Françoise Berd

Françoise Berd (born Françoise Bernadette Loranger; March 2, 1923 – August 10, 2001) was a Canadian actress and founder of the Québécois experimental theatre company Théâtre de L'Égrégore.

Life and career Berd was born in Saint-Pacôme. However, it was not until the age of 34, upon returning from a trip to Europe, that Françoise Berd felt the call of the theatre "as a mission". Employed at the time in the operator service at Bell in Trois-Rivières, she had herself transferred to Montreal in order to study with Sita Riddez. She then produced a few plays at the School of Fine Arts (École des Beaux-Arts), notably Les Péchés dans le hall by Félix Leclerc. The piece failed, the theatre she would run from 1959 to 1965.

How Loranger became Berd Soon after having created L'Égrégore, Françoise Bernadette Loranger asked her namesake, the playwright Françoise Loranger, to write a love scene for the play A Gentle Creature (based on a Fyodor Dostoevsky novel). Françoise Loranger, who was already famous, sharply reproached her for having stolen her name. The director of L’Égrégore explained that they were distant cousins and, by way of conciliation, forged a new name for herself, Françoise Berd, the name she would keep from then on.

L'Égrégore, experimental theatre To kick things off, L’Égrégore put on Une Femme douce, based on a novel by Fyodor Dostoevsky. The play earned her first prize at the Congrès du spectacle in 1960.

"L’Égrégore consistently put forward what we had rarely seen before in Quebec: visually daring theatrical worlds, in the vein of what was cutting edge in the fine arts," said Paul Lefebvre, director and drama teacher.

Operator once again Françoise Berd then returned to Europe as a fellow of the Canadian Council for the Arts, where she developed relationships in the film industry. But she only managed to get hired through her own insistence. The producer Philippe Dussart, gave her a job as telephone operator. Then, since she knew English, she was asked to interpret contracts for Jacques Demy who directed The Young Girls of Rochefort (Les Demoiselles de Rochefort), in a coproduction with Warner Bros. According to the Encyclopedia of Canadian Theatre, this piece was a "masterpiece of feminist theatre, which caused a sensation at its creation, not only due to its bluntness and nudity, but also because of the beauty of its language and simplicity of presentation."

A passion until the end of her life Françoise Berd died, aged 79, in Montreal, after a long illness. Diane Lemieux, at the time Minister of State for Communications and Culture, deplored "the loss of a pioneer of the theatre in Quebec and a woman whose work was prominent in various fields of expression, a woman of culture, of remarkable talent and scale."

Awards in her memory The Prix de l’Égrégore is awarded annually to the winner of the Intercollegial Playwrighting Contest (Concours intercollégial d’écriture dramatique) produced by the Intercollegial Network of the Sociocultural Activities of Quebec (Réseau intercollégial des activités socioculturelles du Québec – RIASQ).

The Playwrights' Centre (Centre des auteurs dramatiques - CEAD) also awards the annual Gratien-Gélinas Prize, which includes the Françoise-Berd grant of $10,000, awarded to the author of an unpublished text. It is the most important prize dedicated to emerging playwrights in Canada.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1972 The Time of the Hunt (Le Temps d'une chasse) 1973 Kamouraska Innkeeper's wife 1974 Bar Salon Leslie 1976 Let's Talk About Love (Parlez-nous d'amour) Great admirer of Jeannot 1976 A Pacemaker and a Sidecar (L'Eau chaud, l'eau frette) Françoise 1977 Bernie and the Gang (Ti-Mine, Bernie pis la gang...) 1977 J.A. Martin Photographer (J.A. Martin photographe) An old servant 1977 A Special Day (Una Giornata particolare) The caretaker 1979 Quintet Charity House woman 1979 La Belle Apparence Cécile Gauthier 1979-1980 Chez Denise Aunt Eva 12 episodes 1980 Cordélia Mrs. Parslow 1980 The Lucky Star The cashier 1980 The Dame in Colour (La Dame en couleurs) 1982 Killing 'em Softly (La mort en douce) 1983 Au pays de Zom Mrs. Zom 1983 The Tin Flute (Bonheur d'occasion) Maman Philibert 1983 Contrecoeur 1984 Amuse-gueule Short 1985 Agnes of God Sister Thérèse 1991 Lance et compte : Tous pour un TV movie 1992 The Clean Machine (Tirelire Combines & Cie) Mrs. Turcotte 1994 The Wind from Wyoming (Le Vent du Wyoming) Sister Amanda (final film role)

Productions Year Title 1977 J.A. Martin Photographer 1978 Yèlèma donna kow la nankòròla 1981 On est rendu devant le monde! 1981 Fond Memories