Henri Letondal

Letondal, Henri

Henri Letondal. Critic, administrator, cellist, playwright, actor, b Montreal 29 Jun 1901, d Hollywood 15 Feb 1955. He studied the cello with Gustave Labelle. He was a man of wide interests and wrote many sketches and revues, including, on occasion, the music. He became ca 1920 a critic of concerts and variety shows for La Patrie (Montreal) and served 1926-9 as that paper's Paris correspondent. He also wrote about music for Le Petit Journal and was music critic ca 1935 for Le Canada. For CKAC radio in Montreal he was artistic director 1929-38 of 'L'Heure provinciale,' which was sponsored by the Quebec government to promote the province's musicians and composers. He founded on St-Denis St, Montreal, and directed 1930-1 the artists' cabaret Le Matou botté, which sometimes featured classical singers, including Germaine Bruyère, Louis Chartier, and Georges Bétournay. In 1934 he played a central part in the formation of the CSM. It has been estimated that Letondal wrote some 160 radio plays and sketches 1937-48, producing them himself and occasionally writing the music. He also was director general of the film company France-Film. In the early 1950s he embarked on a Hollywood screen career and took a prominent role in the film The Razor's Edge.

See also Paul Letondal (his grandfather) and Arthur Letondal (his father).