Monique Leyrac

Leyrac was born Monique Tremblay in Montreal, Quebec.[3] She helped raise her siblings while her mother worked as a milliner, while educating herself by reading poetry and fiction. She studied drama with Madame Maubourg.[4]

Leyrac began her acting career on the radio in 1943, using her knowledge of music and drama.[3] In 1965 she won the grand prize at the Sopot International Song Festival in Poland for her rendition of Gilles Vigneault's "Mon Pays".[5] That year she also won first prize at the Festival de la Chanson at Ostende, Belgium. In 1967 she sang at Expo 67.[6]

Leyrac was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1967 and was the subject of an hour-long documentary on CBC television in 1972.[3] She received the 1979 Prix de musique Calixa-Lavallée. She recorded ten albums of music,[6] and in the 1980s she began to write and stage one-woman shows in which she sang and acted.[7]

In 1997, Leyrac received the Governor General's Performing Arts Award, Canada's highest honour in the performing arts.[8] In 1998, she was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec.[9]

In 2007 a boxed set, Leyrac/La diva des années 60, was released, containing three albums of her performed songs, many by Quebec composers, as well as a DVD with a short documentary of her life and career.[10] In 2013 Leyrac was presented with the Prix Denise-Pelletier for her outstanding career in the performing arts.[11][12]

In 2019 a biography of Leyrac's life, written by François Dompierre, was released.[13]

Leyrac had been married for twenty-five years to actor-director Jean Dalmain, from 1952 to 1977.[14] Leyrac died on December 15, 2019 in Cowansville, Quebec at the age of 91.[15]

• Monique Leyrac at IMDb