Gélinas, Gratien

Gélinas, Gratien (1909– ), first outstanding actor of the French-Canadian theatre, known as Fridolin from the leading character in the ‘Fridolinons’, revues which he wrote for production at the Monument National, Montreal, from 1938 to 1946. In 1948 his first play Tit-Coq (Lil' Rooster) began a run of more than 450 performances in French and English which broke all Canadian records; it was filmed in 1952. In 1958 Gélinas founded the Théâtre de la Comédie Canadienne, housing it in a former burlesque theatre bought and redecorated with a donation from a brewery. The opening production was Anouilh's L'Alouette (The Lark) in both French and English. Another of his own plays, the immensely successful Bousille et les justes (1959), was played in both languages in Montreal and on tour, as was Hier, les enfants dansaient (1966), about a family divided by separatism. The company also staged plays by other Canadian authors as well as a number imported from abroad. In 1956 Gélinas appeared with other French-Canadian actors at the Stratford (Ontario) Festival. He left the live theatre in 1970 but returned in 1986 with a new play The Passion of Narcisse Mondoux, in which he and his wife played for five years.