Sébastien Dhavernas (born 19 January 1950) is a
Canadian
Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...
actor
An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...
.
Career
Dhavernas was born in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
,
Quebec
Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...
. He is the husband of actress
Michèle Deslauriers
Michèle Deslauriers (born January 17, 1946) is a Canadians, Canadian actress.
She is the wife of actor Sébastien Dhavernas and the mother of actress Caroline Dhavernas and voice actress Gabrielle Dhavernas. She provides the voice announcing s ...
and the father of actress
Caroline Dhavernas
Caroline Dhavernas ( ; born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian actress. In the United States, her best known work has been her collaborations with Bryan Fuller. She played Jaye Tyler in the Fox comedy-drama series '' Wonderfalls'', and Alana Bloom in th ...
and
voice actress
Voice acting is the art of Acting, performing a character or providing information to an audience with one's voice. Performers are often called voice actors/actresses in addition to other names. Examples of voice work include animation, animated, ...
Gabrielle Dhavernas. He completed his classical studies at
Collège Stanislas, did a year in
Sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
at
McGill University
McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...
, and subsequently attended the
Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Montréal The Conservatoire d'art dramatique de Montréal is a Canadian government-funded dramatic school founded in 1954. The first director was Jan Doat. He was succeeded by Jean Valcourt in 1955 on the condition that a branch also be opened in Quebec Cit ...
.
In addition to acting, Dhavernas has done French-language voice
dubbing
Dubbing (also known as re-recording and mixing) is a post-production process used in filmmaking and the video production process where supplementary recordings (known as doubles) are lip-synced and "mixed" with original production audio to cr ...
, attaining some fame as the voice of
Roger Rabbit
Roger Rabbit is a fictional animated anthropomorphic rabbit. The character first appeared in author Gary K. Wolf's 1981 novel, '' Who Censored Roger Rabbit?''. In the book, Roger is second banana in a popular comic strip, "Baby Herman". Roger ...
in the French-language version of the film ''
Who Framed Roger Rabbit
''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' is a 1988 American fantasy comedy film directed by Robert Zemeckis from a screenplay written by Jeffrey Price and Peter S. Seaman. It is loosely based on the 1981 novel ''Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'' by Gary K. Wol ...
''.
[Virginia M. Citrano, "Theater: One Cast, Two Languages," ''Wall Street Journal'', 19 April 1991, A13.] In 1989, he urged the
government of Canada
The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...
to pass legislation requiring that the majority of French-dubbed television programs in Quebec actually be dubbed in the province, rather than in
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. He was later described as being responsible for overseeing dubbing issues in Quebec's ''
Union des artistes''. Dhavernas has also acted in
theatre
Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...
, including in a Quebec production of ''
Les Misérables
''Les Misérables'' (, ) is a 19th-century French literature, French Epic (genre), epic historical fiction, historical novel by Victor Hugo, first published on 31 March 1862, that is considered one of the greatest novels of the 19th century. '' ...
'',
and has served as president of the Canadian Artists and Producers Professional Relations Tribunal (CAPPRT).
["The Liberal Party of Canada (Quebec) appoints a new Vice president for Quebec West and a new member within the Political Commission," ''Canada NewsWire'', 12 December 2008.]
Dhavernas ran for the
Liberal Party of Canada
The Liberal Party of Canada (LPC; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. The party espouses the principles of liberalism,McCall, Christina; Stephen Clarkson"Liberal Party". ''The Canadian Encyclopedia''. and generally sits at the Centrism, ...
in the Montreal riding of
Outremont
Outremont () is an affluent residential borough (''arrondissement'') of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It consists entirely of the former city on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec. The neighbourhood is inhabited largely by F ...
in the
2008 federal election, campaigning against cuts to arts funding that had been introduced by the
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...
government of
Stephen Harper
Stephen Joseph Harper (born April 30, 1959) is a Canadian politician who served as the 22nd prime minister of Canada from 2006 to 2015. He is to date the only prime minister to have come from the modern-day Conservative Party of Canada, ser ...
. He made his decision to run only days before the election. Ultimately, he finished second against
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...
incumbent and future party leader
Thomas Mulcair
Thomas Joseph Mulcair (born October 24, 1954) is a Canadian lawyer and retired politician who served as the leader of the New Democratic Party (NDP) from 2012 to 2017 and leader of the Official Opposition from 2012 to 2015. He was elected to ...
. Following the election, Dhavernas was appointed to a Liberal Party political commission headed by
Serge Joyal
Serge Joyal (born February 1, 1945) is a Canadian politician who served in the House of Commons of Canada from 1974 to 1984 and subsequently in the Senate of Canada from 1997 to 2020.
Career
A lawyer by profession, Joyal served as vice-presid ...
.
Dhavernas intended to run for the Liberal nomination in Outremont again in the buildup to the
2011 election, but he was advised that the seat would be reserved for a
star candidate
A star candidate () is high-profile individual who is entering or re-entering elected politics. In Canada and the United Kingdom, the recruitment of a star candidate often includes a guaranteed nomination in a winnable seat.
Star candidates com ...
.
He ran for
Montreal city council in the
2013 municipal election as a candidate of
Équipe Denis Coderre pour Montréal
Equipe or Équipe may refer to:
''Équipe''
Équipe may refer to:
* team, in French language
* ''L'Équipe'', a French newspaper devoted to sports
* ''L'Équipe'' (TV series), a television series broadcast in many versions and in many countries ...
in
Verdun
Verdun ( , ; ; ; official name before 1970: Verdun-sur-Meuse) is a city in the Meuse (department), Meuse departments of France, department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
In 843, the Treaty of V ...
division of Desmarchais-Crawford and narrowly lost to
Sterling Downey
Sterling Downey is a Canadian artist, festival organizer, and politician in Montreal, Quebec. He is a founding member and principal organizer of the ''Under Pressure'' graffiti art festival in the city and has served on the Montreal city council ...
of
Projet Montréal
Projet Montréal (officially Projet Montréal - Équipe Luc Rabouin) is a progressive, environmentalist municipal political party in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 2004, it is led by Luc Rabouin and holds a majority of seats on Montre ...
.
Dhavernas has written for ''
HuffPost
''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...
''s
French language
French ( or ) is a Romance languages, Romance language of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European family. Like all other Romance languages, it descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. French evolved from Northern Old Gallo-R ...
Quebec site.
[Jeff Heinrich, "Bloggers paid with a platform; Arianna Huffington launches her Quebec website with a defence of 'self-expression, when you want, if you want'," ''Montreal Gazette'', 2 February 2012, C5.]
Selected filmography
* ''
René Lévesque
René Lévesque ( ; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Canadian politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to seek, ...
'' (2008) ....
Robert Bourassa
Robert Bourassa (; July 14, 1933 – October 2, 1996) was a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd premier of Quebec from 1970 to 1976 and from 1985 to 1994. A member of the Liberal Party of Quebec, he served a total of just ...
* ''Trudeau II: Maverick in the Making'' (2005) (
TV) ....
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
ian
Publisher
Publishing is the activities of making information, literature, music, software, and other content, physical or digital, available to the public for sale or free of charge. Traditionally, the term publishing refers to the creation and distribu ...
* ''Maurice Richard: Histoire d'un Canadien'' (1999) ....
Voix à la
radio
Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...
* ''Réseaux'' (1998–1999) ... J. C. Michaud
* ''
Watatatow
''Watatatow'' is a Canadian French-language children/youth television series, that aired from 1991 to 2005 on Radio-Canada. The first show aired on September 17, 1991. 104 half-hour episodes were filmed every year; they were shown four afternoon ...
'' (1991–2005) ... André Dubuc
* ''The Gunrunner'' (1984) .... Fred Samuel
* ''Le temps d'une paix'' (1980–1986) .... Raoul Savary
* ''Le pont'' (1976) .... Gilles
* ''Y'a pas de problème'' (1975–1977) .... Michelle Duquette
Dubbing
Films
Feature films
Animated feature films
Electoral record
*
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dhavernas, Sebastien
1950 births
Canadian actor-politicians
Collège Stanislas de Paris alumni
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
Candidates in the 2008 Canadian federal election
Living people
Male actors from Montreal
Politicians from Montreal
Quebec candidates for Member of Parliament
Liberal Party of Canada candidates for the Canadian House of Commons