Vol. 7 No. 2 (Fall 1986)

GILLES LATULIPPE ET PHIL LAFRAMBOISE, Olivier. Un Livre-témoignage orchestré, ed. Alain Stanke. Montréal, 1985. 192 p.

Louise Forsyth

This book is about the man who was probably the greatest comic performer ever to emerge in Quebec: Olivier Guimond (1914-1971). His varied career covered a period of 40 years. It took him into many different forms of dramatic expression: cabarets, burlesque, musical theatre, radio, television. He worked mainly in Montreal, but he travelled extensively throughout Quebec and was well known by all Quebeckers, particularly because of the work he did in popular night spots, in television series and in commercials. The suggestion has been made that he held a place in the hearts of the ordinary people of Quebec which is equalled only by the legendary Maurice Richard.

Olivier is a testimonial and homage to a beloved friend and associate, which has been 'orchestrated' by Gilles Latulippe. Latulippe worked with Olivier Guimond for many years and states that he feels his own exemplary theatre career was profoundly influenced by Guimond. Latulippe has not attempted to study Guimond's career in an objective and systematic way, nor to provide reliable information on his activities. The major part of the book, almost 150 pages, comprises short texts by more than 120 of 'ses Amis', that is, by people who knew him as a child or who worked with him in various capacities during his long career. They speak of the person and artist they knew, frequently recounting anecdotes drawn from their own experience. Latulippe's use of guillemets in the presentation of these texts is unnecessary and distracting. An interesting element of the book, one which complements the personal testimonials, is the more than 80 photographs of Guimond, most of them taken from actual performances. The graphic qualities of the book are outstanding, with its two color photographs on the cover and the delightful drawings by Suzanne Brind'Amour which run through the book like so many winks of the eye from Olivier himself.

The first part of Olivier offers brief pieces: a message from Jean Drapeau, an Introduction by Gilles Latulippe, a copy of the homily pronounced by l'abbé Marcel Dandurand at Guimond's funeral, an interview with Guimond's mother, a well-known woman of the theatre: Effie Mack, and short texts written by each of his two wives: Jeanne-d'Arc Charlebois and Manon Guimond. The final short piece, 'Les Adieux de son dernier compagnon d'armes,' was written by Denis Drouin the day of Guimond's funeral. Drouin, a popular comic actor himself, appeared frequently with Olivier.

Fragments of information on Guimond's career can be gleaned from these various testimonials and from the brief introduction provided for each collaborator. However, they are more effective as moving, personal, tributes than as sources of information for the study of theatre history. While they are enjoyable to read, they tend to be repetitive and uneven in their presentation. Because Guimond worked in so many different media and in such a variety of places, a useful addition to the book would have been a chronology giving the highlights of his career.

Latulippe has chosen to arrange the texts of Guimond's friends in alphabetical order, a disconcerting arrangement which makes it impossible to follow in a coherent way the various threads of a fascinating career. It would have been more interesting had the texts been arranged chronologically according to the moment when these people had known or worked with Guimond. Or, they could have been grouped in categories according to whether they were childhood friends, had worked with him and his famous parents in the early days, had been on stage with him, or had been part of his career in television.

Olivier Guimond was the son of vaudeville artist Effie Mack (Effie MacDonald, who emigrated to Quebec from Scotland at the age of 10) and the great burlesque star Olivier Guimond. Despite his parents' wish that he become a civil engineer, the young Guimond began his own career in burlesque theatre in Montreal during his late teens, in the early 1930's. He was soon touring throughout the province and into the United States with many of Quebec's finest entertainers. He became the star attraction of each stage where he appeared. He was a burlesque artist who played in cafés, clubs, cabarets. As well, he played in such theatres as le Théâtre National, le Théâtre des Variétés, le Théâtre Odéon-Mercier, la Comédie Canadienne and la Place des Arts, working with such people as La Bolduc, Manda, Jean Grimaldi, Gilles Latulippe, Denise Filiatrault, Clémence Desrochers, Albert Millaire. Thanks to his work in television, which began in the late fifties, Guimond became known as the 'COMIQUE NATIONAL' of Quebec. Several of his programs and series on TV must be seen as an integral part of Quebec cultural life: Music-Hall, Cré Basile, Les Trois Valses, Le Zoo du capitaine Bonhomme, Bye! Bye!. In 1966 he was recognized as Monsieur Télévision. Unfortunately, almost all of the tapes of his television performances on Télé-Métro and Radio-Canada have been destroyed.

The TV commercials Guimond made with Gilles Carle for Labatt's: Lui, y connaît ÇA!, became famous and so successful for the company that beer sales soared. In these commercials Guimond depicted working people of Quebec and celebrated their pride in their trades and skills. Labatt's advertising man, Raymond Beaulieu, says of him:
 

Olivier dans nos commerciaux est arrivé en même temps que la révolution tranquille. Il était tellement sympathique dans la fameuse série des métiers - (Lui, y connaît ça!) - que le policier, l'imprimeur, le chauffeur de taxi, le mécanicien, l'électricien - tous se reconnaissaient en lui comme le Québécois qui connaît son affaire [ ... ] Si on en parle encore aujourd'hui c'est parce que cela a marqué tout le monde. (p. 43)

The composite portrait of Olivier Guimond produced by these testimonials is that of a vulnerable man with certain weaknesses. Throughout his life he seems to have lived with self-doubt. It is also the portrait of a consistently kind and generous man, who had no pretentions to achieve star status. He never stole the limelight, even from his straight-men; he never failed to go out of his way to assist people in need, colleagues and young performers to whom he could teach his craft and who could profit from his support and advice. Above all, Olivier offers the portrait of a comic artist of prodigious talent - a mime, a clown (with all the pathetic grandeur evoked by this tradition), an irrepressible improvisor on stage and before the cameras, with an impeccable sense of timing. On several occasions in the book, it is suggested that his was a genius of international standard. His colleagues and admirers are perhaps less guilty of exaggeration than one might first think when they place his art on the level of Michelangelo, Rodin, Chopin, and when they compare his performance to that of Chaplin, Laurel, Hardy, Fernandel, Red Skelton, Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Burns & Allen. Jean Lapointe has stated that, in his opinion, 'on peut classer Olivier Guimond parmi les dix plus grands comiques du monde.'(p 116)

Like all great comics, it seems, Guimond struck his friends with an innate quality of indescribable sadness, as is clear in the following remark about him by filmmaker Gilles Carle, who worked with him for 10 years and who greatly admired his work:
 

Pour moi, c'est un personnage qui compte autant que Maurice Richard, qui compte plus que le frère André, qui compte autant qu'Harry Landon aux Etats-Unis [ ... ] Olivier n'était jamais heureux pour moi. Il était heureux momentanément d'avoir réussi, quand il pensait qu'il avait réussi quelque chose, mais dans sa vie, il y avait un mystère, je ne sais pas lequel, il y avait un mystère, une chose cachée, on dirait qu'il avait toujours une douleur profonde quelque part. Il était triste. (p. 58-59)

Olivier is the warm. expression of homage and gratitude from many friends to a fine man and a true artist. It is a precious testimonial to a great comic and to an important theatrical moment in Quebec. Because of Guimond's great popularity, the book will be read and enjoyed by many in the public who considered him a friend. However, the book has all the weaknesses which are necessarily inherent in such a personal approach. A rigorous biography of this great man of Quebec theatre still remains to be written.