There are essentially two categories of interviewees among those who, having reached an admirable age, have spoken on familiar terms with many people arousing fascination. On the one hand, the stingy anecdotes, who refuse to regale their interlocutors with their stories and, on the other, the generous souls, who take joy in it. Louise Latraverse undoubtedly belongs to the second category.
This interview could have been summed up as a list of names of famous people, which we would have listed one by one, we say, jokingly, to this true Zelig of Quebec culture. “We can do that,” she replies with the most luminous abandon. ” Do as you like ! »
Listen to the full episode on our site
But it will quickly become clear: it is out of generosity that Louise Latraverse agrees to look back on her many significant encounters, although above all so that these friends of an evening or a lifetime, often disappeared, continue to exist a little.
It is not for nothing that she always mentions, about her comrades in the aisles, something which could resemble a detail, but which is not one, something which humanizes them. René Lévesque?
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Louise Latraverse in interview
You spent time with René Lévesque and you became intelligent. That’s what smart people do, they make you smart. And he danced so wonderfully. He was too much, René!
Louise Latraverse
Pierre Bourgault? He suffered from “acute telephonitis” because he spent his days with the receiver glued to his ear. Réjean Ducharme? Louise frequented the stripper cabarets on Boulevard Saint-Laurent in his company.
This is because when Louise Latraverse loves once, Louise Latraverse loves forever. “The people you loved, you continue to love them,” she confided about her late husband, the comedian and activist Emmett Grogan, a major figure in the American counterculture, to whom Bob Dylan dedicated his album Street-Legal following his tragic death in 1978 and for which Richard Brautigan wrote one of his most magnificent poems, “Death is a beautiful car parked only”.
It was through the pianist of the group The Band, Richard Manuel, who wrote the music for a film in which she was filming (Elizabeth’s Horoscope), that it will end up in Woodstock, in the state of New York, with Albert Grossman, Bob Dylan’s agent, who was “very unpleasant”, she says in an irresistible burst of laughter. This is where she will meet Emmett.
But contrary to what has often been written, Louise Latraverse did not attend the Woodstock Festival in 1969. “I was a straight bine,” she explains. “And I hate crowds. I didn’t go there, are you crazy? »
The only warning from Louise, a close friend of self-deprecation, before we continue the interview: “Often, I ramble, and I also have to keep some for my show,” she warns, evoking Love screams, the solo show that she presents throughout Quebec and in which she recounts her life. “So, sometimes, if you tell me about someone, I’ll say, ‘No, to find out more, come see my show.’ »
Of all the fights
In any case, it would be a serious error to reduce her to her famous friendships, her acting career,Between the sea and fresh water (1967) by Michel Brault At the origin of a cry (2010) by Robin Aubert, occupies a major place in our cinematography.
Louise Latraverse starred in Orders, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary in September. She was in 1969 the distribution of Girls by Clémence DesRochers, feminist response to The Osstidcho topped with this tasty subtitle “I’ll take out my trash myself”. She saved the Théâtre de Quat’Sous from a predicted death in 1984. Louise Latraverse was in all the fights.
But Louise Latraverse also played a lot at the Théâtre des Variétés (“nanny roles that I adored!”) and is perhaps the only person in Quebec who can talk about her conversations with the pope of the Beat Generation, Allen Ginsberg , and the next moment, of his admiration for Gilles Latulippe. She also seems to possess the quality that she attributes to the master of burlesque humor, “the ability to love others for who they are”, without judging them.
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
Louise Latraverse in interview
Gilles Latulippe was a good person. It’s rare that we encounter kindness. And you know, no one wanted to go play at the Variétés. It was snubbed, but I loved it. Imagine, I played with Olivier Guimond, it was fantastic.
Louise Latraverse
The autobiography is not flat
Louise Latraverse had sworn never to write her autobiography. “Biographies are generally flat,” she thinks. It’s still a bit boring, but apparently the world loves it. »
A promise that she does not disavow by publishing on March 26 a book simply entitled Louise Latraverseinsofar as it is not a classic autobiography, but a beautiful book bringing together several of his drawings, archive photos and fragments of texts, some more intimate, others more poetic.
Her geriatrician would not be surprised if she lived to be 100 years old, given that she has not yet been affected by any major illnesses. And at 83, Louise Latraverse is delighted, because despite an existence that has had its share of drama, she loves life.
“The luck I have is that I draw and I write,” she confides. My old age can never be flat, because I have plans. I love writing and drawing. This is my greatest joy and for my old age, this is what I will do. »
Freedom has been the only quest of her life and it is with a pencil in her hands that she now finds hers.
Louise Latraverse continues touring her show Love screams until December.
Check out their show dates
Louise Latraverse
Quebec America
144 pages
Three quotes from our interview
About Réjean Ducharme
“I was friends with Réjean Ducharme for years and I never talked about it. It’s still rare that I talk about him. Réjean called me every night. He was so talkative. At that time, he came to Pauline’s house [Julien] when there were parties. It’s not that he didn’t want to show himself, it’s that he was afraid of the world. He was the most exquisite, funny being. »
About Janis Joplin
“I didn’t get along with her at all. I can’t even tell you how much Janis and I didn’t like each other. She always asked “Is the French actress still here?” And she always hung out with the guys, including Emmett. It took a hit, it drank Southern Comfort. I hated it all. I went into the kitchen with other friends. »
About Clémence DesRochers
“Clémence is a poet and the funniest girl in the world. I can’t even tell you how funny she was, on stage and in life. When we were on tour, on the bus, she took the seat and she did numbers for us all day long, it was a blast. It was funny as hell and we were all his guinea pigs. She used us, our faults. And then when she sang, we cried. »