Jean-Louis Roux

Jean-Louis Roux (May 18, 1923 – November 28, 2013) was a Canadian actor, playwright, politician, and public figure born in Montreal, Quebec. He began his post-secondary education studying medicine at the Université de Montréal before abandoning that path to pursue a career in performance. His early professional years took him to New York City and Paris, where he performed before returning to Montreal. Upon his return, he became one of the founding figures of the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, where he worked extensively as both an actor and director over many years.

Roux's Broadway appearances came in 1958, when he performed in two productions: Le Mariage Forcé and the comedy Le Malade Imaginaire. Beyond the stage, he built a substantial career in Canadian television, radio, and film. His most prominent screen role was on La famille Plouffe, a widely watched Quebec situation comedy that began airing in 1953. He also wrote plays, radio dramas, and television productions throughout his career. His film work spanned several decades and included appearances in Duplessis (1978), Two Solitudes (1978), Riel (1979), Cordélia (1980), The Hotel New Hampshire (1984), The Revolving Doors (1988), and C.R.A.Z.Y. (2005), among others.

Roux received significant recognition for his contributions to Canadian cultural life. In 1971, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada, a distinction he was elevated to Companion in 1987. He was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 1989 and received a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for lifetime contributions to Canadian theatre in 2004. He also served as President of the Canadian Conference of the Arts from 1968 to 1970.

A committed federalist, Roux was appointed to the Canadian Senate in 1994 by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. During the 1995 Quebec referendum campaign, he was among the most prominent figures in arts and culture to campaign for the federalist "No" side. The following year, Chrétien appointed him the 26th Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. The appointment was considered controversial by many, given that Roux had been openly politically active, departing from the customary practice of selecting figures who had long remained outside partisan life.

His tenure as lieutenant governor lasted barely two months. A cover story published in the magazine L'Actualité on November 1, 1996, titled L'Affaire Jean-Louis Roux, disclosed that during his medical school years in World War II, Roux had drawn a swastika on the sleeve of his lab coat. In a pre-publication interview, Roux himself revealed that he had participated in anti-conscription protests in 1942 during which the windows of stores with Jewish-sounding names and the anglophone newspaper The Montreal Gazette were smashed, and that he had held pro-Mussolini, pro-Franco, and pro-Pétain sympathies during that period. Calls for his resignation followed from multiple quarters, and he stepped down on November 5, 1996. At a news conference the following day, Roux stated that the carefree attitude of youth might be an explanation but could not serve as an excuse or justification, and that he had committed a mistake by yielding to the anti-Semitic feelings that he said had poisoned minds at the time.

On May 31, 1997, the federal government appointed Roux chair of the Canada Council, marking his return to public life. He died in Montreal on November 28, 2013.