Michel Côté OC CQ MSC (June 25, 1950 – May 29, 2023) was a Canadian actor from Quebec.[1] He is known for his performances in the films Cruising Bar, Life After Love (La vie après l'amour) and C.R.A.Z.Y., the theatrical show Broue and the television series Omertà.
Michel Côté | |
|---|---|
_resize.png) | |
| Born | June 25, 1950 Alma, Quebec, Canada |
| Died | May 29, 2023 (aged 72) |
| Alma mater | National Theatre School of Canada |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse | Véronique Le Flaguais |
| Children | 2, including Maxime |
Background
editBorn in Alma, Quebec, he did not originally aspire to become an actor, but took up the profession after starting to take amateur theatre roles as part of his university studies, and later enrolled at the National Theatre School of Canada.[2]
Career
editCôté taught introductory acting and improvisation at the Option Théâtre in Sainte-Thérèse until 1977. He subsequently cofounded a small theatre, Voyagements.[3] In 1979, Côté began performing in the play Broue at the theatre; the play was intended to have a one-month run, but ended up being staged in many cities across Canada, and Côté continued to perform in all of the more than 2,000 performances that had happened by 2008.[4] Côté, Marc Messier and Marcel Gauthier performed Broue for nearly 40 years, with Côté's last performance occurring in 2017.[5][6] In order to reduce costs, the actors performed all the roles themselves.[7]
Côté played the lead role in the film Cruising Bar, and was nominated for a Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in 1990. He also played the lead role in the film C.R.A.Z.Y.,[8] and won a Genie in the same category for this film in 2005.[9] In 2008, he revived his Cruising Bar characters in the sequel film Cruising Bar 2, for which he received a Jutra Award nomination for Best Actor at the 11th Jutra Awards,[10]
In 2009, Côté played a lead role in the film Father and Guns (De père en flic), which took in $10.5 million at the box office in Quebec.[11] In 2010, he appeared as pilot Robert Piché in the film Piché: The Landing of a Man (Piché, entre ciel et terre), and in 2011 he starred as Roger Gendron in A Sense of Humour (Le sens de l'humour).[12]
Côté was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada (OC) in the 2023 Canadian honours, "for his distinguished career as one of Quebec's most prominent actors on stage, on television and in film."[13]
Personal life
editCôté was married to French actress Véronique Le Flaguais. They had two sons Charles and Maxime. The latter is also an actor.[14] Côté died on 29 May 2023, at the age of 72.[15]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Christmas Lace | The Thief | |
| 1982 | Bleue Brume | ||
| 1983 | Au clair de la lune | François | |
| 1986 | Exit | Simon | |
| 1986 | Transit | Laurent | |
| 1986 | La Fuite | ||
| 1988 | You're Beautiful, Jeanne (T'es belle Jeanne) | Bert | |
| 1989 | In the Belly of the Dragon (Dans le ventre du dragon) | Bozo | |
| 1989 | Cruising Bar | Serge, Patrice, Jean-Jacques, Gérard | |
| 1989 | The Scorpio Factor | SWAT Team | |
| 1990 | Moody Beach | Simon | |
| 1991 | The Horse Trader's Daughter (La Fille du maquignon) | ||
| 1994 | The Wind from Wyoming (Le Vent du Wyoming) | Marcel | |
| 1995 | Black List (Liste noire) | Jacques Savard | |
| 1996 | Mistaken Identity (Erreur sur la personne) | Charles Renard | |
| 2000 | Life After Love (La vie après l'amour) | Gilles | |
| 2003 | Evil Words (Sur le seuil) | Paul Lacasse | |
| 2004 | The Last Tunnel (Le Dernier tunnel) | Marcel Talon | |
| 2005 | C.R.A.Z.Y. | Gervais Beaulieu | |
| 2007 | My Daughter, My Angel (Ma fille, mon ange) | Germain Dagenais | |
| 2008 | Cruising Bar 2 | Serge, Patrice, Jean-Jacques, Gérard | |
| 2009 | Father and Guns (De père en flic) | Jacques Laroche | |
| 2010 | Piché: The Landing of a Man (Piché, entre ciel et terre) | Robert Piché | |
| 2011 | A Sense of Humour (Le sens de l'humour) | Roger Gendron | |
| 2014 | The Masters of Suspense (Les Maîtres du suspense) | Hubert Wolfe | |
| 2016 | My Friend Dino (Mon ami Dino) | Michel Côté | |
| 2017 | Father and Guns 2 (De père en flic 2) | Jacques Laroche |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1975-76 | La Petite Patrie | Maurice Labonté | Two episodes |
| 1977 | The Newcomers | Nicolas de Lugny | One episode |
| 1977 | Le Pont | Joseph Fortier | |
| 1978 | Du tac au tac | M. Dubuc | One episode |
| 1979-2018 | Bye Bye | Six episodes | |
| 1980 | Les Brillant | Désiré Lamarre | Three episodes |
| 1981 | Les Girouettes | Léon Gingras | |
| 1982 | Vaut mieux en rire | ||
| 1992 | Miss Moscou | TV movie | |
| 1992 | Montréal ville ouverte | Pacifique Plante | 13 episodes |
| 1994-2009 | La Petite Vie | Jean-Louis Pichette | Nine episodes |
| 1996-1999 | Omerta | Pierre Gauthier | 30 episodes |
| 2001 | Si la tendance se maintient | Alain Gagnon | Three episodes |
| 2004 | Et Dieu créa... Laflaque | Edmond | |
| 2012 | En audition avec Simon | Himself | One episode |
| 2014 | Les Pêcheurs | Himself | One episode |
| 2014-15 | La théorie du K.O. | Carol Hébert | 25 episodes |
References
edit- ^ Myriam Fontaine, "Michel Côté". The Canadian Encyclopedia, February 10, 2008.
- ^ François Lévesque, "Michel Côté, un des acteurs les plus aimés du Québec, s’est éteint". Le Devoir, May 29, 2023.
- ^ Peter Rist (2001). Guide to the Cinema(s) of Canada. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-313-29931-5.
- ^ Craig Glenday (29 April 2008). Guinness World Records 2008. Bantam Books. p. 355. ISBN 978-0-553-58995-5.
- ^ Marc Messier makes touching secrets about the resilience of Michel Côté
- ^ Quebec actor Michel Côté, known for film and theatre roles, dead at 72, The Globe and Mail
- ^ Broue, The Canadian Encyclopedia
- ^ "C.R.A.Z.Y.". Sydney Morning Herald, Paul Byrnes, August 30, 2006
- ^ "Arcand's Jesus leads Genie race". Toronto Star, February 14, 1990.
- ^ "Fantasy film 'Babine' leads Quebec's Jutra Awards with nine nominations". Canadian Press, February 18, 2009.
- ^ Brendan Kelly, "De père en flic 2: Michel Côté, Louis-José Houde have a family reunion". Montreal Gazette, July 13, 2017.
- ^ A SENSE OF HUMOR
- ^ "Order of Canada appointees – December 2022". Governor General of Canada. 29 December 2022. Archived from the original on 29 December 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2022.
- ^ Michelle Coudé-Lord, "Mon père est Michel Côté, l'acteur". Le Journal de Montréal, June 20, 2010.
- ^ "Quebec Actor Michel Cote has died". iHeartRadio. 29 May 2023. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
External links
edit- Michel Côté at IMDb