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Castel, France

France Castel
France Castel

Quebec-based actor, singer, and broadcaster.

France Castel was born Francine Bégin on January 1, 1944 in Sherbrooke, Quebec, one of six children. Following an early marriage (at 16), which soon ended because of domestic violence, she began her career as a singer, recording seven solo albums in the 1970s. She also began acting in television roles, and in musical theatre, including the role of Stella Spotlight in a 1980 production of Starmania; Marlene Dietrich in Normand Mongeon and Roch Harvey's The Phenonène million (1986); and Betty Bird in Michel Tremblay's Tomorrow morning, Montreal is waiting for me.

She has played a wide variety of dramatic roles. Among them are leads in Les Troyennes/Trojan Women (Théâtre du Nouveau Monde); Aux hommes de bonne volonté (Théâtre de Quat'Sous); and Une visite inopportune (Espace Go). In 1999, she appeared as Linda in the Compagnie Jean-Duceppe production of La mort d'un commis voyageur/Death of a Salesman; in 2000, in Pascale Rafie's Le Paradi mobile, and in the premiere of François Archambault's La Nostalgie du paradis.

She has also been a popular radio and television host in both French and English, because of her generous, empathetic, and natural presence. France Castel's theatre performances are also marked by a close connection with the audience.

Her autobiography, Ici et Maintenant, was published in 2016. She has two sons and a daughter from three different relationships.

For a complete listing of her theatre work, see: https://agencemva.com/fr/artistes/france-castel/#theatre

Profile by Gaetan Charlebois and Anne Nothof

Last updated 2020-09-04