André Breton, (July 1, 1934 – September 18, 1992) was a

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

-born singer, animator and actor.

Biography

Breton was born in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional count ...

on July 1, 1934. His father was a barber and director of the choir of the parish. André got interested to songs from a very young age. He said himself: "I learned to sing before learning to speak". In 1956 Breton played in an amateur theatre group in Sherbrooke, under the direction of Lionel Racine. At the beginning of the 60s, he began his career on radio CHLT and TV 7 and quickly became a success as a singer, host and comedian. Together with two of his cousins, he formed the trio "Le Trio Chansonnette". Their only record sold 2000 copies in just one week. In November 1964, Breton arrived at CKVL in

Verdun, Quebec Verdun (; , ) is a borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, located in the southwestern part of the island. Long known as a working class neighbourhood, it has experienced significant gentrification and social change in the 21 ...

where he became the house announcer for 30 years. At that time, he hosted various variety shows on the Sherbrooke television. In 1966, at the 10th Anniversary Gala of Sherbrooke Television, Breton was nominated as "the most popular animator", the "most popular character" for ''Ti-Toine and Little Lulu'', the "best singer" and the "best music show". In 1967, Breton and René Ouellette hosted the program ''La grange à Trefflé''. In 1969, after he released two singles, Breton recorded his first country music first album in 1969. He also made several tours throughout Quebec with Marcel Martel,

Willie Lamothe Willie Lamothe was the stage name of Joachim Guillaume Lamothe (January 27, 1920 – October 19, 1992), a Canadian musician and actor from Quebec.

, and Lévis Bouliane. In 1986, Breton received the

Félix Award The Félix Award (french: Trophée Félix or Prix Félix) is an award, given by the ''Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois'' (ADISQ) on an annual basis to artists working in the music and humor industry in the Canadian p ...

for his album "One day at a time".

Death

On September 18, 1992, Breton died from a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

Footnotes

1934 births 1992 deaths French-language singers of Canada 20th-century Canadian male singers Musicians from Sherbrooke {{canada-singer-stub