Dominique Michel

Michel, Dominique

Dominique Michel, born Michel-Aimée Sylvestre, actor and singer (b at Sorel, Qué 24 Dec 1932). A musician by training, who joined the tough school of clubs and cabarets in the mid-fifties, Dominique Michel met Denise FILIATRAULT in 1954, and together they formed one of the most popular duos on Québec television in Moi et l'autre. Her intuitive gifts for comedy, aided by a healthy dose of self-mockery, enabled her to take on numerous light-hearted jobs on stage, TV and in films.

After noted appearances with the comedy troupe Le Beu qui rit (1955), she cut her first record (En veillant su'l perron) with immediate success (65 000 copies). Then, for a dozen or so years, she co-hosted several radio and TV programs. From the mid-1960s on, she began a career as an actor in TV sitcoms from Moi et l'autre to Chère Isabelle, Dominique, Métro-Boulot-Dodo, etc. At about the same time she played in some twenty year-end variety shows on Radio-Canada television (Bye Byes), offered one woman shows on stage, and became a mainstay at galas of the Montréal Festival Juste pour rire/Just for Laughs.

In movies, Dominique Michel collaborated in several humorous populist productions (Tiens-toi bien après les oreilles à papa, Y'a toujours moyen de moyenner, etc.), but she proved surprisingly accurate in her portrayal of a pessimistic history professor in Denys ARCAND's THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE in 1986.