Monique Leyrac, (26 February 1928 – 15 December 2019) was a Canadian singer and actress Catherine Pépin, "Exclusif : une rencontre intime avec Monique Leyrac, à écouter dès maintenant". Ici Radio-Canada, 26 February 2019. who popularized many songs by French-Canadian composers."If Piaf Was France, Leyrac is Quebec". Victoria Daily Colonist, via Newspaper Archives. 27 October 1973 - Page 115.
Early life Leyrac was born Monique Tremblay in Montreal, Quebec.Alexis Luko, Rachelle Taylor and Hélène Plouffe, "Monique Leyrac". The Canadian Encyclopedia, 12 March 2007. She helped raise her siblings while her mother worked as a milliner, while educating herself by reading poetry and fiction. She studied drama with Madame Maubourg.Jacques Lanctôt, "Magnifique Monique Leyrac". Le Journal de Montreal, 23 June 2019
Career Leyrac began her acting career on the radio in 1943, using her knowledge of music and drama. In 1965 she won the grand prize at the Sopot International Song Festival in Poland for her rendition of Gilles Vigneault's "Mon Pays".Carlotta Hacker. The Book of Canadians. Hurtig; 1 October 1983. . p. 130. That year she also won first prize at the Festival de la Chanson at Ostende, Belgium. In 1967 she sang at Expo 67.Bill Marshall. France and the Americas. ABC-CLIO; 2005. . p. 720.
Leyrac was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1967 and was the subject of an hour-long documentary on CBC television in 1972. She received the 1979 Prix de musique Calixa-Lavallée. She recorded ten albums of music, and in the 1980s she began to write and stage one-woman shows in which she sang and acted."Leyrac's one-woman performance managed only sporadic rapport". Winnipeg Free Press, Newspaper Archives. 27 November 1988 - Page 22
In 1997, Leyrac received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts. In 1998, she was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec."La chanteuse Monique Leyrac est décédée". TVA Nouvelles, 15 December 2019.
In 2007 a boxed set, Leyrac/La diva des années 60, was released, containing three albums of her performed songs, many by Quebec composers, as well as a DVD with a short documentary of her life and career."Monique Leyrac: la diva des années 60". Ici Radio-Canada, 8 May 2007. In 2013 Leyrac was presented with the Prix Denise-Pelletier for her outstanding career in the performing arts.Luc Boulanger, "Prix du Québec: divine Monique Leyrac". La Presse, 29 October 2013.Martin Ouellet, "Monique Leyrac et Paul Gérin-Lajoie honorés lors de la remise des Prix du Québec". L'Actualité, 12 November 2013
In 2019 a biography of Leyrac's life, written by François Dompierre, was released.Mario Girard, "Leyrac vue par Dompierre". La Presse, 8 April 2019.
Leyrac was married for twenty-five years to actor-director Jean Dalmain, from 1952 to 1977. Leyrac died on 15 December 2019 in Cowansville, Quebec at the age of 91.Mayssa Ferah, "La chanteuse Monique Leyrac s’éteint à 91 ans". La Presse, 15 December 2019.
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