Nicole Germain, C.M. (born Marcelle Landreau; November 29, 1917 – February 11, 1994) was a Canadian actress in Quebec radio and film in the 1940s and 1950s and later as a journalist. In 1974, she was named a member of the Order of Canada.
Germain was born Marcelle Landreau. Her father was George Landreau, director of the Montreal Conservatory.[1] She was also niece to Chief Justice Rinfret.[2] She studied at the LaSalle Conservatory.[1] Her daughter is Liette Desjardins.
Germain began acting in radio in 1939 and became so popular she was voted the French Canadian "Miss Radio 1946".[1][3][4]
Success in radio led Germain to a role starring in the French version, La Fortresse, of the 1947 film Whispering City which is notable as one of the earliest attempts of a Canadian film to break into the U.S. market. The film, popular in Quebec, the English version failed to find an audience, either in the United States or Canada.[5]
In 1949, she played Donalda in A Man and His Sin, the film adaptation of Claude-Henri Grignon’s novel Un homme et son péché, followed by the film Séraphin a year later.[1] In 1952, she played a concert pianist in The Nightingale and the Bells (Le rossignol et les cloches). She then had a long career as a television journalist and moderator. She was a panelist on the 1950s Quebec version of What's My Line?, Chacun son Metier. In 1955 she appeared as a contestant on the American What's My Line? (Episode #242), first as a contestant, then joining the panel next to Bennet Cerf.[6]
She was co-chairman of the 1960 Christmas Gift Campaign for the Quebec Division of the Canadian Mental Health Association which raised gifts for Quebec's hospitalized mentally ill.[7]
At a conference on the French language held at the Menton, France in 1971, Germain urged the creation of an organization to find substitute French words when new English words are created.[8]
In 1974 Nicole Germain was named a Member of the Order of Canada for her efforts to promote the French language.[9]
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