Distinguished actor had controversial political career
MONTREAL One of Quebec’s greatest theatre artists, Jean-Louis Roux, has died at age 90. His death was confirmed by the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, which he helped found in 1951.
In the late 1990s he was named head of the Canada Council for the Arts.
The ardent federalist was named to the Senate in 1994 by Jean Chrétien. Roux triggered the ire of the Yes side in the 1995 referendum when he compared separatists to Nazis.
Just after being appointed lieutenant-governor of Quebec in 1996, Roux resigned after telling a magazine he drew a swastika on his lab coat in 1942 when he was a pre-medical student. He also said he participated, at age 19, in an anti-conscription protest which degenerated into vandalism against shops believed owned by Jews. Roux said he did not support Nazism.
He won the Governor General’s Award for lifetime achievement in 2004. And he performed many times at the National Arts Centre.
“Canada and Québec have lost a theatrical giant,” said Peter Herrndorf, CEO of the NAC. “There were very few artists like Jean-Louis Roux. When he was president of the Canada Council for the Arts, he would spend all day chairing meetings, and then, remarkably, perform at night at the NAC Theatre.”
Roux performed in more than 200 theatrical roles and more than 70 productions, including works by Molière, Chekhov, Claudel, and Genet.
He wrote two plays, Rose Latulippe and Bois Brûlés, he translated and adapted over 20 works by Shakespeare, Tennessee Williams, and Peter Shaeffer. He also wrote screenplays for television and radio, and portrayed some 50 roles in television series such as the legendary La Famille Plouffe.
Roux was a Companion of the Order of Canada, a member of the Royal Society of Canada and the Ordre de la Pléiade, as well as Chevalier of the Ordre national du Québec.