Jean Duceppe

Jean Duceppe was born to a Montreal family of 18 children living in a working-class neighborhood. He grew up to become the most beloved of Quebec actors. He started out studying to be a Franciscan brother, and is now remembered for three outstanding performances: as Mon oncle Antoine in Claude Jutra‘s film, as Willy Loman in La mort d’un commis voyageur/Death of a Salesman, and as Maurice Duplessis in Charbonneau et le Chef. Jean Duceppe founded his own theatre company in 1973 at Montréal`s Place des Arts. Death of a Salesman was one of the company`s first shows. The match between Duceppe and character of Willy Loman was magical. In fact Jean Duceppe once said, “Willy Loman was the greatest role of my life. It marked me and became a part of me; I could have played it till my dying day, without ever getting tired of it.” A year after his death the administration of Place des Arts changed the name of Théâtre Port-Royal to Théâtre Jean-Duceppe in his honour. Among his children are director Monique and the leader of the Bloc Québecois, Gilles Duceppe.