Robert Charlebois

Canadian musician, actor, and author (born 1944)
Robert Charlebois
OC, OQ
Charlebois in Montreal, 2012
Background information
Born (1944-06-25) June 25, 1944 (age 79)
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
GenresPsychedelic rock, folk rock
Occupation(s)Author, composer, musician, actor
Musical artist

Robert Charlebois, OC, OQ (born June 25, 1944) is a Québecois author, composer, musician, performer and actor.

Robert Charlebois in Montreal, 1972

Charlebois was born in Montreal, Quebec. Among his best known songs are Lindberg (the duo with Louise Forestier in particular), Ordinaire, Les Ailes d'un Ange and Je reviendrai à Montréal. His lyrics, often written in joual, are funny, relying upon plays on words. He won the Sopot International Song Festival in 1970.

In 1970 he sang with Italian singer Patty Pravo the Italian song La solitudine. In the same year, he performed at the Festival Express train tour in Canada, but did not appear on the documentary film.

In 1968, he had an acting role in Jean Pierre Lefebvre's film Straight to the Heart (Jusqu'au cœur). He co-starred with Terence Hill, Miou-Miou and Patrick McGoohan in the western Un genio, due compari, un pollo (A Genius, Two Partners and a Dupe, 1975) as Steamengine Bill. Thirty-eight years later, Charlebois had a cameo as Jean-Seb Bigstone, the French-Canadian Broadway producer, in the 2012 Gad Elmaleh/Sophie Marceau film Happiness Never Comes Alone.

The Quebec-based microbrewery Unibroue was owned, in part, by Charlebois until it was purchased by Sleeman Breweries in 2004 which in turn was bought by Japanese beer brewing giant Sapporo in 2006.

Honours

  • In 1994, Charlebois received a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Artistic Achievement for his contribution to music in Canada.[1]
  • In 1999, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.[2] In 2008, he was made an Officer of the National Order of Quebec.
  • Charlebois was one of the four musicians who were pictured on the second series of the Canadian Recording Artist Series issued by Canada Post stamps on July 2, 2009.[3]
  • On June 21, 2010, Charlebois received an honorary doctorate[4] from Concordia University in Montreal. In his acceptance speech he made the remark that this was the first post-secondary diploma he had received in his life.

Music in films

Selected discography

Charlebois at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
  • 1965 – Volume 1
  • 1966 – Volume 2
  • 1967 – Demain l'hiver...
  • 1968 – Robert Charlebois avec Louise Forestier
  • 1969 – Québec Love
  • 1971 – Un gars ben ordinaire
  • 1971 – Le Mont Athos
  • 1972 – Fu Man Chu (aka Charlebois) (#51 CAN [5])(single Conception was #83[6])
  • 1973 – Solidaritude
  • 1974 – Je rêve à Rio
  • 1976 – Longue Distance
  • 1977 – Swing Charlebois Swing (featuring guitar by Frank Zappa on Petroleum)
  • 1979 – Solide
  • 1981 – Heureux en amour?
  • 1983 – J't'aime comme un fou
  • 1985 – Super Position
  • 1988 – Dense
  • 1992 – Immensément
  • 1996 – Le Chanteur masqué
  • 2001 – Doux Sauvage
  • 2010 – Tout est bien

References

  1. ^ "Robert Charlebois - biography". Governor General's Performing Arts Awards Foundation. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
  2. ^ http://www.gg.ca/honours/search-recherche/honours-desc.asp?lang=e&TypeID=orc&id=4595[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Canada Post Stamp Details, July to September 2009, Volume XVIII, No. 3, p. 6
  4. ^ http://archives.concordia.ca/charlebois Archived 2013-11-03 at the Wayback Machine Concordia University Records Management and Archives
  5. ^ "RPM Top 100 Albums - July 8, 1972" (PDF).
  6. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - July 29, 1972" (PDF).

External links

  • (in French) http://www.robertcharlebois.com
  • Robert Charlebois at IMDb
  • Robert Charlebois discography at Discogs
  • Article at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
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