A simple and true man, this is how his peers all described Jean Lapointe on Friday, a few hours after the announcement of his death. “When you played with him, remembers Louise Latraverse, you couldn’t be bad. He improved you, because he was so natural. I have often said it: Jean invented the natural. »
Louise Latraverse was among the last to share a stage with this “man of many great talents”, in My own circus by Miryam Bouchard in 2020. “When Jean arrived on a set, it was sure that it was going to be a beautiful day, we always felt loved. Jean loved people and people loved Jean. »
The actress remembers the stage fright she experienced when starting the filming ofOrigin of a cry (2010) by Robin Aubert, his return to the big screen after several years of absence. “And Jean had immediately come to reassure me. He was an encouraging person, who complimented us. My God, how good and beautiful and wonderful we were! »
road movie dark on death and filiation, Origin of a cry accompanies Jean Lapointe, in the role of a grandfather, and his grandson (Patrick Hivon), who tried to trace on the secondary roads of a Quebec of motels and taverns a bereaved father, played by Michel Barette.
“I remember in particular a scene in which Jean undresses me to put me to bed”, says the actor and humorist, joined by The Press. “I saw it again recently and I think that if we feel the truth to this point, it is because it was more than two actors who met, but two humans. During that scene, Jean Lapointe was really my father. I felt like my real father was consoling me. »
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Patrick Hivon, Jean Lapointe and Michel Barette in 2010
Beyond these moving moments, Michel Barette also remembers the tour anecdotes that Jean Lapointe entertained his comrades between takes. “The main thing for him was to touch people, to love them for real. When he spoke to you, you became the most important person in the world. There was something in his eyes that was real. »
“A great tanner”
Manager of Jean Lapointe for 18 years, from 1992, Bernard-Y. Caza will have been at the forefront of some of his triumphs, including the show One last sweepdirected by Denise Filiatrault, which marked the reconciliation of the Jérolas in 1993.
PHOTO BERNARD BRAULT, PRESS ARCHIVES
With Jérôme Lemay, in 2011
The one who is also artistic director of the Vieux Clocher de Magog made a last phone call to his friend a few months ago. “Every time I spoke to him, he confides, I repeated to him how much he had left a hole in my life when he stopped performing. »
The impresario speaks of “a great tanner”, of an “actor of extraordinary generosity and naturalness” as well as of a “great melodist”. Louise Latraverse agrees. “When Jean arrived on stage and began to sing with all this emotion, this simplicity, we cried almost all the time. He was an excellent singer and a big heart. »
Generous on stage and on camera, Jean Lapointe has also been generous with all those who have confided in him their own addiction problems. The man who had experienced the throes of alcoholism himself was willing to hear the song anyone wanted to sing to him, even if the song of their hearts was laced with pain. “There were so many people in difficulty who contacted me for Jean to help them,” says Bernard-Y. Caza. It could last one, two hours, but Jean called them every time. »
“When you lose a friend, you die a little with him”
“Beyond all that he has been able to accomplish artistically, his greatest pride will have been the Fondation and the Maison Jean Lapointe”, underlines his daughter, the general manager of the Maison Jean Lapointe, Anne Elizabeth Lapointe, who granted media interviews with his brother Jean-Marie, from the Saint-Raphaël palliative care home, where their father died.
Last October, Jean Lapointe attended the festivities marking the 40th anniversary of the addiction treatment center he founded in 1982. “Dad, it’s a 360-degree success,” observes Jean-Marie Lapointe. “That he managed to transcend his demons made him a superman in my eyes. But he always kept it very, very simple and that’s something that continues to inspire me. »
The host and comedian suspects that his father’s endless resilience was not unrelated to his faith. “He was a deeply religious man. He had this desire to live, but he always said that when the boss upstairs would call him back, he was going to follow. »
PHOTO PIERRE-PAUL POULIN, PRESS ARCHIVES
With his son Jean-Marie Lapointe, at a gala tribute to Just for Laughs in 2005
Friend of Jean Chrétien, who appointed him to the Senate in 2001, Jean Lapointe was also close to Félix Leclerc, proof among many of the affection he received from people who did not live in the same boat. Joined in writing, the daughter of Félix Leclerc, Nathalie, remembered that it was Jean Lapointe who, in August 1988, had led his family to the funeral of his father.
“He was there and his grief was as great as mine. He said to journalists that day: “When you lose a friend, you die a little with him” and I had this phrase in mind for a long time. And I wondered for a long time if I hadn’t died a little too. Mom often called him to tell him about my pain and he said to her, “Leave it to her. She needs to live her pain. And after that she will be better.” He was right. »
With the collaboration of Josée Lapointe, The Press