Morton Shulman

Morton Shulman was born in Toronto, Ontario. In 1948, he received his M.D. from the University of Toronto. He opened a private practice in Toronto's Roncesvalles neighbourhood. He was named chief coroner for Ontario in 1963. He became wealthy through investing in the stock market, and in 1966 he wrote a best-selling book, Anyone Can Make a Million. He was fired from his position as coroner for revealing the provincial government's poor enforcement of the fire code, and became an NDP Member of Provincial Parliament in 1967, and stayed for two terms. In 1975, he wrote his first autobiography, called Coroner, which became the inspiration for the television program Quincy. From 1977 until 1982, he hosted a television show called The Shulman File, which featured confrontational interviews, sensationalist and risque topics and outrageous opinions. He also began writing a column for the Toronto Sun which continued into the 1990s. In 1982 he was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, and he formed a company called Deprenyl Research Ltd., (now Draxis) to acquire the Canadian rights to the anti-Parkinson's drug Deprenyl. He also started a second pharmaceutical company, called DUSA, now run by his son.