Douglas Leopold, nicknamed Coco (c. 1944 – April 4, 1993),Schnurmacher, Thomas "Douglas Leopold dies at 49: One of city's best-known radio, TV personalities" The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec) 6 April 1993, p. D9. was a television and radio personality in Quebec, along with being a public relations specialist. Douglas Leopold studied

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

and the Sorbonne. Upon his return to

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Leopold first worked in public relations for the

Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts The Segal Centre for Performing Arts, formerly the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, is a theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 5170 chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, in the borough of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâ ...

(now the

Segal Centre for Performing Arts The Segal Centre for Performing Arts, formerly the Saidye Bronfman Centre for the Arts, is a theatre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located at 5170 Côte-Sainte-Catherine Road, chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine, in the borough of Côte-des ...

) and

Les Grands Ballets Canadiens Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal (GBCM) is a ballet company based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A creative and repertory company, it performs works that reflect the diverse trends of contemporary ballet. History Les Grands Ballets Canadien ...

.Brunet, Alain "Douglas «Coco» Léopold emporté par le sida" La Presse (Montreal), 6 April 1993, p. B7 His professional introduction to

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

came in promoting the Montreal branch of Régine (an international chain of

discotheque A nightclub or dance club is a club that is open at night, usually for drinking, dancing and other entertainment. Nightclubs often have a bar and discotheque (usually simply known as disco) with a dance floor, laser lighting displays, and ...

s presided over by

Régine Zylberberg Régine Zylberberg (born Régina Zylberberg; 26 December 1929 – 1 May 2022), often known mononymously as Régine, was a Belgian-born French singer and nightclub impresario. She dubbed herself the "Queen of the Night". Early life Rachelle Zy ...

). This in turn led to a radio show with

CKMF-FM CKMF-FM (94.3 Hertz, MHz) is a French language, French-language Canadian radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, owned and operated by Bell Media. The station airs a mainstream rock radio format, format and is the flagship (broadcasting), flag ...

, an association which lasted from 1979 to 1988. He then moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to work in public relations for

Universal Studios Theme Parks Universal Destinations & Experiences (UDX), formerly Universal Parks & Resorts, is the theme park unit of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. The company, headquartered in Orlando, Florida, operates Universal theme parks and resort propertie ...

.Boudreault, Frédéric "Excentrique jet-setter", Le Soleil (Quebec City, Quebec) 16 March 2005, p. B2 Leopold was openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

and earned the nickname Coco because he peppered his speech with this expression, as a form of punctuation. He appeared as "Coco" in ''

Scandale Scandale is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Crotone, in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Geography The town is bordered by Crotone, Cutro, Rocca di Neto, San Mauro Marchesato and Santa Severina Santa Severina () is a town and '' ...

'' (1982) and made many appearances on local television, identifying and commenting on new trends in fashion and lifestyles. Leopold's key concept was the

jet set The jet set is a social group of wealthy and fashionable people who travel the world to participate in social activities unavailable to ordinary people. The term was introduced in 1949 and replaced " café society"; it reflected a style of life ...

, which he did not identify simply with money or extravagance, but rather a certain conception of good taste and appropriate conduct. Leopold was sued by

Alain Montpetit Alain Montpetit (September 24, 1950 – June 10, 1987) was a Canadian television and radio personality in Quebec, as well as an actor. Montpetit was a native of Westmount, where he was born and where he grew up. His grandfather was Édouard Montp ...

, another Montreal media personality (and like Leopold, also worked at CKMF), when he accused him on air of the murder of a model. This led to the payment of a settlement of thirty thousand dollars to Montpetit. Petrowski, Nathalie "L'Affaire Alain Montpetit: Comme un train furieux dans la nuit...", La Presse (Montréal), 24 November 2002, p. A6 Two decades later, the case was reopened by the New York City Police, who received statements from a number of witnesses which linked Montpetit to the murder. These included a confession, from the woman who had provided Montpetit's

alibi An alibi (, from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person under suspicion in a crime that they were in a different place when the offence was committed. During a police investigation, all suspects are usually a ...

, that she had lied about Montpetit being with her."Nouveaux témoins contre Montpetit", Le Soleil (Quebec City, Quebec), 8 December 2002, p. A5 A few months before his death Leopold continued to claim publicly that he was in perfect health and did not have

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

,Grimaldi, Francine "Mes excuses à Coco" La Presse (Montreal), 15 November 1992, p. B11 he died due to this illness on 6 April 1993, at the Chris Brownlie Hospice in Los Angeles. A fictionalised version of Leopold, played by

Paul Doucet Paul Doucet (born 1970) is a Canadian actor known for his portrayal of Jean Duceppe in '' Jean Duceppe''. Early life Doucet was born in Montreal, Quebec in 1970. He studied drama at the Université du Québec à Montréal. Career His mo ...

, is one of the central characters in the 2010 Canadian film ''

Funkytown "Funkytown" is a song by American disco-funk group Lipps Inc., written and produced by Steven Greenberg and released by Casablanca Records in March 1980 as the second single from the group's debut studio album, '' Mouth to Mouth'' (1979). T ...

''.

Steve Galluccio Steve Galluccio (born October 9, 1960) is a Canadian screenwriter and playwright, most noted for his play ''Mambo Italiano'' and its feature film adaptation '' Mambo Italiano''. Background Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec to immigrant parents ...

, the

scriptwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

for the film, had in fact once been interviewed by Leopold to be his assistant.Burnett, Richard "Enfant Terrible" Hour (Montréal) 27 January 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopold, Douglas Canadian television personalities Canadian radio hosts Television personalities from Montreal 1993 deaths AIDS-related deaths in California Canadian LGBTQ broadcasters 1940s births Canadian gay entertainers 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people