Paolo Noël, the former singer turned comedian, died Sunday at the age of 93. He was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. From his time at the orphanage to the multiple scenes in Quebec, he knew how to transform the bad luck of his beginnings into an exemplary trajectory, supported by Diane, the love of his life for 55 years.
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Paolo Noël was born into a dysfunctional family on March 4, 1929. “My father was a bandit and my mother, a whore”, he had already confided to the Journal. The situation also led him very young to the orphanage where he will remain from the age of six to thirteen. This is also where a nun noticed his vocal talent and encouraged him to sing.
As a young adult, he began working in a factory to earn a living, but he gave his friends the benefit of his voice. In 1948, a Tino Rossi impersonation contest opened the doors to CKAC radio. He then began to sing in cabarets and to get noticed with his covers of his idol Tino Rossi, and Luis Mariano.
charming singer
In the 1950s, Paolo Noël was a regular at Montreal cabarets. He recorded a first disc with four songs, including beautiful star of love et Since I love you. Because of his romantic songs, his natural charm and his plastic beauty, he quickly gets the label of charming singer.
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Paolo Noel in 1988
In 1954, he made his television debut on the variety show Music-Hall on Radio-Canada. He continues his engagements in all the Montreal cabarets and even takes his first steps as an actor at the Canadian Theater, thanks to Jean Grimaldi who takes him under his wing. His popularity grew steadily, and he had his first record successes in 1956 with Virgin Mary et My prayer. The following year, he was even chosen by the prestigious cabaret Casa Loma to be the master of ceremonies. In 1958, one of his greatest successes, The little sailboatwhich refers to his great passion for the sea.
A return to humor
However, the world of cabarets began to wither in the early 1960s. After a brief career attempt in France, Paolo Noël returned to Montreal and worked increasingly on television. In particular, he animates Music in the lead at Télé-Métropole, before co-hosting, with Dominique Michel, the daily Toast and coffee from 1965 to 1969. He was also at the helm of Youth Music Hallfrom 1967 to 1975, and participated in the beginnings of The tanners from us, with Pierre Marcotte and Gilles Latulipe. In 1968, he was even elected Monsieur Radio-Télévision at the Gala des artistes.
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Paolo Noël and Yves Corbeil in 1982
Musically, it also operates a transition. From the beginning of the 1970s, he experienced a new popularity with songs with a humorous connotation, such as the popular Paulette, You have a lot of beautiful beep-bops or Flip Flop Fly.
Comedian and author
A multidisciplinary artist, Paolo Noël has also made his mark as an actor. In 1969, he starred in the film danger to society by Jean Martineau, but he excelled above all, in 1999, in the role of Tony Potenza in the series Omerta, by Luc Dionne. He will again take up this role in the film of the same name, alongside René Angélil, in 2012. The actor has also played in a few films such as But many Aline, crooked fingers or red hillside.
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Diane Bolduc, Doris Lussier and Paolo Noel
Paolo Noël was also a successful author. In 1980 he published Between love and hate: from orphanage to success, a first autobiographical account. Will follow three years later, Between love and hate: thus turns the wind, turns lifeand in 2012, I bit into life and life bit me. More than 150,000 copies of his stories found takers when they came out.
A solid love
If Paolo Noel lacked love at the start of his life, he made up for it when he met Diane, who was his lover for more than 55 years. “I had been invited to attend a big party that brought together all the hairdressers in the province, but I was really exhausted, he told the Journal, few years ago. Finally, Jacques Normand’s brother, who was organizing the party, convinced me to go and I saw Diane again, who was a model. She saw that I was not spinning at all and we ended the evening together. They have not left each other since that date.
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Paolo Noël’s family in 1982
Their relationship, however, struggled to go over to the side of the in-laws, who did not want an artist in the family, especially since he was 16 years older than Diane. But proof that love cannot be controlled, they had two children, Constantino and Vanessa. Paolo already had three children (Johanne, Mario and Ginette) from a previous relationship. They have eleven grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.
For several years, Paolo Noël had retired to his large 300-year-old house in Saint-Denis-de-la-Bouteillerie, in the Kamouraska region, on the banks of the river.