GRATIEN GÉLINAS
The dean of Canadian playwrights, Gratien Gélinas was born in St-Tite, Québec,
in 1909. In 1937 he created his character Fridolin for radio.
Brought to the stage in 1938, Fridolin was the main character of
Gélinas’ enormously popular satirical revues, Les Fridolinades,
throughout 1946. In 1948, he wrote Ti-Coq, a play that was
performed more than 600 times.
In 1957, he was the founding director of la Comédie-Canadienne and was a founding member of the National Theatre School.
Meanwhile he wrote his second play, Bousille and the Just, whose
success exceeded that of Ti-Coq, reaching 700 performances. In
1966 he wrote his third play Yesterday the children were dancing.
Recipient of numerous honorary degrees, he is a member of the Royal Society of
Canada and a Companion of the Order of Canada. In 1986 he wrote his last play,
The Passion of Narcisse Mondoux, which was performed over 600
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