Biography
Filiatrault attained star status on TV in the 1960s, co-starring with Dominique Michel in the Radio-Canada television series Moi et l'autre (1967–71) and in many editions of Radio-Canada's annual New Year's special, Bye Bye. She had further success in Chez Denise (1978–1982), Le 101, avenue des Pins (1984–85) and Denise... aujourd'hui (1990–91).
In addition to her television career, Filiatrault also performed in films and on stage, notably in works by Michel Tremblay. She was known to perform both comic and dramatic roles, such as André Brassard's film version of Tremblay's Il était une fois dans l'Est (1974), in Denys Arcand's Gina (1975), in several Franco-Canadian co-productions, specifically Gilles Carle's La Mort d'un bûcheron (1973), Fantastica (1980) and, in 1981, Carle's Les Plouffe, playing the tormented Cécile.
Following Les Plouffe, Filiatrault took a break from film, concentrating more in writing and directing for theatre and summer comedy.
Filiatrault then decided to take the leap to directing cinema by adapting Tremblay's novel C't'à ton tour Laura Cadieux (1998), a film that presents the world of overweight women yearning for love and affection. Filiatrault opted for a simple yet effective style that showcased the talents of the film's strong female leads. This dramatic comedy scored such success that Filiatrault soon after made its sequel, Laura Cadieux... la suite (1999) in which she further developed the characters and their world.
In 2002, she produced a new comedy fantasy, L'Odyssée d'Alice Tremblay, which received a lukewarm response from critics and moviegoers.
In 2003, taking advantage of the success of her motion picture characters, Filiatrault produced a television miniseries for TVA, Le Petit monde de Laura Cadieux (2003), before tackling a new film Ma vie en cinémascope (2004), a dramatic biography of 1930s-1950s singer Alyse Robi (played by Pascale Bussières).
In 2006 Filiatrault received the Jutra Award for her overall career.
Read more about this topic: Denise Filiatrault
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