After a brief retirement from 1948 through 1952 she appeared at Theatre Under the Stars in Finian's Rainbow in 1952 and 1954 and Kiss Me, Kate in 1953, and in a staging of You Can't Take it With You. In 1954 she began on the CBC Vancouver TV program Bamboula: A Day in the West Indies, marking the first interracial cast in Canada, and the first variety series produced in Vancouver. She was invited by CBC to star in The Eleanor Show, that ran from June 19 to September 11, 1955, making her the first woman, first person of colour, and first jazz singer to headline a show on national TV, predating the Nat King Cole Show. That was followed by Blues and the Ballad and Eleanor Sings the Blues, both in 1960, Were You There? in 1961, and Quintet in 1962. She starred in her second television program, Eleanor, that aired from February 1 to March 2, 1964, with the Chris Gage Trio providing musical backup. She also appeared on many radio and television programs through the 1960s and 70s on both CBC and CTV, remaining in Canada despite offers to move to the U.S.
