Jean Duceppe

Who was Jean Duceppe?

Jean Hotte-Duceppe, CQ was a stage and television actor from Montreal, Quebec. He founded the Compagnie de théâtre Jean Duceppe in 1973.

He was popular from the late 1940s until his death at the age of 67 in 1990. He appeared in more than 160 plays on radio, television and in films. In 1971 he won an Etrog from the Canadian Film Awards for best performance by lead actor for his role in the film Mon oncle Antoine.

He hosted radio shows and collaborated on numerous radio and TV series, including the very first one broadcast on August 3, 1952 on SRC, Le Seigneur de Brinqueville. Some of his greatest successes were his portrayals of Willy Loman in La Mort d'un commis-voyageur and Premier Maurice Duplessis in Charbonneau et le chef.

Born to a family of local shopkeepers in working-class Montréal, Jean Duceppe came to the theatre with no formal training and was completely self-taught. He supported the Yes option in the first Québec sovereignty referendum in 1980. One of his sons is the Canadian politician and sovereigntist Gilles Duceppe, a supporter of the independence of Quebec from Canada and the former leader of the Bloc Québécois. Louise Duceppe, one of his daughters, directs his theatre company.