Denise Pelletier, OC (May 22, 1923 – May 24, 1976) was a Canadian actress.

Early life

Pelletier was born in 1923 in Saint-Jovite,

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, ...

to Albert Pelletier, a literary critic, and Marie-Reine Vaugeois. She had a brother, Gilles Pelletier, who was also an actor. She attended Congrégation Notre-Dame. After leaving school, Pelletier noticed an advertisement for acting courses offered by the

Montreal Repertory Theatre Montreal is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest in Canada, and the ninth-largest in North America. It was founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", and is now named after Mount Royal, the triple-peak ...

, enrolled and was quickly given a part. At the theatre she performed in various classical plays, and also performed in some radio

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

s.Pelletier, Denise
The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved May 23, 2009.
, ''Canadian Women in Theatre and Dance''], CollectionsCanada.gc.ca; retrieved May 23, 2009.

Film and television career

In 1943, Pelletier appeared in one of the first Québécois films, '' À la croisée des chemins''. One of the few Canadian actors at the time performing in both English and French, she continued to wow audiences with titles such as the 1947 production of ''

Les Parents terribles ''Les Parents terribles'' is a 1938 French play written by Jean Cocteau. Despite initial problems with censorship, it was revived on the French stage several times after its original production, and in 1948 a film adaptation directed by Cocteau ...

''. In 1951 Pelletier met

Jean Gascon Jean Gascon (December 21, 1920 – April 13, 1988) was a Canadian opera director, actor, and administrator. Career Originally bent on a career in medicine, Gascon abandoned it for the stage after considerable work with amateur groups in Mont ...

Théâtre du Nouveau Monde The Théâtre du Nouveau Monde (; TNM) is a theatre company and venue located on rue Sainte-Catherine in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in , it launched with the classic play ''L'Avare'' by Molière. Initially located at the Gesù (1951–1958), it ...

, who would go on to receive 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 ...

. In 1952, television arrived in Canada and Pelletier jumped on the bandwagon, appearing in one of her most famous roles as Cécile in '' Les Plouffes''. Although she preferred the stage, Pelletier was crowned 'Miss Radio Television' in 1955 and starred opposite

Jean Duceppe Jean Hotte-Duceppe (25 October 1923 – 7 December 1990) was a Canadian stage and television actor from Montreal, Quebec. Early life and education Born on 25 October 1923 to a family of local shopkeepers in working-class Montreal, Jean Duceppe ...

in ''De Neuf à Cinq'' in 1968. During the 1970s she also played in '' Mont-Joye'' and

Michel Tremblay Michel Tremblay (born 25 June 1942) is a Canadian writer, novelist and playwright. Tremblay was born in Montreal, Quebec, where he grew up in the French-speaking neighbourhood of Plateau Mont-Royal; at the time of his birth, a neighbourhood ...

's '' Trois Petits Tours''. In 1970, she was awarded the

and performed in the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a repertory theatre organization that operates from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shak ...

's show ''The Divine Sarah'' as her last performance in 1975. Before the play could be performed in Montreal, Pelletier died during a heart operation on May 24, 1976, two days after her 53rd birthday.

Legacy

To celebrate her legacy, the Quebec government created the

Prix Denise-Pelletier The Prix Denise-Pelletier is an award by the Government of Quebec that is part of the Prix du Québec, given to individuals for an outstanding career in the performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which a ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pelletier, Denise 1923 births 1976 deaths Actresses from Quebec Canadian film actresses Canadian television actresses Canadian stage actresses Officers of the Order of Canada People from Laurentides Place of death missing Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery