Rose-Alma Ouellette OQ, (August 25, 1903 – September 14, 1996) also known by her stage name La Poune 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 ...

actress, comedian, theatre manager and

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the ...

. Ouellette was born to François Ouellette and Josephine Lasanté in the faubourg à M’lasse, a working-class neighbourhood in

Montréal 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-p ...

. In her teens, she dropped out of school and worked at a shoe factory in order to provide income for her large family. In the later part of her career, she appeared in film and on television, but she is most remembered for her work on stage. She is known as the first woman ever to have directed two individual playhouses in North America.

Career

Ouellette began her career at the age of 12, when she won several local singing and theater contests. At age 19, she was noticed by Paul Hébert after performing at the

Ouimetoscope frame, Photograph of the Ouimetoscope as it existed in 1908. The civic number of the building has now been changed to 1204 Sainte-Catherine Est. The Ouimetoscope was the first Canadian theatre dedicated exclusively to showing movies. It was inaug ...

and Lune rousse theatres in Montréal. She formed a duo with

Olivier Guimond (père) Olivier Guimond (Suffix (name)#Other European countries, père) (born March 18, 1893, in Greater Sudbury, Sudbury, Ontario, died October 9, 1954, in Montreal, Quebec) was a Canadian comedian, humorist, and burlesque revue leader who was very fam ...

, which quickly became popular throughout Québec. Ouellette called herself "Casserole" at first, but eventually took the stage name "La Poune" in order to complement Guimond's own stage name, "Ti-Zoune." Ouellette was a leading figure of the very popular

burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

and

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

genres which dominated the theatrical scene in

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 ...

from the 1920s until the 1960s. From 1936 to 1953, Ouellette was in charge of the Théâtre National. In 1958 she launched a career in cabaret that lasted more than 20 years. In the late 60s and early 70s, she worked with Gilles Latulippe at the Théâtre des Variétés of Montreal. Between 1971 and 1980, she played opposite Juliette Pétrie, Gerry Morelle, Simone Mercier, Gaston Boileau and Louis Armel. In 1982, she appeared as madame Jeanne Renoir in ''

Scandale Scandale is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Crotone, in the Calabria region of southern Italy. Geography The town is bordered by Crotone, Cutro, Rocca di Neto, San Mauro Marchesato and Santa Severina Santa Severina is a town and ''comun ...

''; she has also made various television appearances. Her 75-year career eventually made her a cultural icon in Quebec.

Television roles

She made her television debut in "Les Deux Valses," a play by André Laurendeau presented by the SRC in 1960. Later in 1960 she appeared in the comedy series "Télé-surprise" ( CFTM). She played occasional roles in the TV soap operas "

Rue des pignons ''Rue des Pignons'' was a Canadian French-language TV series which ran from 1966 to 1977. Radio-Canada has reportedly lost most of the episodes of the series, only managing to trace about 35 of the 414 episodes from 1966 to 1977. The program's th ...

" (SRC, 1966–1977), "

Chère Isabelle The Chère (; br, Kaer) is a long river in the Loire-Atlantique and Ille-et-Vilaine '' départements'', northwestern France. Its source is at Soudan. It flows generally west. It is a left tributary of the Vilaine into which it flows between Pie ...

" (

TVA The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

, 1976–1977), "

Les Brillant ''Les Brillant'' was a French Canadian comedy television series that aired on TVA for three seasons between 1979 and 1982. A total of 101 episodes aired. It was broadcast as reruns during summertime throughout the 80's and is now regularly schedu ...

" (TVA, 1979–1982) and " Les Moineau et les Pinson" (TVA, 1982–1985).

Awards

In 1985, Rose Ouellette was awarded the Rose d'or, a prize given by popular vote. In 1990, she was the recipient of the

Ordre national du Québec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Gov ...

Publications

Journalist

Philippe Laframboise Philippe is a masculine sometimes feminin given name, cognate to Philip. It may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince Philippe, Count o ...

collected some biographical remarks, which were published in ''La Poune'' (Éditions Héritage, 1978. 139 pages). Oulette published several works including ''Vous faire rire, c'est ma vie'' (1983) and ''Comment atteindre le bel âge en grande forme'' (1985).

Death

Ouellette died on September 14, 1996, at Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont in Montreal, Quebec at the age of 93.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouellette, Rose 1903 births 1996 deaths Comedians from Montreal Actresses from Montreal Canadian women comedians 20th-century Canadian actresses 20th-century Canadian comedians Burials at Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery