FĂ©lix Leclerc
Acting
FĂ©lix Leclerc, (August 2, 1914 â August 8, 1988) was a French-Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and QuĂ©bĂ©cois political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968. Leclerc was posthumously inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame for his songs "Moi, mes souliers", "Le P'tit Bonheur" and "Le Tour de l'Ăźle" in 2006. FĂ©lix Leclerc was born in La Tuque, Quebec, Canada in 1914, the sixth in a family of eleven children. He began his studies at the University of Ottawa but was forced to stop because of the Great Depression. Leclerc worked at several jobs before becoming a radio announcer in QuĂ©bec City and Trois-RiviĂšres from 1934 to 1937. In 1939, he began working as a writer at Radio-Canada in MontrĂ©al, developing scripts for radio dramas, including Je me souviens. He performed some of his earliest songs there. He also acted in various radio dramas, including Un homme et son pĂ©chĂ©. He published a number of scripts and founded a performing company which presented plays throughout QuĂ©bec. In 1950, he was discovered by Paris impresario, Jacques Canetti, and performed in France to great success. He signed a recording contract with Polydor Records. He returned to QuĂ©bec in 1953. In 1958, he received the top award of the AcadĂ©mie Charles Cros in France for his second album. He was invested into the Order of Canada in 1971, the National Order of QuĂ©bec and became a Chevalier of the French LĂ©gion d'honneur in 1986. Leclerc was the father of three children: the photographer and cameraman Martin Leclerc, film director Francis Leclerc and Nathalie Leclerc, general and artistic director of lâEspace FĂ©lix-Leclerc and vice-president of the Fondation FĂ©lix-Leclerc. He died in his sleep in Saint-Pierre-de-l'Ăle-d'OrlĂ©ans, QuĂ©bec, in 1988. A monument in his memory was constructed there in 1989. A house which he occupied from 1946 to 1967 (and where his son Martin stayed with his mother for another year) is also a museum in his honour in Vaudreuil-Dorion, west of MontrĂ©al. Leclerc played a major role in revitalising the QuĂ©bec folk song ("chanson") tradition. He also was a strong voice for QuĂ©bec nationalism. Several parks, roads, and schools in QuĂ©bec have been named in his honour. The FĂ©lix Awards, given to Quebec recording artists, are named after him. In 2000, the Government of Canada honored him with a postage stamp. His semi-autobiographical novel Pieds nus dans l'aube was adapted by his son, filmmaker Francis Leclerc, as the 2017 film Barefoot at Dawn. Source: Article "FĂ©lix Leclerc" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
