Yvan Ponton (born 22 October 1945) is a
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 ...
actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
,
commentator and
television host
A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces, hosts television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. Nowadays, it is common for people who garne ...
. Ponton has had a lengthy acting career which includes roles in a variety of major
French-Canadian
French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fr ...
television shows and movies. He is most well known to English-speaking audiences for his role as Drouin in the 1977 film ''
Slap Shot''.
Background
Ponton was born in
Farnham, Quebec
Farnham is a city in Brome-Missisquoi Regional County Municipality in the Estrie region of Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2021 Census was 10,149, making it the second most populated community in the RCM.
History
The city of Fa ...
. Ponton's acting career started in the early 1970s when he appeared in the television series ''Mont-Joye'' for five years. He would also appear in other significant Quebec series such as ''Ent'Cadieux'', ''Diva'', ''Jasmine'' and ''Zap''.
In his film career, his first notable acting role was in the 1977 film ''
Slap Shot'' featuring
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...
and the
Hanson Brothers
The Hanson Brothers are fictional characters in the 1977 movie ''Slap Shot''. The characters are based on the Carlson brothers, who were actual hockey players.
The movie, which stars Paul Newman, was written by Nancy Dowd. The story was based ...
when he played the role of Jean-Guy Drouin.
His second role was as Jacques Mercier, in the television series ''
Lance et Compte
''He Shoots, He Scores'' (french: Lance et compte) is a Canadian ''téléroman'', or television drama series, revolving around a fictional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The series aired from 1986 to 1989 on the Radio-Canada network, and re ...
'' (''He Shoots, He Scores'' in English) which started with three seasons from 1987 to 1989 before doing three more seasons from 2002 to 2006. He was the coach during the first season of the Quebec Nationals, an imitation of the defunct
Quebec Nordiques
The Quebec Nordiques (french: Nordiques de Québec, pronounced in Quebec French, in Canadian English; translated "Quebec City Northmen" or "Northerners") were a professional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The Nordiques played in the W ...
(now
Colorado Avalanche
The Colorado Avalanche (colloquially known as the Avs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Denver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference. The Avalanche play thei ...
) of the
National Hockey League
The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
. After being coach, he worked as a commentator. In ''Lance et Compte: La Reconquete'', he was named the coach of the
Montreal Canadiens
The Montreal CanadiensEven in English, the French spelling is always used instead of ''Canadians''. The French spelling of ''Montréal'' is also sometimes used in the English media. (french: link=no, Les Canadiens de Montréal), officially ...
.
Another major role was in all four ''
Les Boys
''Les Boys'' is a 1997 Quebec-made comedy film directed by Louis Saia. It has spawned three sequels and by any measure ( profit, box office or attendance) is the most successful Quebec made film series of all time, and one of the most successfu ...
'' films in which he played the role of Jean-Charles, an openly gay
lawyer
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
and a
defenseman
Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...
for a garage hockey league team. Ponton, as was in Lance et Compte played along with several known Quebec actors including
Marc Messier
Marc Messier, M.S.C. (born August 16, 1947) is a Canadian actor and filmmaker.
Background
Born in Granby, Quebec, Messier's 45-year acting career included the participation in several well-known films and television series.
After finishing his ...
,
Patrick Huard
Patrick Huard (born January 2, 1969) is a Quebec-born Canadian actor, writer and comedian.
Career
Patrick Huard broke into the Quebec show business scene in 1989 as a comedian, actor and television personality. A hard-working multifaceted talen ...
,
Rémy Girard
Rémy Girard (born August 10, 1950) is a Canadian actor and former television host from Montreal, Quebec.
Acting career
Girard played the role of Rémy, the main character, who is dying of terminal cancer, in the Canadian film ''The Barbarian In ...
,
Pierre Lebeau
Pierre Lebeau (born 22 July 1954) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for major roles in Quebec big-box movies such as ''Séraphin: Heart of Stone'' and the four-part ''Les Boys'' series.
Life and career
His acting career started on the theatr ...
,
Maxim Roy
Maxim Roy (born March 7, 1972) is a French Canadian, French-Canadian actress. In English, she is best known for playing Detective Isabelle Latendresse in the English version of the Canadian police drama television series ''19-2 (2014 TV series), ...
,
Serge Thériault
Serge Thériault (born April 23, 1948 in Quebec City) is a Canadian comedian and actor from Quebec. He is best known for his collaborations with Claude Meunier, including the ''Ding et Dong'' comedy duo and the spinoff television series '' La Peti ...
,
Michel Barrette
Michel Barrette (born April 26, 1957 in Chicoutimi, Quebec) is a television and movie actor, television and radio host and stand-up comedian. He has played various roles in Quebec movies and television shows since 1982.
Profile
After serving ...
,
Eric Lapointe and
Paul Houde
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
* Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
*Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
. A television series from the film aired on Radio-Canada during the Fall of 2007. In 1991 Yvan starred as the villain in the sci-fi cult film ''
Scanners II: The New Order''. Yvan had a recurring role as RCMP Inspector André Cormier on the CBC drama ''North of 60'' in the 1990's.
Ponton is also the chief referee and the host of an
improvisation
Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
game called Ligue Nationale d'Improvisation which airs on
Télé-Québec
The Société de télédiffusion du Québec (; en, Quebec Television Broadcasting Corporation), branded as Télé-Québec (), is a Canadian French-language public educational television network in the province of Quebec. It is a provincial Cro ...
since 1977. He was later the host of a quiz game called Ultimatum in the early 2000s which aired on
TVA
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a Federal government of the United States, federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, an ...
. He is also the host of a 30-minute show called 30 Images/Seconde, a review of some of the best recent sports plays in various sports, which airs on
RDS. He's also been the
play-by-play
In sports broadcasting, a sports commentator (also known as sports announcer or sportscaster) provides a real-time commentary of a game or event, usually during a live broadcast, traditionally delivered in the historical present tense. Radio was ...
commentator for professional tennis matches on the same network since 1993 including coverage of the
ATP's and
WTA's four major tennis tournaments, the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
,
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
and the
US Open.
Ponton also taught dramatic arts for 15 years.
http://www.rds.ca/chroniqueurs
/ref>
Mediagraphy
Television series
* ''Mont-Joye'' (1970–1975)
* ''Y'a pas de problème'' (1975–1977)
* ''Vanderburg'' (1983)
* ''Lance et Compte
''He Shoots, He Scores'' (french: Lance et compte) is a Canadian ''téléroman'', or television drama series, revolving around a fictional ice hockey team based in Quebec City. The series aired from 1986 to 1989 on the Radio-Canada network, and re ...
'' (1987–1989, 2002–2006)
* ''L'or et le papier'' (1989–1990, 1992)
* ''Le Saga d'Archibald'' (1991)
* ''La misère des riches'' (1992)
* ''Bethune: The making of a hero'' (1993)
* ''Zap (1993–1996)
* ''North of 60'' (1993–1996)
* ''Ent'Cadieux'' (1993–1999)
* ''Jasmine'' (1996)
* ''Diva'' (1997)
* ''Les Boys (TV series)'' (2007)
* '' The Foundation'' (2009)
Films
* '' Slap Shot'' (1977)
* ''The Fighting Man
''The Fighting Man'' is the second studio album by the English pagan metal
Pagan metal is a genre of heavy metal music which fuses extreme metal with " the pre-Christian traditions of a specific culture or region" through thematic concept, r ...
'' (1977)
* ''Pouvoir intime'' (1986)
* ''Henri'' (1986)
* ''Hold-Up'' (1986)
* ''Cold Front
A cold front is the leading edge of a cooler mass of air at ground level that replaces a warmer mass of air and lies within a pronounced surface trough of low pressure. It often forms behind an extratropical cyclone (to the west in the Norther ...
'' (1989)
* ''Bethune: The Making of a Hero'' (1990)
* '' Scanners II: The New Order'' (1991)
* ''Les Boys
''Les Boys'' is a 1997 Quebec-made comedy film directed by Louis Saia. It has spawned three sequels and by any measure ( profit, box office or attendance) is the most successful Quebec made film series of all time, and one of the most successfu ...
'' (I through IV) (1997, 1998, 2001, 2005) and its prequel ''Il était une fois les Boys'' (2013)
* ''Air speed'' (1998)
* ''In the Blue Ground'' (1998)
* ''Trial by Fire'' (1999)
* ''Le Collectionneur'' (2002)
* ''Lance et Compte Le Film (2010)
References
External links/References
*
Biography (Courtesy of RDS)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponton, Yvan
1945 births
Canadian game show hosts
Canadian male film actors
Canadian male television actors
French Quebecers
Living people
Male actors from Quebec