Jean Drapeau - Movies, Photos & Biography

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Jean Drapeau (18 February 1916 – 12 August 1999) was Mayor of Montreal from 1954 to 1957 and 1960 to 1986. Major accomplishments of the Drapeau Administration include the development of the Montreal Metro entirely underground mass transit subway system running on 'whisper quiet' rubber wheels, a successful international exposition Expo 67 as well as the construction of a major performing arts centre, the Place des Arts. Drapeau also secured the hosting of the 1976 Summer Olympics and was instrumental in building the city's iconic Olympic stadium and then world's tallest inclined tower. Drapeau was responsible for securing a Major League Baseball franchise, with the creation of the Montreal Expos in 1969. Drapeau's main legacy is Montreal's attainment of global status under his administration.

The son of Joseph-Napoléon Drapeau and Alberta (Berthe) Martineau, Jean Drapeau was born in Montreal in 1916. His father, an insurance broker, city councilor and election worker for the Union nationale, introduced him to politics. Jean Drapeau studied law at the Université de Montréal.

Drapeau was a protégé of nationalist priest Lionel Groulx in the 1930s and 1940s, and was a member of André Laurendeau's anti-conscription Ligue pour la défense du Canada. In 1942, he ran as a candidate of the nationalist Bloc Populaire, which opposed Canadian conscription during World War II, in a federal by-election (see Second Conscription Crisis). Drapeau lost the election. He was also a Bloc populaire candidate in the 1944 provincial election but was badly defeated in his Montreal constituency.

He began his practice as a criminal lawyer in Montreal in 1944. During the Asbestos Strike of 1949, he took on the legal defence of some of the strikers.

In 1945, he married Marie-Claire Boucher. They had three sons.

Jean Drapeau's profile grew as the result of his role in a public inquiry led by Pacifique Plante into police corruption in the early 1950s. When Camillien Houde retired as mayor of Montreal, Drapeau was well poised to succeed him.

Drapeau was elected mayor of Montreal in 1954 at the age of 37, as the candidate of the Civic Action League, on a platform of cleaning up the administration. He ran an exceptionally wide-flung campaign, uniting a large coalition of voters from English-speaking and French-speaking parts of Montreal. Drapeau's charismatic demeanor, accessible style, and his fluency in both English and French (unprecedented for a mayoral candidate) propelled him to such popularity. In 1957, he lost to Sarto Fournier who was backed by the powerful Premier of Quebec Maurice Duplessis, but Drapeau was elected again in the election of 1960 at the helm of his newly formed Civic Party (Parti Civique). He was re-elected without interruption until he retired from political life in 1986. By the end of the decade, Montreal was a virtual one-party state, with Drapeau and his party only facing nominal opposition in City Hall. ...

Source: Article "Jean Drapeau" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.

Jean Drapeau Photos

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Filmography

Actor

Type

Year

Expo 67 Mission Impossible Documentary2017Self

Le confort et l'indifférence Documentary1982Self

Noir sur blanc TV Series1979Self

Le grand échiquier TV Series1972Self

Format 30 TV Series1969Self - Maire de Montréal

Caméra 67 TV Series1967Self - Maire de Montréal

Chantal: en vrac Feature Film1967Self

La visite du général de Gaulle au Québec Poster

La visite du général de Gaulle au Québec Documentary1967Self

The Peter Martin Show TV Series1967Self

Tirez au clair TV Series1966Self - Maire de Montréal

Le Sel de la semaine TV Series1965Self - Maire de Montréal

Circulation à Montréal: 1re partie Poster

Circulation à Montréal: 1re partie Feature Film1955Self

Circulation à Montréal: 2e partie Poster

Circulation à Montréal: 2e partie Feature Film1955Self

The Ed Sullivan Show TV Series1948Self - Audience Bow

Thanks

Elvis Gratton: Le king des kings Feature Film1985

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