Montreal, where he performed regularly until the 1990s. He also appeared in films such as The Whole Nine Yards with Bruce Willis, The Moderns, and the French-Canadian film Les Portes Tournantes. Biddle has won the Martin Luther King Jr. Award in 1989, the Oscar Peterson Prize in 2000, and was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2002, before passing away in Montreal in 2003.