Marcel Sabourin

Canadian actor and writer from Quebec (born 1935)

Marcel Sabourin

Born	(1935-03-25) March 25, 1935 (age 89) Montreal, Quebec
Nationality	Canadian
Occupation(s)	actor, writer
Years active	1950s-present
Notable work	J.A. Martin Photographer, Don't Let It Kill You, The Old Country Where Rimbaud Died

Marcel Sabourin, OC (born March 25, 1935) is a Canadian actor and writer from Quebec.^[1] He is most noted for his role as Abel Gagné, the central character in Jean Pierre Lefebvre's trilogy of Don't Let It Kill You (Il ne faut pas mourir pour ça), The Old Country Where Rimbaud Died (Le Vieux pays où Rimbaud est mort) and Now or Never (Aujourd'hui ou jamais),^[2] and his performance as Professor Mandibule in the children's television series Les Croquignoles and La ribouldingue.^[3]

Career

Sabourin launched his career in the 1950s with La Roulotte, a children's theatre troupe launched by Paul Buissonneau which performed in Montreal's public parks.^[4] He studied at Collège Sainte-Marie de Montréal and the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, and in Paris under Jacques Lecoq.^[1] One of the most prolific performers in the history of the Cinema of Quebec, he has had film, television and stage credits since 1956.^[2]

He won a Canadian Film Award for Best Actor in a Non-Feature at the 25th Canadian Film Awards in 1973 for Des armes et les hommes,^[5] and was a two-time Canadian Film Award and Genie Award nominee for Best Actor, receiving nods at the 28th Canadian Film Awards in 1977 for J.A. Martin Photographer (J.A. Martin photographe)^[6] and at the 4th Genie Awards in 1983 for Sweet Lies and Loving Oaths (Doux aveux).^[7] As a screenwriter, he was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the 1st Genie Awards in 1980, as cowriter with Jean Beaudin of the film Cordélia.^[8]

At Quebec's Jutra Awards, he was a two-time Best Actor nominee for Now or Never at the 1st Jutra Awards in 1999,^[9] and for Another House (L'Autre maison) at the 16th Jutra Awards in 2014,^[10] and was the recipient of the Jutra-Hommage lifetime achievement award in 1999.^[11]

As a playwright he is most noted for Pleurer pour rire, which won the Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award in the youth theatre division in 1983,^[12] and was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award for French-language drama at the 1984 Governor General's Awards.^[13]

He has also taught at the National Theatre School of Canada.^[14]

Personal life

He married his wife Françoise in the 1960s.^[15] They have had four children, including actor and screenwriter Gabriel Sabourin and cinematographer Jérôme Sabourin.^[15] Jérôme was the director of At the End of Nothing at All (Au boute du rien pantoute), a documentary film about his father which premiered in 2024.^[16]

Filmography

Television

1963 - Ti-Jean caribou
1963 - Les Croquignoles as Mandibule
1968 - La Ribouldingue as Mandibule
1976 - Grand-Papa as Martin Roy
1976 - Du tac au tac as Bruno Félix
1978 - Duplessis as Joseph-Damase Bégin
1979 - Riel as Joseph-Noël Ritchot
1981 - Salut ! J.W. as Marc
1982 - La Bonne Aventure as Marcel Poliquin
1984 - Laurier as Joseph Lavergne
1985 - The Cuckoo Bird as Jake
1989 - He Shoots, He Scores as Marcel Allaire
1989 - Mount Royal as Gilbert Valeur
1990 - La Fille du Maquignon as Curé Dumouchel
1991 - Berlin Lady as Marquis D'Abrantes
1992 - Montréal ville ouverte
1992 - Coup de chance
1994 - Trial at Fortitude Bay as Judge Jean Lamberts
1994 - Les grands procès as Couronne
1994 - Million Dollar Babies as Père Nadeau
1996 - Omertà as Premier of Quebec
1998 - La Part des anges as Joachim Brodeur
1999 - Deux frères as Viateur Craig
2000 - Gypsies as Rosaire Baril
2000 - Le Monde de Charlotte as Alexandre Ducharme
2000 - Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis as Charles de Gaulle
2000 - Willie as Père Tourangeau
2001 - Emma as Yves Dauphin
2005 - Trudeau II: Maverick in the Making as Maurice Duplessis
2009 - Les Parent as Bernard Rivard
2010 - Trauma as Mr. Lemieux
2012 - Les Sioui-Bacon as Mr. Robert
2012 - Toute la vérité as Judge Régimbald
2022 – La Faille as Pere Gabriel

Film

1965 - Mission of Fear (Astataïon, ou Le Festin des morts)
1967 - Don't Let It Kill You (Il ne faut pas mourir pour ça) as Abel Gagné
1969 - The House of Light (La Chambre blanche)
1970 - Two Women in Gold (Deux femmes en or) as Yvon-T. Turcot
1971 - Those Damned Savages (Les maudits sauvages) as Jean Talon
1971 - The Christmas Martian (Le Martien de Noël) as The Martian / The Visitor
1971 - We Are Far from the Sun (On est loin du soleil) as Robert Bessette
1972 - The Wise Guys (Les Smattes) as Le Curé
1972 - Dirty Money (La Maudite Galette) as Ernest
1972 - The Time of the Hunt (Le Temps d'une chasse) as Richard
1973 - Des armes et les hommes
1973 - The Death of a Lumberjack (La Mort d'un bûcheron) as Ti-Noir L'Espérance
1973 - Taureau as Serge Beaudoin
1973 - Oh, If Only My Monk Would Want (Ah ! Si mon moine voulait...) as Le Religieux
1973 - The Last Betrothal (Les Dernières Fiançailles) as Doctor
1974 - Bingo as Leader of The Separatist Party
1975 - Mustang as Fred
1975 - Gina
1975 - Eliza's Horoscope as Perverted Doctor
1977 - Bernie and the Gang (Ti-Mine, Bernie pis la gang...) as Ti-Mine
1977 - J.A. Martin Photographer (J.A. Martin photographe) as Joseph-Albert Martin
1977 - The Old Country Where Rimbaud Died (Le Vieux Pays où Rimbaud est mort) as Abel Gagné
1980 - The Castle of Cards (Le Château de cartes) as Janvier Pastel
1980 - Cordélia as Sheriff Lapointe
1980 - The Handyman (L'Homme à tout faire) as Georges Poitras, Chauffeur
1982 - Sweet Lies and Loving Oaths (Doux aveux) as Clovis Lavallée
1984 - Le jour S...
1984 - Mario as Therapist
1986 - Equinox (Équinoxe)
1988 - The Revolving Doors (Les Portes tournantes) as Man On The Train
1989 - Lessons on Life (Trois pommes à côté du sommeil) as Bertrand
1989 - Sous les draps, les étoiles
1989 - Jesus of Montreal (Jésus de Montréal) as The Eccentric
1991 - The Fabulous Voyage of the Angel (Le Fabuleux Voyage de l'ange) as Rival
1991 - The Hitman as André Lacombe
1992 - Double or Nothing: The Rise and Fall of Robert Campeau as Robert Campeau
1994 - Meurtre en musique as Inspector Borel
1994 - La Fête des rois
1994 - The Wind from Wyoming (Le Vent du Wyoming) as Père Lachaise
1996 - The Ear of a Deaf Man (L'Oreille d'un sourd) as Léon Bellavance
1996 - The Old Man Who Wanted to Climb to Heaven (L'Homme perché) as Raymond Deschamps
1996 - Lilies as Bishop Jean Bilodeau
1998 - Julie and Me (Revoir Julie) as Monsieur Provencher
1998 - Now or Never (Aujourd'hui ou jamais) as Abel Gagné
1999 - Memories Unlocked (Souvenirs intimes) as Dr. Patenaude
2000 - See You in Toronto as Samuel de Champlain
2001 - Ne dis rien as Tuyau
2002 - The Sum of All Fears as Monsieur Monceau
2004 - White Skin (La Peau blanche) as Dr. Paul-Émile Gagnon
2005 - Idole instantanée as Séverin
2007 - My Aunt Aline (Ma tante Aline) as Claude Langevin
2012 - Mars & Avril (Mars et Avril) as Capucin
2013 - Another House (L'autre maison) as Henri Bernard
2013 - Amsterdam as Old Man at Dinner
2014 - Henri Henri as Martial Binot
2015 - Ego Trip as Daniel Valiquette
2016 - Night Song (Mobile Étoile) as Jean-Paul Dussault
2017 - The Center of the World (Le Centre du monde) as Grandfather
2020 - The Sticky Side of Baklava (La Face cachée du baklava) as Guy
2022 - Niagara as Léopold Lamothe
2023 - Testament^[17]
2023 - Victoire (La Cordonnière) as Jo Milo

References

^ ^a ^b Gaetan Charlebois and Anne Nothof, "Sabourin, Marcel". Canadian Theatre Encyclopedia, October 20, 2015.
^ ^a ^b "Marcel Sabourin". Canadian Film Encyclopedia.
^ "Marcel Sabourin, un ami fidèle". Ici Radio-Canada, January 4, 2020.
^ Hélène Beauchamp, Le théâtre pour enfants au Québec: 1950-1980, Hurtubise, 1985. p.33.
^ Maria Topalovich, And the Genie Goes To...: Celebrating 50 Years of the Canadian Film Awards. Stoddart Publishing, 2000. ISBN 0-7737-3238-1. pp. 111-114.
^ Robert Martin, "Canada's film industry comes of age - at last". The Globe and Mail, November 19, 1977.
^ Jay Scott, "Top Genie prospects for Bill Miner movie". The Globe and Mail, February 10, 1983.
^ Jay Scott, "Changeling leads Canadian Film Award nominees". The Globe and Mail, February 8, 1980.
^ "Red Violin leads pack for Jutra Awards". The Globe and Mail, January 28, 1999.
^ Éric Moreault, "Prix Jutra: Louis Cyr champion des nominations". Le Soleil, January 27, 2014.
^ Paul Townend and Maurie Alioff, "Prix Iris". The Canadian Encyclopedia, April 5, 2010.
^ "Quiet in the Land wins $5,000 award". The Globe and Mail, January 25, 1983.
^ "Literary award winners to be announced June 6". Montreal Gazette, May 17, 1985.
^ Jay Scott, "Quebec's Sabourin: savant extraordinaire". The Globe and Mail, May 2, 1981.
^ ^a ^b Marie-Claude Doyle, "«Je prends la vie un peu comme un enfant» - Marcel Sabourin". TVA Nouvelles, January 19, 2019.
^ Marco Fortier, "«Au boute du rien pantoute»: la douce folie de Marcel Sabourin dans toute son étrangeté". Le Devoir, March 14, 2024.
^ Charles-Henri Ramond, "Testament en salle le 5 octobre". Films du Québec, May 24, 2023.