Louise Forestier: Movies & Filmography

Louise Forestier, born Louise Belhumeur on August 10, 1942, in Shawinigan, Quebec, Canada, is a celebrated Canadian singer, songwriter, and actress whose career has spanned more than five decades. Trained in acting at the prestigious National Theatre School in Montreal, Forestier first rose to prominence in 1966 when she was awarded the Renée Claude Trophy from Le Patriote, a boîte à chansons in east-end Montreal, and named Discovery of the Year on the Radio-Canada television program Jeunesse Oblige. The following years proved pivotal: in 1968, she was a key figure in the groundbreaking revue L'Osstidcho, followed in 1969 by L'Osstidchomeurt alongside Robert Charlebois, Yvon Deschamps, and Mouffe. With Charlebois, she recorded the iconic song Lindberg and toured France in 1969, cementing her reputation as a major voice in Quebecois music. In April 1970, Forestier starred in the musical Demain matin Montréal m'attend, written by Michel Tremblay and François Dompierre, transitioning seamlessly between stage and screen. Her versatility shone through in Jacques Godbout's 1972 film IXE-13, where she both acted and contributed to the film's score. The year 1973 marked a turning point in her artistic direction when she topped the Quebec charts with a folk rendition of La Prison de Londres, performed with guitarist Claude Lafrance and pianist Jacques Perron. This track signaled her shift away from hard rock toward a more personal style rooted in traditional Quebec folk music, a direction she pursued throughout the 1970s. Forestier's theatrical accomplishments continued to flourish in the 1980s. In 1980, she took on the role of Marie-Jeanne, the robot waitress, in the Montreal production of Luc Plamondon and Michel Berger's rock opera Starmania. Two years later, she staged the highly successful show Je suis au rendez-vous, produced by Plamondon, leading to a string of acclaimed performances that culminated in a memorable appearance alongside Belgian singer Maurane at the Francofolies de Montréal in 1989. In 1990, she portrayed Émilie Nelligan, the mother of the poet, in the romantic opera Nelligan, composed by André Gagnon with a libretto by Michel Tremblay. Beyond her musical career, Forestier has also contributed to literary culture. In 2004, she defended Yann Martel's novel Histoire de Pi during the French version of Canada Reads, broadcast on Radio-Canada. Her enduring influence was further highlighted in March 2019, when she joined ten other prominent Quebec singers—including Ginette Reno, Diane Dufresne, Céline Dion, Isabelle Boulay, Luce Dufault, Laurence Jalbert, Catherine Major, Ariane Moffatt, Marie Denise Pelletier, and Marie-Élaine Thibert—in a supergroup recording of Renée Claude's 1971 single Tu trouveras la paix following Claude's Alzheimer's diagnosis. Throughout her distinguished career, Forestier has received numerous accolades. In 1976, she won the Manteau d'Arlequin prize from French critics for the best presentation of a French song. She was named Quebec woman of the year in the arts field in 1984, received the SOCAN Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013, and was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada the same year. Her extensive discography, beginning with La boulée in 1967 and culminating in Éphémère in 2008, reflects her artistic evolution, while her filmography, including roles in Les Ordres (1974) and 2 secondes (1998), underscores her lasting impact on Canadian cultural life.