Huguette Oligny

A native Montrealer, Huguette Oligny began her acting career at a very young age and probably owed her passion for the performing arts to her mother, Odette Oligny, a writer and journalist who frequently took her daughter along to the cultural events she covered for La Presse.

Equally comfortable on the stage and screen, Huguette Oligny managed over her illustrious career to reach and touch audiences of all ages. Her talent as a performer and her ability to portray vastly different characters earned her the admiration of the public and the respect of her peers.

In the theatre, Huguette Oligny performed some of the greatest classical roles including Célimène in Le misanthrope by Molière, title roles in Schiller’s Marie Stuart and Racine’s Bérénice, Elmire and Toinette in Tartuffe and in Molière’s Le malade imaginaire, Gabrielle in Schnitzler’s Anatole and Marguerite in La dame aux camélias by Dumas fils.

She was also involved in such remarkable Quebec theatrical creations as Le temps des lilas by Marcel Dubé; Tit-Coq and Hier les enfants dansaient by Gratien Gélinas; Yves Thériault’s Le marcheur, which she directed; and Françoise Loranger’s La dame de 100 ans, which she performed more than 100 times across the province. Moreover, since she could act in both French and English, her artistic career took her to the major stages in this country as well as to New York, Chicago, Paris, Brussels and several other European cities.

Huguette Oligny got her start in movies by dubbing for Metro Goldwin Mayer (Hollywood). She then obtained parts in several Canadian and foreign films, such as Claude Jutra’s Kamouraska and The Book of Eve, an English feature film in which she played alongside Claire Bloom. Huguette Oligny was also involved in television since its debut in this country. Viewers will remember her in such series as Rue des Pignons, Le clan Beaulieu and Emma, as well as in the TV dramas Adieu Françoise, Marc-Aurèle Fortin, Les dames du jeudi and Les violons de l’automne.

A member of the board of the Union des artistes from 1962 to 1964, she was also involved in humanitarian causes such as Les petits frères des Pauvres and the Canadian Cancer Society. Huguette Oligny was named best francophone actress in the country seven times. She was named an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1984 and promoted to Companion in 1997.

Her stepson, filmmaker Pascal Gélinas, produced the documentary Huguette Oligny, le goût de vivre.

Huguette Oligny died in 2013. She was inducted into the Academy of Great Montrealers in the Cultural category in 2003 and was named a Commander of the Ordre de Montréal in 2016.

Source: Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal

The picture and biographical information appearing on this page were current at the time this person was admitted to the Academy of Great Montrealers.