Kim Yaroshevskaya (1 October 1923 – 12 January 2025) was a Russian-born Canadian film, television and stage actress. Best known to audiences in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

as a children's entertainer, starring in series such as '' Fanfreluche'' and '' Passe-Partout'' in the 1970s, she also had a starring role in the English Canadian drama series '' Home Fires'' in the early 1980s.

Wayne Grady Wayne Desmond Grady (born 26 July 1957) is an Australian professional golfer. Early life Grady was born in Brisbane, Brisbane, Australia. Professional career In 1978, Grady turned professional. He began his career on the PGA Tour of Aust ...

, "We'll Keep a Welcome". '' TV Guide Canada'', 8 November 1980.

Background

Born in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, Kim Yaroshevskaya (her forename is actually the acronym of the International Communist Youth organization in Russian, KIM) emigrated to Quebec at age ten with her family. In the 1950s, she was a founding member of the Quebec theatre collective Théâtre Le Grenier, with whom she created ''Fanfreluche''.Yves Piché-Simard
"Kim Yaroshevskaya"
''

The Canadian Encyclopedia ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' (TCE; ) is the national encyclopedia of Canada, published online by the Toronto-based historical organization Historica Canada, with financial support by the federal Department of Canadian Heritage and Society of Com ...

'', October 24, 2022.

Career

Her other film and television roles included '' A Woman in Transit (La Femme de l'hôtel)'', '' The Alley Cat (Le Matou)'', '' Anne Trister'', '' Sonia'', ''

Straight for the Heart ''Straight for the Heart'' () is a 1988 Canada, Canadian/Switzerland, Swiss Canadian French, French-language drama film. It was filmed in Montreal,Loren Ruth Lerner It is based on Yves Navarre's novel ''Kurwenal''.Thomas Waugh It was selected i ...

(À corps perdu)'', ''

The Sex of the Stars ''The Sex of the Stars'' () is a 1993 Canadian drama film directed by Paule Baillargeon and written by Monique Proulx. The film was selected as the Canadian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 66th Academy Awards, but was not accepte ...

(Le Sexe des étoiles)'' and '' L'Amour avec un Grand A''. Her stage roles included productions of

Aristophanes Aristophanes (; ; ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek Ancient Greek comedy, comic playwright from Classical Athens, Athens. He wrote in total forty plays, of which eleven survive virtually complete today. The majority of his surviving play ...

' ''

Lysistrata ''Lysistrata'' ( or ; Attic Greek: , ''Lysistrátē'', ) is an ancient Greek comedy by Aristophanes, originally performed in classical Athens in 411 BC. It is a comic account of a woman's mission to end the Peloponnesian War between Greek city ...

'',

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

's ''

Play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...

'', Jean-Pierre Ronfard's ''Le Grand théâtre du monde'',

Athol Fugard Harold Athol Lanigan Fugard (; 11 June 19328 March 2025) was a South African playwright, novelist, actor and director. Widely regarded as South Africa's greatest playwright and acclaimed as "the greatest active playwright in the English-speaki ...

's '' The Road to Mecca'' and Ted Galay's ''After Baba's Funeral'' and ''Sweet and Sour Pickles''. In later years, she published several works of children's literature, including ''La Petite Kim'' (''Little Kim's Doll''), ''Contes de fanfreluche, tome 1 : Connaissez-vous le petit chaperon bleu et petit chaperon jaune?'' and ''Contes d'humour et de sagesse''. In November 2017, Yaroshevskaya, then aged 94, released her biography, ''Mon voyage en Amérique''.

Honours

Yaroshevskaya was nominated for an

ACTRA Award The ACTRA Awards are Canadian accolades presented since 1972 to celebrate excellence in cinema, television and radio industries.Member of the Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

(CM) in 1991, and was awarded the

Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal () or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal was ...

and

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal () or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's accession in 1952. There are four versions of the medal: one iss ...

. In 2017 she was appointed to the Order of Arts and Letters of Quebec.

Personal life and death

On 1 October 2023, Yaroshevskaya celebrated her 100th birthday. She died on 12 January 2025 at the age of 101 following a fall.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yaroshevskaya, Kim 1923 births 2025 deaths Actresses from Montreal Actresses from Moscow Canadian children's television personalities Canadian children's writers in French Canadian women children's writers Canadian film actresses Canadian stage actresses Canadian television actresses Members of the Order of Canada Television personalities from Montreal Soviet emigrants to Canada Writers from Montreal Writers from Moscow Canadian women television personalities Russian women centenarians Canadian women centenarians 20th-century Canadian actresses 20th-century Canadian writers 20th-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian writers 21st-century Canadian women writers