Marc Messier

One of the most beloved actors of his era, Marc Messier charmed in a string of massive successes that ensured him a place among Québec's most memorable and likable stars. Born Aug. 16, 1947 in Granby, Québec, Canada, Marc Messier was already an established screen actor when, in 1979, he joined forces with Michel Côté and Marcel Gauthier to create the theater piece "Broue," a collection of scenes set in a bar that snowballed into a true Guinessrecord-setting phenomenon. After a Gémeaux-winning stint on the sketch comedy series "Bye Bye" (Radio-Canada, 1968-1996, 1998, 2003, 2006-08, 2010- ), Messier earned another slice of pop cultural immortality for his long-running role as hockey player-turned-sports executive Marc Gagnon on the immensely popular "Lance et compte" (Radio-Canada, 1986- ), which became a long-running franchise and earned him two additional Gémeaux Awards. He wrote and starred in "Le sphinx" (1995), playing a man who gives up his ordinary life for a more romantic showbiz existence, but scored another iconic role when he was cast as a hard-luck ladies' man in the smash hockey comedy "Les Boys" (1997), which broke all Québec box office records and spawned big-screen sequels in 1998, 2001, 2005 and a TV adaptation (Radio-Canada, 2007-2012). An acting icon, Messier also delighted on the satirical sitcom "La petite vie" (Radio-Canada, 1993-98) as Réjean, the compulsively lying and cheating husband of the eccentric Thérèse (Diane Lavallée), whose misbehavior only seems to make him more lovable.