Dominique Michel | |
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Born | Aimée Sylvestre September 24, 1932 Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, Canada |
Occupation(s) | Comedian, actress, singer |
Television | Moi et l'autre |
Spouse | |
Awards |
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Dominique Michel, OC, CQ (born Aimée Sylvestre; September 24, 1932 in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec) is a Quebec comedian, actress, singer and artist.
She began her career in cabarets performing songs written by Raymond Lévesque and subsequently sang with Jean Coutu. She made her television debut co-hosting a variety show then widened her audience with her first sitcom Moi et l'autre in which she co-starred with Denise Filiatrault. The show was an enormous success during its run from 1966 to 1972 and made Michel a household name in Quebec.
She has been married only once in 1958 to New York Rangers all star Camille Henry but later divorced in 1960.
From 1977 to 1982, she had numerous leading roles in television programs such as Dominique, Chère Isabelle and Métro-boulot-dodo.
Michel's first film role was in Hold on to Daddy's Ears (Tiens-toi bien après les oreilles à papa) with Yvon Deschamps in 1971. She played for cineast Denys Arcand in two movies well known outside of Quebec: The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'empire américain) and its sequel The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares).
She is also a comedian. She notably co-starred with Daniel Lemire and has hosted the Festival Juste pour rire multiple times. Michel also showed her multiple comedic talents in the year-end review show Bye Bye from Radio-Canada in which she would do multiple impressions on top of hosting the 90 minutes special.
In 1992, Michel received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement in broadcasting. In 1994, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada "for her encouragement of humour and her contribution to the cultural life of the country." [1] In 2002, she was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec. In 1995, she received, jointly with Denise Filiatrault, the Grand Prix Gémeau from l'Académie canadienne du cinéma et de la télévision for lifetime achievements.
In 2010, at 77, it was announced that she had colon cancer. After undergoing chemotherapy treatments, she declared in April 2011 that she was cancer-free.
The Barbarian Invasions is a 2003 Canadian-French sex comedy-drama film written and directed by Denys Arcand and starring Rémy Girard, Stéphane Rousseau and Marie-Josée Croze. The film is a sequel to Arcand's 1986 film The Decline of the American Empire, continuing the story of the character Rémy, a womanizing history professor now terminally ill with cancer.
Georges-Henri Denys Arcand is a Canadian filmmaker. During his four decades career, he became one of the most internationally-recognized director from Quebec, earning widespread acclaim and numerous accolades for his "intensely personal, challenging, and intellectual films."
Rémy Girard is a Canadian actor and former television host from Quebec.
Claude Fournier was a Canadian film director, screenwriter, editor and cinematographer. He is one of the forerunners of the Cinema of Quebec. He was the twin brother of Guy Fournier.
Dorothée Berryman is a Canadian actress and singer from Quebec.
The Decline of the American Empire is a 1986 Canadian sex comedy-drama film directed by Denys Arcand and starring Rémy Girard, Pierre Curzi and Dorothée Berryman. The film follows a group of intellectual friends from the University of Montreal history department as they engage in a long dialogue about their sexual affairs, touching on issues of adultery, homosexuality, group sex, BDSM and prostitution. A number of characters associate self-indulgence with societal decline.
Denise Filiatrault, is a Canadian actress and director.
Pierre Curzi is an actor, screenwriter and politician in Quebec. He is a former Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the riding of Borduas in the Montérégie region south of Montreal. Elected under the Parti Québécois (PQ) banner, he later sat as an independent.
Roger Frappier is a Canadian producer, director, editor, actor, and screenwriter.
Yves Jacques OC is a Canadian film, television and stage actor.
René Malo, CQ is a French Canadian film producer, most noted for establishing the Malofilm production and distribution studio.
Lise Roy is a Canadian actress who has appeared in stage productions, film and television.
Hélène Loiselle was a Canadian actress living and working in Quebec.
Geneviève Rioux is a Québécoise television host and actor in theatre, television and film.
Alpha Boucher was a Canadian actor.
Denis Bouchard is a Canadian actor and playwright from Quebec. He is most noted for his performances in Denise Filiatrault's 1998 film It's Your Turn, Laura Cadieux , for which he received a Jutra Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the 1st Jutra Awards in 1998, and François Bouvier's 1999 film Winter Stories , for which he received a Genie Award nomination for Best Actor at the 20th Genie Awards in 2000.
Benoît Brière is a Canadian actor from Quebec. He is most noted for his performance in the film Seducing Doctor Lewis , for which he was a Genie Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor at the 24th Genie Awards and a Jutra Award nominee for Best Supporting Actor at the 6th Jutra Awards.
Far from You Sweetheart is a 1976 Canadian comedy-drama film, directed by Claude Fournier. The film stars Dominique Michel and Denise Filiatrault as Rita and Florence, two sisters who are working in a munitions factory during World War II, while still dreaming of finding husbands and getting married.
Hold on to Daddy's Ears, also known as What the Hell Are They Complaining About?, is a Canadian comedy film, directed by Jean Bissonnette and released in 1971. A satirical allegory for Quebec nationalism, the film stars Dominique Michel as Suzanne David and Yvon Deschamps as Jacques Martin, two French Canadians working for the Montreal office of a large English Canadian insurance company from Toronto.
Enuff Is Enuff is a Canadian comedy film, directed by Denis Héroux and released in 1973. The film stars Jean Lefebvre as Jean-Louis Cartier, an insurance company employee from Quebec who is undertaking a road trip across Canada with his family after receiving a promotion to the company's head office in Vancouver, only to run into various complications that are giving him second thoughts about whether he wants to take the job.