Yves Jacques OC (born 10 May 1956) is a Canadian film, television and stage actor.
Contents
Life and career
Jacques was born in Quebec City in 1956. He studied theatre at the Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe, and began acting on stage in both Quebec City and Montreal. He became more widely known to film and television audiences beginning in 1981 as a sketch performer in Télévision de Radio-Canada's annual Bye Bye New Year's Eve variety special, and soon began appearing more widely in film and television roles. To international audiences, he is best known as Claude, the gay academic in Denys Arcand's The Decline of the American Empire and The Barbarian Invasions. On stage, he is noted for originating the role of Lydie-Anne in the premiere of Michel Marc Bouchard's play Lilies.
He has been in several movies by French filmmaker Claude Miller, including Of Woman and Magic and Little Lili. His fame has continued to grow with films and theatrical productions in both France and Quebec. Since 2001, he has toured the world in two shows by Robert Lepage, Far Side of the Moon (La Face cachée de la lune) and Le Projet Andersen, where he played all the roles. Since 2018, he has appeared regularly in Mathieu Quesnel's theatrical creations. More recently, he played in Aline by Valérie Lemercier, in Maria by Alec Pronovost, and in Chloé Robichaud's Les jours heureux. In 2022, Yves Jacques played in Martin Villeneuve's The 12 Tasks of Imelda (Les 12 travaux d'Imelda), co-starring playwright Robert Lepage and actress-singer Ginette Reno.
He was named Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication de France in February 2001, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2009, for his performances in theatre, television and film, in Canada and abroad.
He is openly gay.
Filmography
Cinema
1982 : Red Eyes (Les Yeux rouges)
1983 : Sonatine: Subway Station Janitor
1984 : The Crime of Ovide Plouffe (Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe): Bob
1985 : Hold-Up: Otage 400 S
1986 : The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'empire américain): Claude
1989 : Jesus of Montreal (Jésus de Montréal): Richard Cardinal
1990 : Ding et Dong (Ding et Dong: le film): Jigi
1990 : Milena: Max Brod
1991 : Montreal Stories (Montréal vu par...)
1993 : Trois femmes un amour
1994 : Meurtre en musique: Simon Claveau
1994 : Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes): Michel Gobeil
1995 : Alfred: Georges Fehrenbach
1998 : Michael Kael contre la World News Company: Charles Robert
1998 : Class Trip: The Visitor
1999 : Memories Unlocked (Souvenirs intimes): Mortimer
1999 : The Widow of Saint-Pierre (La Veuve de Saint-Pierre): Le contre-amiral
Distinctions
Nominations
Nominated for the prix Jutra for best actor in 2000 for Souvenirs intimes
Music
In 1981, he was singer-songwriter of the song On ne peut pas tous être pauvres (music by composerPierre Gagnon). Jacques also produced and realised(directed) the music video which is the first Québécois music video.
