Serge Laprade (1941-2024) | “He did variety in the purest tradition”

Singer, actor and presenter, variety artist Serge Laprade died of cancer on Wednesday at the age of 83. He leaves behind his husband, his friends and significant episodes of Quebec showbiz in the 1970s and 1980s.

Serge Laprade learned in mid-December that he was suffering from a recurrence of his leg cancer, which had now affected a lymph node. He spent the holiday season at home, with his husband Daniel Arsenault, and no one else. “He was a proud guy,” confides the latter, who found these weeks both beautiful and difficult.

Mr. Laprade did not want relentless therapeutic treatment. On Monday, he was admitted to a palliative care home, where he died two days later, around 7:30 p.m. That day, he had spent surrounded by his family and Daniel, his companion. Last 50 years.

“That same morning, I had an appointment with my oncologist,” says Daniel Arsenault, who suffered from cancer last year. Imagine that he told me that I no longer had cancer. I told Serge, even if he wasn’t conscious. » At the end of this day “filled with love”, Daniel Arsenault returned to eat at home. It was during this short moment that Serge Laprade took his last breath.

“That’s Serge Laprade. A man who never complains. An extraordinary man,” says Daniel Arsenault.

“Serge was always a very sick guy,” confides actress and host Danielle Ouimet, a friend. “He had psoriasis and shingles. He was still in pain, but he didn’t talk about it, because he had a job to do. »

For host Jean-Sébastien Girard, Serge Laprade was a real entertainer “who touched everything: he sang, he hosted, he played a little,” he sums up. He did variety in the purest tradition.”

Mr. Laprade became known in the 1960s with hits like Forbidden love And his resumption of Capri is over – that Jean-Sébastien Girard has many times sung to The evening is (still) young. But Jean-Sébastien Girard first associates it with the popular summer show Garden Partyon Télévision Quatre-Saisons, which the singer co-hosted with Michèle Richard at the end of the 1980s. “And obviously, their very publicized chicanery,” he specifies, and their public reconciliation in 2015.

“Serge never took a defeat by saying to himself: “Too bad, I missed my shot.” No, he redid it until it was perfect,” says Danielle Ouimet, who held his hand on the day of her wedding to Daniel Arsenault, last October 8. If Serge Laprade chose to speak publicly about his homosexuality, in 2021, it was above all to help young people and raise awareness among their parents, indicates Mr. Arsenault.

For Danielle Ouimet, Serge Laprade was not only a friend, but also a model. She recorded a song with him and performed alongside him in theater and film The initiation by Denis Héroux, in 1970.

“In recent years, he has fallen into oblivion, as is required of almost all aging stars,” laments Danielle Ouimet. The latter has been working on the series since 2016 Before leaving, a television project of will interviews that will be broadcast after the death of public figures. “I approached Serge… but we lost him,” she lets go.

Serge Laprade was never bitter, according to Daniel Arsenault, who was his agent. “It was quite the opposite. He wanted to enjoy life. »

A popular artist

Born on January 13, 1941, Mr. Laprade began his career in the early 1960s, working in the information department of radio station CJMS, while participating in competitions for young singers. In 1964, the Artists’ Gala crowned him “discovery of the year”, at the same time as Ginette Reno.

From 1972 to 1979, he hosted the show The line work on the airwaves of Radio-Canada, solidly supported by Jacques Houde in the role of “big financier”. After his departure, audience ratings had fallen from 620,000 to 330,000 spectators, columnist Louise Cousineau indicated at the time. “As the prize money remains very attractive, we can perhaps conclude that the absence of Serge Laprade is keenly felt,” she wrote, emphasizing the affection the public had for him.

Another important moment in his television career was hosting the Cerebral Palsy Association Telethon, from 1977 to 1988. In 1987, Serge Laprade was also the victim of a memorable trap on the show. Surprise after surprise, who had claimed to organize a “radio-telethon” to sell his book Tender moments. “It was cruel…” remembers Jean-Sébastien Girard.

Serge Laprade loved it. “He had a great sense of self-deprecation,” says Daniel Arsenault, who recalls that he had collaborated on a few occasions with the humorous group Les Bleu Poudre. He describes him as a simple, resilient man, and serene until the end.

“What he told me most often was that he was sad not to have time to say goodbye to his fans,” says Daniel Arsenault. If you could just thank them…and tell them that he had great respect and love for them. »