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Armand Courville
Armand Courville (1910 – 1 February 1991) was a Canadian gangster and a prominent associate of the Cotroni crime family in Montreal. Wrestler Courville was born into a working class family in Montreal, where he excelled at amateur wrestling in his local Catholic school. Like most French-Canadian families at the time, the Courville family was a very large one as he had 15 siblings. Courville worked as a successful professional wrestler. To capitalize on his wrestling fame, Courville also ran a wrestling school, the ''Club St. Paul de Ville'', where one of his students was an young Vincenzo Cotroni. Courville was a leading star in the wrestling promotion run by Sylvio Samson, holding the Quebec and Canadian mid-heavyweight championships. The promotion run by Samson between 1932-1962 was one of the most popular wresting promotions in Quebec at the time. Cotroni also wrestled alongside Courville, playing a villainous character called Vic Vincent. Besides for wrestling, Courville wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as ''Fort Ville-Marie, Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill around which the early city of Ville-Marie is built. The city is centred on the Island of Montreal, which obtained its name from the same origin as the city, and a few much smaller peripheral islands, the largest of which is Île Bizard. The city is east of the national capital Ottawa, and southwest of the provincial capital, Quebec City. As of 2021, the city had a population of 1,762,949, and a Census Metropolitan Area#Census metropolitan areas, metropolitan population of 4,291,732, making it the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest city, and List of cen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Denise Filiatrault
Denise Filiatrault, (born May 16, 1931) is a Canadian actress and director. Biography Filiatrault attained star status on TV in the 1960s, co-starring with Dominique Michel in the Radio-Canada television series '' Moi et l'autre'' (1967–71) and in many editions of Radio-Canada's annual New Year's special, '' Bye Bye''. She had further success in ''Chez Denise'' (1978–1982), ''Le 101, avenue des Pins'' (1984–85) and ''Denise... aujourd'hui'' (1990–91). In addition to her television career, Filiatrault also performed in films and on stage, notably in works by Michel Tremblay. She was known to perform both comic and dramatic roles, such as Gilles Carle's ''The Death of a Lumberjack (La Mort d'un bûcheron)'' in 1973, André Brassard's film version of Tremblay's '' Once Upon a Time in the East (Il était une fois dans l'Est)'' in 1974, Denys Arcand's '' Gina'' in 1975, Claude Fournier's ''Far from You Sweetheart (Je suis loin de toi mignonne)'' in 1976, '' Fantastica'' in 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Cotroni
Frank Cotroni (born Francesco Cotrone; ; 1931 – 17 August 2004) was an Italian-Canadian crime boss of the Cotroni crime family in Montreal, Quebec. Cotroni was born in 1931, in Montreal. His family, including his brother Vincenzo, had immigrated to Montreal in 1924, from Mammola, Calabria, Italy. His brother founded and headed the Cotroni crime family. Cotroni's principle illicit businesses were drug trafficking and labor racketeering, while he also worked at various times as a restaurateur; boxing promoter; owner of strip clubs in both Montreal and Toronto; ceramic manufacturer; and the owner of a vending machine company. Cotroni had connections with the Bonanno crime family, and in 1975, was convicted in the United States of smuggling cocaine and sentenced to 15 years in prison. In prison, Cotroni met fellow inmate French-Canadian Réal Simard, and Simard would become Frank's driver and eventual hitman upon their release in 1979. During the violent Mafia war with the Sicilia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Réal Simard
Réal Simard (born 7 January 1951) is a Canadian gangster from Montreal known for being a hitman for Frank Cotroni of the Cotroni crime family, who later turned informant. Early career In Simard's early days, he robbed banks with childhood friend Raymond Martel, but Martel was caught in a heist, while Simard avoided arrest.Schneider, ''Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada'', pp. 527 Another bank-robbing accomplice of Simard, Jean-Paul Saint-Armand, was arrested and turned informant, which sentenced Simard to six years in prison. Simard is the nephew of Armand Courville, a long-time associate of Frank Cotroni's older brother Vic Cotroni. While Simard was in prison, he met leader of the family, Frank Cotroni, acting for his brother who was ill with cancer; he would become Frank's driver and eventual hitman upon their release in 1979. Simard considered Frank an uncle figure. By his own admission, a morally weak character who was emotionally needy and felt a desperate need to fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Made Man
In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oath of ''omertà'', the Mafia code of silence and code of honor. After the induction ceremony, the associate becomes a "made man" and holds the rank of soldier (Italian: ''soldato'') in the Mafia hierarchy. Made men are the only ones who can rise through the ranks of the Mafia, from soldier to caporegime, consigliere, underboss, and boss. Other common names for members include ''man of honor'' ( it, uomo d'onore), ''man of respect'' (Italian: ''uomo di rispetto''), ''one of us'', ''friend of ours'' (Italian: ''amico nostro''), ''good fella'', and ''wiseguy''; although the last two terms can also apply to non-initiated Mafia associates who work closely with the Mafia, rather than just official "made men". Earning or making one's "bones" or " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knights Of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. The organization was founded in March 1882 as a mutual benefit society for working-class and immigrant Catholics in the United States. In addition to providing an insurance system for its members, its charter states that it endeavors "to promote such social and intellectual intercourse among its members as shall be desirable and proper". It has grown to support refugee relief, Catholic education, local parishes and dioceses, and global Catholic social and political causes. The Knights promote the Catholic view on public policy issues, including opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion. The organization also provides certain financial services to the individual and institutional Catholic market. Its wholly owned insurance company, o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quebec Games
The Quebec Games (french: 'Jeux du Québec') is a biennial multi-sport event, held every two years in the Canadian province of Quebec, alternating between the Quebec Winter Games and the Quebec Summer Games. Athletes are strictly amateur only, and represent their region. The Games were founded in 1970. The first editions of both the Quebec Winter Games and Quebec Summer Games were held in 1971. Since 1981, they have held every odd year. Since 2009, a Quebec Games is held every year, alternating between Winter Games (odd years) and Summer Games (even years). History The 2016 edition was held at Montreal's Olympic Stadium in conjunction with the 40th Anniversary Celebrations of the 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics. At around 3700 athletes, the event was larger than the last Winter Olympics in 2014. Winter sports A total of 26 sports are a part of the Quebec Winter Games as of 2021 and include the following: * * Para-badminton * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Expo 67
The 1967 International and Universal Exposition, commonly known as Expo 67, was a general exhibition from April 27 to October 29, 1967. It was a category One World's Fair held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is considered to be one of the most successful World's Fairs of the 20th century with the most attendees to that date and 62 nations participating. It also set the single-day attendance record for a world's fair, with 569,500 visitors on its third day. Expo 67 was Canada's main celebration during its centennial year. The fair had been intended to be held in Moscow, to help the Soviet Union celebrate the Russian Revolution's 50th anniversary; however, for various reasons, the Soviets decided to cancel, and Canada was awarded it in late 1962. The project was not well supported in Canada at first. It took the determination of Montreal's mayor, Jean Drapeau, and a new team of managers to guide it past political, physical and temporal hurdles. Defying a computer analysis that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1950 British Empire Games
The 1950 British Empire Games was the fourth staging of what is now called the Commonwealth Games. It was held in Auckland, New Zealand between 4 and 11 February 1950, after a 12-year gap from the third edition of the games. The main venue was Eden Park, although the closing ceremonies were held at Western Springs Stadium, see New Zealand at the 1950 British Empire Games. The fourth games were originally awarded to Montreal, Canada and were to be held in 1942 but were cancelled due to World War II. Participating teams (Teams participating for the first time in bold). * * * * * * * * * * * * Games venue The main stadium was at Eden Park. Other venues were the Auckland Town Hall (boxing and wrestling), the Drill Hall (fencing), Western Springs (cycling and the closing ceremony) Lake Karapiro (rowing), and the Newmarket Olympic Pool (swimming). Accommodation was at the Ardmore Teachers' Training College, away at South Auckland. Total attendance was 246,694; high ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maurice Vachon
Joseph Maurice Régis Vachon (September 14, 1929 − November 21, 2013) was a Canadian professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Mad Dog Vachon. He was the older brother of wrestlers Paul and Vivian Vachon, and the uncle of wrestler Luna Vachon. Vachon started his career as an amateur wrestler, participating in the 1948 Summer Olympics and winning a gold medal at the 1950 British Empire Games. He made the switch to professional wrestling and spent time in various promotions in the United States while occasionally teaming with his brother Paul. In Portland, Oregon, he received the name "Mad Dog" Vachon. In the early 1960s, Vachon became a main eventer in the American Wrestling Association. He was one of the promotion's all-time great heels, known for his wild style and intense interviews. He was a five-time AWA World Heavyweight Champion. Starting in the 1970s, Vachon became a fan favourite, particularly in his home province of Quebec. After a stint in the World W ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bonanno Family
The Bonanno crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian-American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, and in the United States, as part of the criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. The family was known as the Maranzano crime family until its founder Salvatore Maranzano was murdered in 1931. Joseph Bonanno was awarded most of Maranzano's operations when Charles "Lucky" Luciano oversaw the creation of the Commission to divide up criminal enterprises in New York City among the Five Families. Under the leadership of Bonanno between the 1930s and 1960s, the family was one of the most powerful in the country. However, in the early 1960s, Bonanno attempted to overthrow several leaders of the Commission, but failed. Bonanno disappeared from 1964 to 1966, triggering an intra-family war colloquially referred to as the "Banana War" that lasted until 1968, when Bonanno retired to Arizona. Between 1976 and 1981 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meyer Lanksy
Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Lucky Luciano, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate in the United States. A member of the Jewish-American organized crime, Jewish mob, Lansky developed a gambling empire that stretched around the world. He was said to own points (percentages) in casinos in Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas, Cuba, The Bahamas and London. Lansky additionally had a strong influence with the American Mafia, Italian-American Mafia and played a large role in the consolidation of the criminal underworld. The full extent of this role has been the subject of some debate, as Lansky himself denied many of the accusations against him. Despite nearly 50 years as a member/participant in organized crime, Lansky was never found guilty of anything more serious than illegal gambling. He has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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