He was born John Arthur Cohen to immigrants in
Winnipeg,
Manitoba in 1921. His father Goodman Cohen was Lithuanian and his mother Nellie (Rae) Cohen was born in Glasgow, Scotland. Jackie began performing at the age of three with his brother and sister on the
vaudeville circuit in Canada, billed as the "Three Little Raes of Sunshine". Rae flew
Spitfires as a member of the
Royal Canadian Air Force during
World War II and earned the
Distinguished Flying Cross. During the 1950s, he was the host of
The Jackie Rae Show, a
variety show on
CBC Television. Rae later moved to
London where he performed on television for the
BBC,
ATV and
Granada Television. He compered the popular show
Spot The Tune for two years (1959–1960) with singer
Marion Ryan, and was subsequently the host of the first series of
The Golden Shot which he presented during 1967. He formed a dance band known as the Spitfire Band in 1981 which toured across Canada. and
Eddy Arnold (''
Please Don't Go), and Andy Williams (Happy Heart''). He collaborated with
Les Reed on songs performed by
Engelbert Humperdinck and
Tony Bennett. ==Personal life==