France Castel

France Castel, née Bégin (born August 31, 1944 in Sherbrooke, Quebec) is a Canadian singer, actress and broadcaster.[1]

Music

Castel began in the music business by recording an album, Toi et moi amoureux, as a duo with Jean Beaulne of Les Baronets. The album spawned popular Quebec hits with "Sous notre toit" and the title track. For the next number of years, Castel recorded and performed mainly songs written by Christine Charbonneau, including "Du fil des aiguilles et du coton", "Château de sable", "Sur le pont", "Je le vois dans ma soupe", "Dominique", "Au fond de nous" and "L'amitié". Later in the 1970s, she began writing her own songs, inspired by blues music.[2]

She recorded seven solo albums through the 1970s: Du fil, des aiguilles et du coton (1973), To One and All (1973), Je le vois dans ma soupe (1973), Moi j'veux pas déranger personne (1974), Quand on aime on a toujours 20 ans (1975), En corps à cœur (1976) and Noël disco (1977).

Acting

In the 1970s she began to take acting roles, starting with the television series Du Tac au Tac and Féminin pluriel.[3] Her later television roles included the series Omertà and Sous un ciel variable.

In musical theatre, she played the role of Stella Spotlight in a 1980 production of Starmania.[4] In 1986, she played Marlene Dietrich in a production of Normand Mongeon and Roch Harvey's Le Phenonène M.[5] Her subsequent musical theatre roles included Betty Bird in Michel Tremblay's Demain matin, Montréal m'attend[6] and Janine in Marc Drouin and François Dompierre's I.[7]

She appeared in films including An Imaginary Tale (Une histoire inventée),[8] The Wind from Wyoming (Le vent du Wyoming),[9] Karmina, The Countess of Baton Rouge (La Comtesse du Bâton Rouge), Heads or Tails (J'en suis!)[10] and Crème glacée, chocolat et autres consolations. At the 18th Genie Awards in 1997, she received two simultaneous nominations for Best Supporting Actress, for both Karmina and The Countess of Baton Rouge.[11]

In 1999, she played Linda in a French-language production of Death of a Salesman at Montreal's Théâtre Jean-Duceppe.[12]

Broadcasting career

In the 2000s, she became a radio and television host, beginning as cohost with France Beaudoin of the daytime talk show Deux filles le matin for TVA.[13] In 2005 she moved to Société Radio-Canada, the French-language arm of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, where she hosted the morning talk show Droit au cœur in 2005,[14] cohosted the variety series Pour le plaisir with Michel Barrette from 2007 to 2014,[15] and hosted a blues music program for Espace musique.[16]

She published an autobiography, Ici et maintenant, in 2016.[17]

Discography

Albums
  • Du fil, des aiguilles et du coton (1973)
  • To One and All (1973)
  • Je le vois dans ma soupe (1973)
  • Moi j'veux pas déranger personne (1974)
  • Quand on aime on a toujours 20 ans (1975)
  • En corps à cœur (1976)
  • Noël disco (1977)

Filmography

Film
Year Film Role Notes
1988 Straight for the Heart (À corps perdu) Michele
1990 An Imaginary Tale (Une histoire inventée) Alys
1991 Four Stiffs and a Trombone (L'assassin jouait du trombone) Florence
1994 The Wind from Wyoming (Le vent du Wyoming) Lizette Mentha
1996 Karmina Esméralda
1996 The Countess of Baton Rouge (La Comtesse du Bâton Rouge) Nuna Breaux
1996 Cosmos
1997 Heads or Tails (J'en suis!) Elisabeth Ballester
1997 The Revenge of the Woman in Black (La Vengeance de la femme en noir) Florence
1998 The Sleep Room Flo Langelben
2001 Ice Cream, Chocolate and Other Consolations (Crème glacée, chocolat et autres consolations) Nicole
2004 So the Moon Rises (La lune viendra d'elle-même) Francine
2007 My Aunt Aline (Ma tante Aline) Nicole
2007 The 3 L'il Pigs (Les 3 p'tits cochons) Lucille
2016 Kiss Me Like a Lover (Embrasse-moi comme tu m'aimes) Rose Lebleu
2017 Hedgehog's Home Narrator (French version)
2017 Manivald Mother
2018 When Love Digs a Hole (Quand l'amour se creuse un trou) Florence
2019 Forgotten Flowers (Les fleurs oubliées)
2020 You Will Remember Me (Tu te souviendras de moi)

Television
Year Title / Series Role Notes
1976 Du tac au tac Geneviève 4 episodes
1978 Dominique
1978-1982 Bye Bye
1992 Scoop Louise Duguay 13 episodes
1993 Scoop II Louise Duguay 13 episodes
1996 Omerta, la loi du silence Hélène Provost
1997 Omertà II - La loi du silence Hélène Provost
2002 Lance et compte - Nouvelle génération Patricia 'Mamma' Conti
2005-2008 Ramdam Janine L'Espérance 21 episodes
2010 Prozac, La Maladie Du Bonheur Maman 9 episodes
2014-2015 Les Jeunes Loups Paula Champagne 14 episodes
2016 Mes petits malheurs Louise
2018-19 L'Agent Jean: comment sauver le monde en 90 secondes Martha (voice) 30 episodes

References
  1. "France Castel : transparente et secrète à la fois". Les Grandes entretiens, October 26, 2016.
  2. "Party de blues avec France Castel à Radio-Canada" Archived 2012-10-10 at the Wayback Machine. Ex Rue Frontenac, March 24, 2011.
  3. "Première présentation de la série humoristique «Féminin pluriel»". Bilan du siècle (Université de Sherbrooke).
  4. "Starmania back, better than ever". The Globe and Mail, September 10, 1980.
  5. "Musical play sparkles in look at 3 stars' lives". Ottawa Citizen, July 9, 1986.
  6. "Demain Matin melds Quebec talent and Toronto capital". Montreal Gazette, December 2, 1995.
  7. "Musical satire aims its barbs at suburban stay-at-homes". Montreal Gazette, February 12, 1998.
  8. "Quebec film a winner". Montreal Gazette, August 29, 1990.
  9. "Le Vent du Wyoming blows in with emotional-knockout power". Montreal Gazette, August 28, 1994.
  10. "Caricature of gay hijinks a farcical failure". Ottawa Citizen, June 27, 1997.
  11. "Sweet Hereafter leads the Genie award pack". The Province, November 5, 1997.
  12. "Dumont's Loman is less of a lone man: Actor helps shape Duceppe- staged Death of a Salesman into more of a family tragedy". Montreal Gazette, April 12, 1999.
  13. "France and France deliver". Montreal Gazette, November 27, 2004.
  14. "France Castel even better than Oprah". Montreal Gazette, November 26, 2005.
  15. "«Pour le plaisir» à Radio-Canada : déjà 1000 bougies... dans l'harmonie". Huffington Post Québec, November 9, 2014.
  16. "France Castel animatrice d'une «émission consacrée au blues» en remplacement de Dan Behrman". La Presse, August 24, 2010.
  17. "France Castel : remettre hier à sa place". La Presse, December 22, 2016.
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