Marie Lise Monique Émond (14 November 193016 May 2020), better known as Monique Mercure (), was a Canadian stage and screen actress. She was one of the country's great actors of the classical and modern repertory. In 1977, Mercure won a Cannes Film Festival Award and a

Canadian Film Award The Canadian Film Awards were the leading Canadian cinema awards from 1949 until 1978. These honours were conducted annually, except in 1974 when a number of Quebec directors withdrew their participation and prompted a cancellation. In the 1970s ...

for her performance in the drama film '' J.A. Martin Photographer''.

Early life and education

Mercure was born Marie Lise Monique Émond 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 Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, the daughter of Eugene and Yvonne (née Williams) Emond. Her parents enrolled her as a young child in diction, tap dancing, musical theory and cello classes. She married composer Pierre Mercure in 1949. The couple had three children; their daughter Michèle also worked as an actress, most notably in the films ''

Kid Sentiment ''Kid Sentiment'' is a Canadian docufiction film, directed by Jacques Godbout and released in 1968. Mixing fiction with documentary in the direct cinema style and working with a cast of non-professional actors, the film depicts 1960s youth cult ...

'' and ''

A Scream from Silence ''A Scream from Silence'' (french: Mourir à tue-tête) is a 1979 Canadian drama film directed by Anne Claire Poirier and starring Julie Vincent. It competed in the Un Certain Regard section at the 1979 Cannes Film Festival. The film was sele ...

(Mourir à tue-tête)''. Mercure studied music and dance before studying theatre at St. Lawrence College, Ontario. In 1960 she held her first major role in replacing an actress in ''

The Threepenny Opera ''The Threepenny Opera'' ( ) is a " play with music" by Bertolt Brecht, adapted from a translation by Elisabeth Hauptmann of John Gay's 18th-century English ballad opera, '' The Beggar's Opera'', and four ballads by François Villon, with mu ...

''.

Awards

At the

1977 Cannes Film Festival The 30th Cannes Film Festival was held from 13 to 27 May 1977. The Palme d'Or went to the ''Padre Padrone'' by Paolo and Vittorio Taviani. A new non-competitive section, "Le Passé composé", is held at this festival only and focuses on compilat ...

Mercure won the award for Best Actress for the film '' J.A. Martin Photographer''. She won the

for Best Actress at the 28th Canadian Film Awards for the same film that same year. In 1978, she received a Canadian Film Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the

29th Canadian Film Awards The 29th Canadian Film Awards were held on September 21, 1978 to honour achievements in Canadian film. They were the last Canadian Film Awards ceremony to be held before the program was taken over by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, ...

for ''

The Third Walker ''The Third Walker'' is a 1978 Canadian drama film directed by Teri McLuhan. The film explores the effect on two families in Cape Breton Island of having had their infant sons mistakenly switched at birth by the hospital."Film Reviews: T.C. McLuh ...

''. Mercure 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 ...

in 1977. She was subsequently promoted to Companion seventeen years later in 1994. At the 4th Genie Awards in 1983, Mercure was a Best Actress nominee for ''

Beyond Forty ''Beyond Forty'' (french: La Quarantaine) is a Canadian drama film, directed by Anne Claire Poirier and released in 1982.Naked Lunch ''Naked Lunch'' (sometimes ''The Naked Lunch'') is a 1959 novel by American writer William S. Burroughs. The book is structured as a series of loosely connected vignettes, intended by Burroughs to be read in any order. The reader follows the na ...

''. In 1999, she won another Best Supporting Actress Genie for her role as Grace Gallagher in ''

Conquest Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. Military history provides many examples of conquest: the Roman conquest of Britain, the Mauryan conquest of Afghanistan and of vast areas of the Indian subcontinent, ...

''. Mercure received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement, the

Prix Denise Pelletier The Prix Denise-Pelletier is an award by the Government of Quebec that is part of the Prix du Québec The Prix du Québec are awards given by the Government of Quebec to individuals for cultural and scientific achievements. Founded in 1977, the go ...

, and the

Prix Gascon Roux du Théâtre du Nouveau Monde Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who al ...

. The

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

conferred an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

on her in 1998. In 2006, she was made a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Canada The Royal Society of Canada (RSC; french: Société royale du Canada, SRC), also known as the Academies of Arts, Humanities and Sciences of Canada (French: ''Académies des arts, des lettres et des sciences du Canada''), is the senior national, bil ...

Death

Mercure died on 16 May 2020, at a palliative-care centre in Outremont, Montreal. She was 89, and had been suffering from throat cancer. News of her death was first announced by her daughter Michèle, who was at her bedside. Messages of condolence were conveyed by Canadian prime minister

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau ( , ; born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who is the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada. He has served as the prime minister of Canada since 2015 and as the leader of the Liberal Party since ...

, Quebec premier

François Legault François Legault (; born May 26, 1957) is a Canadian politician serving as the 32nd premier of Quebec since 2018. A member of the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ), he has led the party since its founding in 2011. Legault sits as a member of the ...

, and Montreal mayor Valérie Plante. Trudeau praised Mercure for how she "helped promote Quebec cinema beyond our borders", adding that "her legacy will live on through her work".

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mercure, Monique 1930 births 2020 deaths Actresses from Montreal Best Supporting Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Place of death missing Companions of the Order of Canada Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada French Quebecers Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actress winners Prix Denise-Pelletier winners Governor General's Performing Arts Award winners Canadian stage actresses Best Actress Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners