René Claude Simard, , (born February 28, 1961) is a pop singer from

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, ...

. He is the older brother of

Nathalie Simard Nathalie Simard (born 7 July 1969) is a pop singer from Quebec, Canada, and the younger sister of performer René Simard. Simard was born in Île d'Orléans, near Quebec City, and was discovered by producer Guy Cloutier. Her first role was in ...

Early life

Simard was born in

Chicoutimi Chicoutimi ( , ) is the most populous borough (arrondissement) of the city of Saguenay in Quebec, Canada. It is situated at the confluence of the Saguenay and Chicoutimi rivers. During the 20th century, it became the main administrative and ...

, Quebec.

Career

In 1974, René Simard was awarded the Grand Prix by

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

at the annual Tokyo Music Festival. In Canada, he hosted the

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

series, ''The René Simard Show'', from 1977 to 1979. Simard is also an occasional actor. He appeared alongside his brother Régis in the 1973 film '' Enuff Is Enuff (J'ai mon voyage!)'', and played the henchman Stu in the 1995 film ''

Kids of the Round Table Kid, Kids, KIDS, and K.I.D.S. may refer to: Common meanings * Colloquial term for a child or other young person ** Also for a parent's offspring regardless of age * Engage in joking * Young goat * The goat meat of young goats * Kidskin, lea ...

''. Between 2006 and 2008, he hosted the television series '' L'heure de gloire'' on

Radio-Canada Radio-Canada may refer to: * CBC/Radio-Canada, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation *Ici Radio-Canada Télé, the CBC's main French-language television network *Ici Radio-Canada Première Ici Radio-Canada Première (formerly Première Chaîne) i ...

. Simard was formerly managed by Guy Cloutier, who also managed his sister

Nathalie Nathalie is a female given name. It is a variant of the name Natalie/ Natalia which is found in many languages, and is especially common in French and English-speaking countries. Notable people with the name include: * Nathalie (born 1979), Ital ...

. In 2004, Cloutier was convicted of sexually assaulting Nathalie when she was a child. Michel Vastel's 2005 book on the case, ''Briser le silence'' (Breaking the Silence), alleged that René co-operated with Cloutier in trying to hide the assaults. In 2005, Simard made a public statement in which he denied this. In 1999 he briefly played the role of The Phantom in the Toronto production of ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (April to May 23, 1999). He was succeeded by

Paul Stanley Paul Stanley (born Stanley Bert Eisen; January 20, 1952) is an American musician who was the co-founder, frontman, rhythm guitarist, and co-lead vocalist of the hard rock band Kiss (band), Kiss from the band's inception in 1973 to their retireme ...

. Simard has been married to TV hostess Marie-Josée Taillefer since 1987. In 2014, Simard was named a 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 ...

" r his contributions to the development of Quebec culture as a performer, host and director."

References

External links

*1979 episode of

The Beachcombers ''The Beachcombers'' is a Canadian comedy drama television series that ran on CBC Television from October 1, 1972, to December 12, 1990. With over 350 episodes, it is one of the longest-running dramatic series ever made for Canadian English-langu ...

with guest star René Simar

*
Simard challenges book on sister
''CBC News'', November 18, 2005 * *
Queen's University Directory of CBC Television Series

via archive.org) {{DEFAULTSORT:Simard, Rene 1961 births Canadian male singers Canadian pop singers Living people Musicians from Saguenay, Quebec Singers from Quebec French-language singers of Canada Members of the Order of Canada Male actors from Saguenay, Quebec