Bud Riley was born Bernard O'Reilly in 1936 at Welland, Ontario, Canada.
He moved with his family to Toronto in 1943 where his father opened a store and lunch counter at the corner of Roseheath and Danforth Avenue. When O'Reilly's Lunch closed in 1955, his mother and sister opened and operated Sheila's Hair Dressing salon.  Sheila, at 16, was the youngest salon proprietor in Toronto.  Now Bud was in need of a new occupation. While delivering his sister's opening advertising flyer to homes in the neighborhood, he bumped into a friend who told him he had just returned from watching a live CBC TV show with an audience made up mostly of TV students from Ryerson. The next day, Bud called Ryerson to find out about enrollment requirements.  He learned he would need an academic upgrade. After cramming grades 11 and 12 into one year, Bud matriculated and was able to enroll in Ryerson's Radio and TV Arts programme. After two years of study he applied for his first radio job at CFOR in Orillia and began a 40-year career in media

                  Family:
Father:  Jack O'Reilly (1905-1952)
Mother:  Laura Gouin  (1902-1986)
Sisters:  Maureen Adamo (1935-
                Sheila Zalanyi (1938-2001)
Brother:  Dan (1947-
Spouse: Maureen McCutcheon
               (1946-
Sons:        Daniel Shea (1971- 
                  Ryan Matthew (1972-
Daughter: Erin Elizabeth (1975-
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