''Monsieur Tranquille'' is a character in the

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

children's television series ''Patof voyage''. He is well known for the 1977

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

hit ''Ma'm Thibault''. He was portrayed by actor-comedian Roger Giguère.

Children's TV shows

Mr. Tranquille is first mentioned in the television series ''Patof raconte'' (

CFTM-TV CFTM-DT (channel 10) is a television station in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, serving as the flagship of the French-language TVA network. Owned by Groupe TVA, the station has studios on Boulevard de Maisonneuve East and Rue Alexandre de Sève in the ...

, 1975). Played by the soundman Roger Giguère, it's an invisible character and he interacts with the clown

Patof ''Patof'' is a character in the highly successful Canadian children's television series ''Patofville''. He was portrayed by actor-comedian Jacques Desrosiers. Television, performances, and comics In January 1972, the clown Patof made his appea ...

by means of sound and music effects. It's only in the series ''Patof voyage'' (

, 1976) that Roger Giguère embodies him as a puppet. Lesley Tranquille (a play on words meaning "leave him alone") quickly wins the heart of the children. A single recorded in January 1977, ''Madame Thibault'' becomes a number one in

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 ...

. A

version, mostly instrumental except for the phrase "Ma'm Thibault", is created and becomes a club hit. The single is even issued in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

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, where it becomes very popular. The song credited to "Tranquille", to dissociate from the TV character, is also issued on a K-tel double-LP compilation called ''Disco Fever'' (1978). In September 1977, Mr. Tranquille get his own television series called ''Monsieur Tranquille'' (

, 1977). To increase the popularity of the character, two LPs, several coloring books and posters, as well as a series of eight comic books illustrated by Henri Desclez are published. The following season, a new series called ''Le monde de Monsieur Tranquille'' (

, 1978) was created to be more educational. However, the series was canceled mid-season (mostly due to competition with the Ever-Popular

Bobino Bobino at 20 rue de la Gaîté, in the Montparnasse area of Paris ( 14th arrondissement), France, is a music hall theatre that has seen most of the biggest names of 20th century French music perform there. During its long history it was also k ...

on rival

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airing at the same timeslot). In spite of a short career, Mr. Tranquille fired the imagination of a generation of Québécois. Songs like ''Faut pas me chercher'' (a duet with

, 1976), ''Madame Thibault'' (1977), ''Ça va pas dans l'soulier?'' (1977), ''Les monstres'' (1977), ''Farnande'' (1977) and ''Pepperoni'' are among his greatest hits.

Filmography

Television Series

* 1975-1976 ''Patof raconte'' * 1976-1977 ''Patof voyage'' * 1977-1978 ''Monsieur Tranquille'' * 1978 ''Le monde de Monsieur Tranquille''

DVD

* 2011 Bonjour Patof (Musicor Produits Spéciaux)

Discography

Albums

Singles

European release

Australian release

Compilations

Collaborations and performances as guest star

Charts

Reconstituted chart

= Songs

= Title / Date / Best rank / Weeks on chart * 1977 Madame Thibault / 1977-01-29 / #1 / 19 weeks on chart * 1978 Pepperoni / 1978-02-18 / #21 / 3 weeks on chart

= Albums

= Title / Date / Best rank / Weeks on Top 30 * 1977 ''Monsieur Tranquille – Faut pas m'chercher'' / 1977-03-05 / #3 / 12 weeks in Top 30

Bibliography

Comics

* 1977 ''Monsieur Tranquille – N° 1'' (illustrated by Henri Desclez; text by Claude Leclerc), Éditions Héritage * 1977 ''Monsieur Tranquille – N° 2'' (illustrated by Henri Desclez; text by Claude Leclerc), Éditions Héritage * 1977 ''Monsieur Tranquille – N° 3 : Super-diva'' (illustrated by Henri Desclez; text by Claude Leclerc), Éditions Héritage * 1977 ''Monsieur Tranquille – N° 4 : Un numéro super explosif! (avec Junior Tranquille et Minibus)'' (illustrated by Henri Desclez; text by Claude Leclerc), Éditions Héritage * 1977 ''Monsieur Tranquille – N° 5 : Un numéro spatial (avec Junior Tranquille et Minibus)'' (illustrated by Henri Desclez; text by Claude Leclerc), Éditions Héritage * 1977 ''Monsieur Tranquille – N° 6 : Un numéro fumeux!... (11 pages de jeux et d'activités)'' (illustrated by Henri Desclez; text by Claude Leclerc), Éditions Héritage * 1978 ''Monsieur Tranquille – N° 7'' (illustrated by Henri Desclez; text by Claude Leclerc), Éditions Héritage * 1978 ''Monsieur Tranquille – N° 8'' (illustrated by Henri Desclez; text by Claude Leclerc), Éditions Héritage

Awards and Recognitions

* 1977 Golden record for the single ''Madame Thibault'' Photo-Journal, March 5, 1977
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References

{{reflist, colwidth=25em

External links

French Blog about Mr. Tranquille, Patof and Jacques Desrosiers
Television characters introduced in 1976