Hélène Baillargeon (1916–1997) was a Canadian singer, actor, and folklorist probably best known as the host of the CBC Television show ''

Chez Hélène ''Chez Hélène'' is a children's television series produced by and broadcast on CBC Television. The 15-minute weekday program was broadcast on the English television network to provide viewers with exposure to the French language. The program ...

'' from 1959 to 1973. She was born in Saint-Martin,

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 ...

, on 28 August 1916 and studied singing in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

and

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and then in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

with

Alfred La Liberté Alfred La Liberté (10 February 1882 – 7 May 1952) was a Canadian composer, pianist, writer on music, and music educator. He was a disciple and close personal friend of Alexander Scriabin. He was also an admirer of Marcel Dupré and Nikol ...

. She went on to work as a researcher with

Marius Barbeau Charles Marius Barbeau, (March 5, 1883 – February 27, 1969), also known as C. Marius Barbeau, or more commonly simply Marius Barbeau, was a Canadian ethnographer and folklorist who is today considered a founder of Canadian anthropology. A ...

at the National Museum of Canada in Ottawa (later the

Canadian Museum of Civilization The Canadian Museum of History (french: Musée canadien de l’histoire) is a national museum on anthropology, Canadian history, cultural studies, and ethnology in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The purpose of the museum is to promote the heritage of C ...

in Gatineau). In 1944, Baillargeon married André Côté, a

Crown attorney Crown attorneys or crown counsel (or, in Alberta and New Brunswick, crown prosecutors) are the prosecutors in the legal system of Canada. Crown attorneys represent the Crown and act as prosecutor in proceedings under the Criminal Code and vario ...

in Montreal. She performed and hosted shows on

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

and Television such as ''Le réveil rural'' (1951–1955), ''Songs de chez nous'' (1952–1955), and ''Cap aux sorciers'' (1955–1958). Baillargeon was named to the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

in 1973. In 1974, she was appointed a Canadian citizenship court judge. She also recorded a number of collections of French-Canadian folk songs. She died in Montreal on 25 September 1997.

Selected discography

* 1955: ''Songs of French Canada'' with Alan Mills ( Folkways Records) * 1956: ''French Christmas Songs: Chants de Noël'' (Folkways Records) * 1956: ''Chansons d'Acadie (Folks Songs of Acadia)'' (Folkways Records) * 1961: ''Chantons en Français; Vol. 1, Part 1–4: French Songs for Learning French'' (Folkways Records) * 1961: ''Chantons en Français; Vol. 2: French Songs for Learning French'' (Folkways Records)

References

External links

Baillargeon Discography on Folkways
{{DEFAULTSORT:Baillargeon, Helene 1916 births 1997 deaths Members of the Order of Canada Canadian children's television personalities People from Beauce, Quebec Canadian women television personalities Francophone Quebec people