Rita Lafontaine Death
Rita passed away on April 4, 2016 at the age of 76.
When did Rita Lafontaine die?
April 4, 2016How old was Rita Lafontaine when died?
76
Rita Lafontaine Birthday and Date of Death
Rita Lafontaine was born on June 8, 1939 and died on April 4, 2016. Rita was 76 years old at the time of death.
Birthday: June 8, 1939
Date of Death: April 4, 2016
Age at Death: 76
Rita Lafontaine - Biography
Rita Lafontaine, actor (b at Trois-Rivières, Que 1939). Rita Lafontaine, a favourite performer of playwright Michel TREMBLAY and director André BRASSARD, began in theatre at the same time as they did - in the late 1960s. They formed a partnership at the Mouvement Contemporain, an amateur theatre company founded by Brassard, and their careers were linked for 40 years. In 1966, Lafontaine and Brassard launched their first Tremblay work at the Patriote-en-Haut: Cinq, an early version of En pièces détachées. In 1968, all 3 made striking professional debuts with Les Belles-Soeurs at the Théâtre du Rideau Vert, and the same year, Rita Lafontaine appeared in the cast of L'École des bouffons by Ghelderode, directed by Brassard at the Centre du Théâtre d'Aujourd'hui. Under his direction, she would perform an impressive gallery of characters by Tremblay, but also by Françoise Loranger (Double Jeu, Comédie-Canadienne, 1969) and Tennessee Williams (Le Pays du dragon, Théâtre de Quat'Sous, 1972). She was seen in works by Euripides (Andromaque/Andromache, Théâtre de Quat'Sous, 1974), Feydeau (Le Dindon, National Arts Centre/Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, 1978) and Chekhov (Uncle Vanya, adapted by Tremblay, NAC/TNM, 1983), repertoire that she performed less frequently. Inseparable from the dramatic works of Tremblay, Lafontaine created some 15 roles in his plays, where, directed by Brassard, she gave her greatest performances, even recalling characters from different periods: Manon in both À toi, pour toujours, ta Marie-Lou (Théâtre de Quat'Sous, 1971) and Damnée Manon, sacrée Sandra (Quat'sous, 1977); Albertine at 40 in Albertine, en cinq temps (Rideau Vert, 1985) and also in La Maison suspendue (Compagnie Jean-Duceppe, 1990); Madeleine 1 in le Vrai monde? (Rideau Vert, 1987); and Nana in Encore une vous si vous le permettez (Rideau Vert, 1998). Thanks to a unique disposition and cheeky humour she perfected her popular style, particularly in Tremblay's plays, and she adopted a perpetual play of tension between the comic and the tragic. During the same period, she worked with other directors, notably René Richard Cyr, who mounted Bonbons assortis (2006) by Tremblay at the Rideau Vert and L'Examen de passage de Horovitz (1992) with Jean-Duceppe's company, where she was seen regularly from 1986. She performed works by American authors Neil Simon (Brighton Beach Memoirs, 1986, and Bonjour Broadway, 1989), Tennessee Williams (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, 2000) and Arthur Miller (The Crucible, 1989) as well as works by Québécois writers, notably Marie Laberge (Oublier, 1987). Rita Lafontaine's comic talent was shown to advantage in several summer comedies and she championed the plays of Marie-Thérèse Quinton at the Théâtre de la Chèvrerie (St-Fortunat), from Lucky Luciano (1987) to La Vie en couleurs (1999). In 2004, she founded le Centre des arts Rita-Lafontaine, in Saint-Joseph de Ham-Sud where, in its first season, she directed and performed La Reine mère by Anne Boyer and Michel D'Astous. She has made some 30 films since her cinema debut in 1972 in André Brassard's Françoise Durocher, waitress, with a script by Michel Tremblay. The same duo followed with Il était un fois dans l'Est (1974) and Le soleil se lève en retard (1976). Her major role on the big screen is without a doubt the woman in need of passion in L'Homme de rêve (1991), a film by Robert Ménard for which she won the prix Gémeaux, the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois prize and the Séquence magazine prize. She was seen on television in "Le Retour" (1996-2001), which earned several awards, and in plays by Janette BERTRAND, notably Dis-moi-le si je dérange (1993). She appeared in the TV series "Le monde de Charlotte" (2001-04) and in the very popular series "Les Super Mamies," which starred 4 actresses in their sixties and followed their daily lives, their relationships with their lovers, children and grandchildren, and their views of the future. In 2006 Lafontaine performed brilliantly and to great acclaim in the play by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt, Oscar et la dame Rose, at the Monument national theatre in Montréal and at the Grand Théâtre de Québec to celebrate the centenary of l'hôpital Ste-Justine in Montréal. On November 18, 2005, Rita Lafontaine received the ORDER OF CANADA.
