Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia

• Home
• About
• Submissions
• Links

Girard, Benoit

Quebec-based actor/translator, born 26 janvier 1932 in Montréal in le quartier Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Benoît Girard was the tenth of eleven children. He died 27 March 2017 at the age of 85 of emphysema.

Benoit Girard began his career in 1956 in Shakespeare's La Nuit des rois/Twelfth Night. Since then, he has acted in nearly one hundred plays in most of the major theatres in Montreal, including the works of Dumas, Corneille, Faulkner, Racine, Priestly, and Marcel Dubé (Le Temps des Lilas). His roles varied from the classical to Neil Simon; from John Murrell's Sarah et le cri de la langouste/Memoir to René Gingras's Syncope.

He appeared in the Compagnie Jean-Duceppe production of Eduardo de Filippo's La Grande Magia (1998), the Jean-Duceppe revival production of La mort d'un commis voyageur (April, 1999), and in the Juste Pour Rire production of Les Jumeaux Vénitiens/The Venetian Twins (June, 2000).

In 2001, Benoît Girard won a Masques Award for his role in Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard at Théâtre du Nouveau Monde. His last performance was in Le déni by Arnold Wesker, at Théâtre Jean-Duceppe in 2009.

He acted in forty television series, and in the groundbreaking productions of modern theatrical classics like John Steinbeck's Des souris et des hommes/Of Mice and Men and Arthur Miller's La Mort d'un commis-voyageur/Death of a Salesman, opposite Jean Duceppe. He was particularly well-known for his role in Le retour.

Benoit Girard translated much of Neil Simon (Brighton Beach Memoirs/Souvenirs de Brighton Beach, Biloxi Blues, Bonjour Broadway/Broadway Bound), as well as Ken Kesey's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest/Vol au-dessus d'un nid de coucou, Peter Shaffer's Black Comedy/Comédie dans le noir and many others. His translation of John Logan's Birds of Prey as Les Oiseaux de proie was performed at the Compagnie Jean-Duceppe in February, 2001.

He was married for fifty-five years to actress Monique Joly (died 2015).

Profile by Gaetan Charlebois and Anne Nothof

Last updated 2021-01-05

Girard, Marcel

Quebec-based actor, graduate of the Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Montréal.

Since his graduation, Marcel Girard has played in over fifty productions, including the 1993 and 1994 showcase productions at Just for Laughs: Dîner des cons and Marius et Fanny, both directed by Denise Filiatrault.

He has worked with most of Montreal's major companies including Compagnie Jean-Duceppe (Le Lion en hiver), Théâtre Populaire du Québec, Nouvelle Compagnie Théâtrale / Théâtre Denise-Pelletier, Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, and Théâtre du Rideau Vert (Le Temps des lilas 1993).

He has also acted frequently on television, and in over 200 voice overs.

Last updated 2021-01-08

Girard, Rémy

Quebec-based character actor, born in Jonquière in 1950, probably best known for his roles in Denys Arcand's films The Decline of the American Empire (1986), The Barbarian Invasions (2002), The Fall of the American Empire (2017); and the film series Les Boys. His father was a well known local politician and he studied law towards a career in politics himself. While studying, he dabbled in theatre in Quebec City until Paul Hébert told him he was an actor, not a lawyer.

In 1974, he graduated from the Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Québec (where he performed in, among others, Genet's Le Balcon/The Balcony).

Rémy Girard has performed lead roles in the inaugural production of Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui's new theatre, Michel Tremblay's La Trilogie des Brassard, as well as in Les Gars at Théâtre la Licorne.

In autumn of 1996 he performed the lead in Molière's Malade Imaginaire/Imaginary Invalid, at Théâtre du Rideau Vert (he had previously played the house in, notably, La Déprime, 1983). In 1998, he played in Dominic Champagne's hugely successful version of Wajdi Mouawad's adaptation of Cervantes' Don Quichotte at Théâtre du Nouveau Monde/TNM. He appeared in the February, 2000, Allan Sandler co-production of La Cage aux folles and in January, 2002, in the TNM production of Les Joyeuses commères de Windsor/The Merry Wives of Windsor, as Falstaff. More recently, in 2019, he played Agrippa in Coriolan (dir. Robert Lepage) at TNM.

Rémy Girard's performances are marked by great attention to character detail (particularly voice).

He has a substantive career in television and film, and has received many awards for his acting. In 2019, he was named Officer of the Order of Canada.

He lives in Montreal with his handicapped adult son Renaud, and his partner of twenty-two years.

Profile by Gaetan Charlebois

Last updated 2023-12-05