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Monique Mercure

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Monique Mercure
Born
Marie Lise Monique Émond

(1930-11-14)14 November 1930
Died16 May 2020(2020-05-16)(aged 89)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
EducationCégep de Saint-Laurent
OccupationActress
Years active1947–2020
Spouse
(m.1949;div.1958)
Children3

Marie Lise Monique ÉmondCCGOQ(14 November 1930 – 16 May 2020), better known asMonique Mercure([mɔ.nikmɛʁ.kyʁ]), was a Canadian stage and screen actress.[1][2]She was one of the country's great actors of the classical and modern repertory. In 1977, Mercure won aCannes Film Festival Awardand aCanadian Film Awardfor her performance in the drama filmJ.A. Martin Photographer.

Early life and education

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Mercure was born Marie Lise Monique Émond inMontreal,Quebec,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 composerPierre Mercurein 1949. The couple had three children;[3]their daughter Michèle also worked as an actress, most notably in the filmsKid SentimentandA Scream from Silence(Mourir à tue-tête).[4]

Mercure studied music and dance before studying theatre atSt. Lawrence College, Ontario.In 1960 she held her first major role in replacing an actress inThe Threepenny Opera.[5]

Awards

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At the1977 Cannes Film FestivalMercure won the award forBest Actressfor the filmJ.A. Martin Photographer.[6]She won theCanadian Film AwardforBest Actressat the28th Canadian Film Awardsfor the same film that same year.[7]

In 1978, she received a Canadian Film Award nomination forBest Supporting Actressat the29th Canadian Film AwardsforThe Third Walker.[8]

Mercure was made an Officer of theOrder of Canadain 1977. She was subsequently promoted to Companion seventeen years later in 1994.[9]

At the4th Genie Awardsin 1983, Mercure was a Best Actress nominee forBeyond Forty(La Quarantaine).She won a Genie Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1992 for her role as Fadela inNaked Lunch.In 1999, she won another Best Supporting Actress Genie for her role as Grace Gallagher inConquest.[10]

Mercure received theGovernor General's Performing Arts Awardfor Lifetime Artistic Achievement,[11]thePrix Denise Pelletier,[9]and thePrix Gascon Roux du Théâtre du Nouveau Monde.[12]TheUniversity of Torontoconferred anhonorary doctorateon her in 1998.[9]In 2006, she was made a Fellow of theRoyal Society of Canada.[13]

Death

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Mercure died on 16 May 2020, at a palliative-care centre inOutremont,Montreal. She was 89, and had been suffering from throat cancer.[9]News of her death was first announced by her daughter Michèle,[14]who was at her bedside.[5]Messages of condolence were conveyed by Canadian prime ministerJustin Trudeau,Quebec premierFrançois Legault,and Montreal mayorValérie Plante.Trudeau praised Mercure for how she "helped promote Quebec cinema beyond our borders", adding that "her legacy will live on through her work".[9][15]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1963 À tout prendre Barbara
1965 Mission of Fear(Astataïon, ou Le festin des morts) Indian woman
1966 This Is No Time for Romance(Ça n'est pas le temps des romans) Madeleine
1967 Waiting for Caroline Yvette
1969 Don't Let the Angels Fall Mrs. Pelletier
1970 Two Women in Gold(Deux femmes en or) Fernande Turcot
1970 Love in a Four Letter World Louise
1971 Finalement...
1971 Mon oncle Antoine Alexandrine
1972 The Time of the Hunt(Le Temps d'une chasse) Richard's wife
1972 Françoise Durocher, Waitress
1974 Once Upon a Time in the East(Il était une fois dans l'est)
1975 The Vultures(Les Vautours) Yvette Laflamme
1975 For Better or For Worse(Pour le meilleur et pour le pire) Loulou
1976 Let's Talk About Love(Parlez-nous d'amour) Madame Jeannot
1976 The Absence(L'Absence) Estelle
1977 J.A. Martin Photographer(J.A. Martin photographe) Rose-Aimée Martin
1977 The Third Walker Marie Blanchard
1978 The Song of Roland(Le Chanson de Roland) Marie
1978 Christmas Lace
1979 Quintet Redstone's Mate
1979 Stone Cold Dead Dr. Bouvier
1980 Contrecoeur Blanche Lavallée
1980 La cuisine rouge The mother
1981 De jour en jour Odette
1982 Odyssey of the Pacific Aunt Elsa
1982 Beyond Forty(La Quarantaine) Grosse Louise
1982 A Day in a Taxi(Une journée en taxi) Passenger
1984 The Years of Dreams and Revolt(Les années de rêves) Yvette Laflamme
1986 Qui a tiré sur nos histoires d'amour Madeline
1989 In the Belly of the Dragon(Dans le ventre du dragon) Mireille
1991 Montreal Stories(Montréal vu par...) Dame Moufette Segment "La Toile du temps"
1991 Naked Lunch Fadela
1992 La fenêtre Mother
1994 La fête des rois
1998 Conquest Grace Gallagher
1998 The Red Violin Madame Leroux
1999 When Justice Fails Pauline Wesson
1999 Set Me Free(Emporte-moi) Hanna's grandmother
2004 Geraldine's Fortune Olive Larose
2004 Battle of the Brave(Nouvelle-France) Hortense
2005 Saint Martyrs of the Damned(Saints-Martyrs-des-Damnés) Malvina 1
2007 Twilight(La Brunante) Madeleine
2009 The Master Key(Grande Ourse, la clé des possibles) Centenarian
2011 Récits d'hyperinflation Comtesse de Mompiédout
2011 The Girl in the White Coat Mrs. Valinsky
2011 Human Beasts (Bêtes humaines) Monique Messier
2015 Marche avec moi Old lady in the garden
2017 It's the Heart That Dies Last(C'est le cœur qui meurt en dernier) Pierrette

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1985 Tramp at the Door Madeleine Fournier

References

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  1. ^"Monique Mercure".The Canadian Encyclopedia.Archived fromthe originalon 27 June 2018.Retrieved26 June2018.
  2. ^"Monique Mercure".Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia.Retrieved26 June2018.
  3. ^Profile,encyclopedia.com; accessed 27 August 2015.
  4. ^"Michèle Mercure".British Film Institute. Archived fromthe originalon 4 August 2020.Retrieved17 May2020.
  5. ^abDonahue, Yannick (17 May 2020)."L'actrice Monique Mercure s'est éteinte".Radio Canada International.Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.Retrieved17 May2020.(in French)
  6. ^"Festival de Cannes: J.A. Martin Photographer".festival-cannes.com.Retrieved10 May2009.
  7. ^"Tributes pour in for award-winning Quebec actress Monique Mercure".Powell River Peak.The Canadian Press. 17 May 2020. Archived fromthe originalon 23 May 2020.Retrieved17 May2020.
  8. ^"Four films nominated for Etrogs".The Globe and Mail,24 August 1978.
  9. ^abcdeSchwartz, Susan (17 May 2020)."Montreal's Monique Mercure dies at 89 after 60-year acting career".Montreal Gazette.Retrieved17 May2020.
  10. ^BiographyArchived29 August 2015 at theWayback Machine,radio-canada.ca; accessed 27 August 2015.(in French)
  11. ^"Monique Mercure biography".Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation.Retrieved27 August2015.
  12. ^"Le prix Gascon-Thomas à Monique Mercure".Radio Canada International.Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 23 October 2008.Retrieved17 May2020.(in French)
  13. ^"2006 New Fellow Citations"(PDF).Royal Society of Canada. 9 January 2007. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 18 July 2011.Retrieved17 May2020.
  14. ^Morin, Stéphanie; Boulanger, Luc (17 May 2020)."La comédienne Monique Mercure s'éteint à 89 ans".La Presse.Montreal.Retrieved17 May2020.(in French)
  15. ^Vlessing, Etan (18 May 2020)."Monique Mercure, 1977 Palme d'Or Winner, Dies at 89".The Hollywood Reporter.
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