Hélène Baillargeon

Hélène Baillargeon CM (1916–1997) was a Canadian singer, actor, and folklorist probably best known as the host of the CBC Television show Chez Hélène from 1959 to 1973.

She was born in Saint-Martin, Quebec, on 28 August 1916 and studied singing in Quebec City and New York City and then in Montreal with Alfred La Liberté.^[1] She went on to work as a researcher with Marius Barbeau^[1][2] at the National Museum of Canada in Ottawa (later the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau).^{[citation needed]} In 1944, Baillargeon married André Côté, a Crown attorney in Montreal.^[1]

She performed and hosted shows on CBC Radio and Television such as Le réveil rural (1951–1955), Songs de chez nous (1952–1955), and Cap aux sorciers (1955–1958).^[1] Baillargeon was named to the Order of Canada in 1973.^[1] In 1974, she was appointed a Canadian citizenship court judge.^[1] She also recorded a number of collections of French-Canadian folk songs.

She died in Montreal on 25 September 1997.^[1]

Selected discography

• 1955: Songs of French Canada with Alan Mills (Folkways Records)
• 1956: French Christmas Songs: Chants de Noël (Folkways Records)
• 1956: Chansons d'Acadie (Folks Songs of Acadia) (Folkways Records)
• 1961: Chantons en Français; Vol. 1, Part 1–4: French Songs for Learning French (Folkways Records)
• 1961: Chantons en Français; Vol. 2: French Songs for Learning French (Folkways Records)

References

External links

• Baillargeon Discography on Folkways^{[dead link]}
• Article at thecanadianencyclopedia.ca
• Hélène Baillargeon at IMDb
• Hélène Baillargeon discography at Discogs