Jean-Louis Roux, (May 18, 1923 – November 28, 2013) was a Canadian politician, entertainer and playwright who was briefly the 26th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec.

Biography

Born in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, Quebec, he originally studied medicine at the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...

, but gave it up to pursue acting. After travelling and performing in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

he returned to Montreal and helped create the

Théâtre du Nouveau Monde The Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (TNM) is a theatre company and Theater (structure), venue located on Rue Sainte-Catherine (Montreal), rue Sainte-Catherine in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in , it launched with the classic play ''L'Avare'' by Molière. ...

and became a frequent actor in and director of its productions for the next several years. He also turned to writing and wrote successful plays,

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

s, and television shows. His greatest fame comes from his role on ''

La famille Plouffe ''La famille Plouffe'' was a Canadian television drama, more specifically a téléroman, about a Quebec City family that first aired in the French language on Société Radio-Canada in 1953. The show was created to fill a void in francophone telev ...

'', a very successful Quebec situation comedy. Roux served as President of the Canadian Conference of the Arts from 1968 through 1970. In 1994 he was appointed to the Senate and remained there until resigning in 1996. A fierce federalist, great controversy arose when he compared Quebec separatists to

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in N ...

. Upon leaving the Senate he was, at age 73, the oldest person ever appointed Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec on August 8, 1996. Controversy reemerged when pictures were found showing Roux wearing a swastika on his

lab coat A white coat, also known as a laboratory coat or lab coat, is a knee-length overcoat or smock worn by professionals in the medical field or by those involved in laboratory work. The coat protects their street clothes and also serves as a simpl ...

in protest of the proposal to invoke conscription for service in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, and evidence emerged that he had participated in a 1942 protest against conscription in which some protesters, but not Roux, smashed the windows of some Jewish-owned businesses. As a medical student, Roux was exempted from wartime conscription provided he did part-time training in the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also res ...

, which he did while pursuing his studies. It was later maintained that he had no known ties to fascist or anti-Semitic groups, and had in fact been a quite outspoken ''opponent'' of Nazism and anti-Semitism throughout his career,"Jean-Louis Roux's unfinished business". ''

Montreal Gazette The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...

'', November 5, 1996. sometimes even refusing to accept roles in productions which he considered to include anti-Jewish stereotypes. The controversy was widely viewed as an attempt to discredit an outspoken opponent of the

Quebec sovereignty movement The Quebec sovereignty movement (french: Mouvement souverainiste du Québec) is a political movement whose objective is to achieve the sovereignty of Quebec, a province of Canada since 1867, including in all matters related to any provision o ...

, as well as to whitewash emerging revelations that some figures in the Quebec sovereignty movement had also expressed fascist and anti-Semitic views in the past."Resignation of `man of honour' accepted by angry Chrétien". ''

Windsor Star The ''Windsor Star'' is a daily newspaper based in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Owned by Postmedia Network, it is published Tuesdays through Saturdays. History The paper began as the weekly ''Windsor Record'' in 1888, changing its name to the ''Bor ...

'', November 6, 1996. He later issued an apology for the swastika incident, which he described as "a medical student's mischievous desire to show off and be provocative, and in no way corresponded to any political conviction or ideology on my part," and announced his resignation as lieutenant governor on November 5, 1996. He retained the office, to give Prime Minister Jean Chrétien time to find and appoint a replacement, until

Lise Thibault Lise Thibault DStJ (; born 2 April 1939) is a Canadian politician who served as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec from 1997 to 2007. She later spent six months in jail for misuse of public funds, which she was ordered to repay the governme ...

officially succeeded him on January 30, 1997. On May 31, 1997 Roux returned to public life when the federal government appointed him to be chair of the

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the fede ...

. In 1971 he was made an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

and was promoted to Companion in 1987. In 1989, he was made a Knight of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governo ...

. Roux received a

Governor General's Performing Arts Award A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

for his lifetime contributions to Canadian theatre in 2004. He died in Montreal on November 28, 2013."L'homme de théâtre québécois Jean-Louis Roux s'est éteint"

Radio-Canada The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

, November 29, 2013.

Filmography

*''

'' (1953) *'' Adventures in Rainbow Country'' (1969) *''

The Pyx ''The Pyx'', also known as ''The Hooker Cult Murders'' and ''La Lunule'' (French: ''The Moon''), is a 1973 Canadian horror film directed by Harvey Hart and starring Karen Black, Christopher Plummer, Donald Pilon, and Jean-Louis Roux. Based on Joh ...

'' (1973) *'' Duplessis'' (1978) *'' Two Solitudes'' (1978) *'' Riel'' (1979) *'' Chocolate Eclair (Éclair au chocolat)'' (1979) *'' Cordélia'' (1980) *''

The Hotel New Hampshire ''The Hotel New Hampshire'' is a 1981 coming of age novel by American writer John Irving, his fifth published novel. Plot This novel is the story of the Berrys, a quirky New Hampshire family composed of a married couple, Win and Mary, and th ...

'' (1984) *'' The Revolving Doors (Les portes tournantes)'' (1988) *'' Salut Victor'' (1989) *'' My Friend Max (Mon amie Max)'' (1994) *'' Black List (Liste noire)'' (1995) *''

The Third Miracle ''The Third Miracle'' is a 1999 drama film directed by Agnieszka Holland and starring Ed Harris and Anne Heche. The film was shot in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Plot In Bystrica, Slovakia in 1944, near the end of World War II, an Allied bombing ra ...

'' (1999) *'' The Courage to Love'' (2000) *'' Battle of the Brave (Nouvelle-France)'' (2004) *'' C.R.A.Z.Y.'' (2005)

Coat of arms

References

External links

* * *
An Interview with Jean Louis Roux
Legend Library, TheatreMuseumCanada {{DEFAULTSORT:Roux, Jean-Louis 1923 births 2013 deaths Canadian senators from Quebec Canadian Army personnel of World War II Canadian male stage actors Companions of the Order of Canada Knights of the National Order of Quebec Lieutenant Governors of Quebec Liberal Party of Canada senators Male actors from Montreal Politicians from Montreal Prix Denise-Pelletier winners Governor General's Performing Arts Award winners Canadian male television actors Canadian male film actors

Biography

Filmography

Coat of arms

See also

References

External links