Hubert Loiselle

Loiselle, Hubert

Hubert Loiselle, actor (b at Montréal 17 Feb 1932; d there 16 Nov 2004). On Québec stages and screens for more than forty years, this likeable actor left his mark on several roles, particularly supporting ones, for his good nature, charm, and sensitivity. Passionate about theatre, Hubert Loiselle was distinguished by his human qualities, which enabled him to excel in low and comical registers both in new works and the international repertoire.

Hubert Loiselle was one of the many Québécois artists to have studied under Mme Jean-Louis Audet (Yvonne Duckett). As a teenager, he appeared on stage with the Compagnons de Saint-Laurent, then made the first of many trips to France to gain insight into theatre. He was moved by the characters in the works of playwright Marcel DUBÉ, and played in De l'autre côté du mur/On the Other Side of the Wall (1952), his real professional debut, and the next year in Zone. As a young leading man, he portrayed the heroine's fiancé in Florence, at the Comédie Canadienne (1960), acted in Pour cinq sous d'amour at the Théâtre de la Marjolaine (1961), then in Bilan at the THÉÂTRE DU NOUVEAU MONDE(TNM) (1968), in which he had appeared on television in 1960 under Paul Blouin. With Blouin he also filmed the television drama L'Échange du vendredi by Dubé, with Jean DUCEPPE and Denise FILIATRAULT.

Cofounder of the Théâtre de la Marjolaine and Centre-Théâtre in the early 1960s, Hubert Loiselle appeared in most Montréal theatres: the Théâtre-Club in Shakespeare's La Nuit des rois (Twelfth Night) in 1956; the premiere of Jacques Languirand's Les Insolites with the Compagnie de Montréal in the Dominion Drama Festival (1960); the THÉÂTRE DU RIDEAU VERT in Norman Krasna's Un dimanche à New York (196); at l'Égrégore in Marcel Aymé's Les Maxibules (1964); and at the Théâtre de la Poudrière in La Crécelle by Charles Dyer (1968). He was twice cast in Shakespeare's tragedy, Hamlet, first as Rosencrantz at the TNM in 1970 under Jean-Louis Roux, then at the Théâtre de Quat'Sous in 1982 as Polonius, the king's advisor, in a production directed by Alexandre Hausvater. While still pursuing his theatre career, Hubert Loiselle appeared in télé-theatre for Radio-Canada, including Dostoyevsky's L'Éternel mari (The Eternal Husband) produced by Jean Faucher in 1987 opposite Jean-Louis Millette. That same year, he returned to the stage with the Compagnie Jean-Duceppe as George in John Steinbeck's Des souris et des hommes /Of Mice and Men, which made him known to a wide audience with his memorable television performance in 1971 alongside Jacques Godin. Directed by Paul Blouin, this went down in the history of télé-theatre. From Ti-Jean Caribou to Bouscotte, Hubert Loiselle maintained his presence on the small screen, then shot films with Claude JUTRA (La Dame en couleur, 1984), Claude Fournier (Bonheur d'occasion, 1983), Francis MANKIEWICZ (Les Portes tournantes, 1988), Charles Binamé (Le Cœur au poing, 1998) and Robin Aubert (Saint-Martyr-des-Damnés, 2005).