Yves Jacques OC (born 10 May 1956) is a Canadian film, television and stage actor.
Life and career
Jacques was born in Quebec City in 1956. He studied theatre at the Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe, and began acting on stage in both Quebec City and Montreal. He became more widely known to film and television audiences beginning in 1981 as a sketch performer in Télévision de Radio-Canada's annual Bye Bye New Year's Eve variety special, and soon began appearing more widely in film and television roles. To international audiences, he is best known as Claude, the gay academic in Denys Arcand's The Decline of the American Empire and The Barbarian Invasions. On stage, he is noted for originating the role of Lydie-Anne in the premiere of Michel Marc Bouchard's play Lilies.
He has been in several movies by French filmmaker Claude Miller, including Of Woman and Magic and Little Lili. His fame has continued to grow with films and theatrical productions in both France and Quebec. Since 2001, he has toured the world in two shows by Robert Lepage, Far Side of the Moon (La Face cachée de la lune) and Le Projet Andersen, where he played all the roles. Since 2018, he has appeared regularly in Mathieu Quesnel's theatrical creations. More recently, he played in Aline by Valérie Lemercier, in Maria by Alec Pronovost, and in Chloé Robichaud's Les jours heureux. In 2022, Yves Jacques played in Martin Villeneuve's The 12 Tasks of Imelda (Les 12 travaux d'Imelda), co-starring playwright Robert Lepage and actress-singer Ginette Reno.
He was named Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by the Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication de France in February 2001, and was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2009, for his performances in theatre, television and film, in Canada and abroad.
He is openly gay.
Cinema
1982: Red Eyes (Les Yeux rouges)
1983: Sonatine: Subway Station Janitor
1984: The Crime of Ovide Plouffe (Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe): Bob
1985: Hold-Up: Otage 400 S
1986: The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'empire américain): Claude
1989: Jesus of Montreal (Jésus de Montréal): Richard Cardinal
1990: Ding et Dong (Ding et Dong: le film): Jigi
1990: Milena: Max Brod
1991: Montreal Stories (Montréal vu par...)
1993: Trois femmes un amour
1994: Meurtre en musique: Simon Claveau
1994: Louis 19, King of the Airwaves (Louis 19, le roi des ondes): Michel Gobeil
1995: Alfred: Georges Fehrenbach
1998: Michael Kael contre la World News Company: Charles Robert
1998: Class Trip: The Visitor
1999: Memories Unlocked (Souvenirs intimes): Mortimer
1999: The Widow of Saint-Pierre (La Veuve de Saint-Pierre): Le contre-amiral
2000: Life After Love (La Vie après l'amour): Docteur Bilodeau
2001: Wedding Night (Nuit de noces): Bernard
2001: Alias Betty (Betty Fisher et autres histoires): René the Canadian
2002: The Collector (Le Collectionneur): François Berger / Babette Brown
2002: Séraphin: Heart of Stone (Séraphin: un homme et son péché): Notaire Le Potiron
2003: The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares): Claude
2003: Little Lili (La Petite Lili): Serge
2004: Ordo: Richard Féraud
2004: The Aviator: Un serveur
2005: The Girl from the Chartreuse (La Petite Chartreuse): Baldi
2005: Let's Be Friends (Je préfère qu'on reste amis...): Germain
2005: Aurore: Curé Leduc
2005: Twice Upon a Time (Désaccord parfait): Le docteur Trudeau
2006: A Secret (Un secret): Georges
2007: 48 Hours a Day (48 heures par jour): Arnaud
2009: You'll Miss Me (Je vais te manquer)
2010: The Comeback (Cabotins): Lady Moon
2010: The Last Escape (La dernière fugue): André
2011: French Immersion
2011: See How They Dance (Voyez comme ils dansent)
2012: Laurence Anyways
2013: Me, Myself and Mum (Les Garçons et Guillaume, à table!)
2015: Families (Belles Familles)
2017: Father and Guns 2 (De père en flic 2)
2019: Forgotten Flowers (Les fleurs oubliées): Marie-Victorin Kirouac
2020: Villa Caprice
2021: Maria
2021: Aline
2022: The 12 Tasks of Imelda (Les 12 travaux d'Imelda): Veterinarian
2023: Testament
2023: Days of Happiness (Les Jours heureux)
2023: Katak: The Brave Beluga (Katak, le brave béluga)
2023: The Successor (Le Successeur)
2024: Sisters and Neighbors! (Nos belles-sœurs)
Short films
2001: Via Crucis
2001: Requiem contre un plafond
2007: Silence! on voudrait bien s'aimer
2015: Maurice
Television
1980: Boogie-woogie 47: Denis St-Cyr
1983: Poivre et sel: Pierrot Séguin
1993: La Voyageuse du soir: Arthur
1994: Jalna
1994: Baldipata
1995: V'la l'cinéma ou le roman de Charles Pathé: René Lampin
1995: Belle Époque: Augustin
1997: Ces enfants d'ailleurs: Jan Pawlowski / Jean Aucoin
1997: Bob Million: Bob Million
1998: Changement de cap: Cariou
1999: Three Seasons: Henry
1999: La Chambre des magiciennes: D. Fish
1999: La Soirée des Jutras: EmCee
2000: La Soirée des Jutras: Host
2001: Thérèse et Léon: Marcel Bouchard
2001: L'Aîné des Ferchaux: Me Jacquin
2002: Napoléon: Lucien
2004: H2O: Québec Premier Marcel Coté
2005: L'État de Grace: Bertrand Saint-Amor
2006: Mafiosa: Zamponi
Nominations
Nominated for the prix Jutra for best actor in 2000 for Souvenirs intimes
Music
In 1981, he was singer-songwriter of the song On ne peut pas tous être pauvres (music by composerPierre Gagnon). Jacques also produced and realised(directed) the music video which is the first Québécois music video.