Pierre Curzi (born February 11, 1946, in Montreal, Quebec) is an actor, screenwriter and politician in Quebec. He is a former Member of the National Assembly of Quebec (MNA) for the riding of Borduas in the Montérégie region south of Montreal. Elected under the Parti Québécois (PQ) banner, he later sat as an independent.[1]
Pierre Curzi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the National Assembly of Quebec for Borduas | |
| In office April 25, 2007 – September 4, 2012 | |
| Preceded by | Jean-Pierre Charbonneau |
| Succeeded by | Pierre Duchesne |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 11, 1946 Montreal, Quebec |
| Political party | Parti Québécois → Independent |
| Spouse | Marie Tifo |
| Residence | Montreal |
| Profession | Actor, Screenwriter, Unionist |
| Portfolio | Culture, Communications, Language |
Politics
editCurzi entered politics when he announced his candidacy for the riding of Borduas in the 2007 provincial elections, following the retirement of Jean-Pierre Charbonneau. He defeated the Action démocratique du Québec's Claude Gauthier by over 2,000 votes. He was later named the PQ critic for culture, communications and language.
Curzi was forced to apologize and retract a statement he made in October 2007 during a radio interview that appeared to suggest that a sovereign Quebec would have "more teeth" and could potentially remove the voting rights of Quebec's English-speaking community living on Montreal's West Island.[2] He faced some criticism in 2008 as one of two MNAs, along with Daniel Turp, who endorsed a controversial petition opposing Paul McCartney's performance at Quebec City's 400th anniversary celebrations.[3] In September 2010, Curzi expressed on the television interview show Les Francs-tireurs his theory that there was a shortage of Francophone players on the National Hockey League team the Montreal Canadiens and that this was "damned well political" and the result of a federalist plot.[4]
On June 6, 2011, Curzi and caucus mates Louise Beaudoin and Lisette Lapointe resigned from the Parti Québécois to sit as independents over the PQ's acceptance of a bill changing the law to permit an agreement between the City of Québec and Quebecor Inc. concerning the construction of an arena in Quebec City.[5]
Acting and screenplay career
editCurzi went to the École nationale de Théâtre in 1969. Prior to his political career, he played in numerous popular Quebec movies, plays, television shows and documentaries including We Are Far from the Sun (On est loin du soleil), Duplessis, Maria Chapdelaine, The Crime of Ovide Plouffe (Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe), Babylone, Les Filles de Caleb, Million Dollar Babies, Virginie, Suzanne, Caffè Italia, Montréal, Exit, Matroni and Me (Matroni et moi), The Barbarian Invasions, Tideline (Littoral), Chili's Blues (C'était le 12 du 12, et Chili avait les blues), Le Négociateur, The New Life of Paul Sneijder (La nouvelle vie de Paul Sneijder) and Romeo and Juliet.
Overall, he played roles in about 50 productions since 1971 and had been nominated for four Genie Awards for his roles in Maria Chapdelaine (1983), Lucien Brouillard (1983) and The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'empire américain) (1986) and a nomination for best screenplay for Intimate Power (Pouvoir intime) in 1986.
He was also the president of the Union des artistes for eight years. The UDA is the main union group for cinema, theatre and television actors in Quebec.
He is married to Marie Tifo, an actress with whom he costarred in the films Red Eyes (Les Yeux rouges), Lucien Brouillard, Le jour S... and Intimate Power
Electoral record
edit| 2008 Quebec general election: Borduas | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Pierre Curzi | 13,329 | 47.66 | +8.90 | ||||
| Liberal | Jacques Charbonneau | 9,125 | 32.63 | +10.95 | ||||
| Action démocratique | Jean Dion | 3,430 | 12.26 | −19.05 | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Éric Noël | 966 | 3.45 | +0.53 | ||||
| Green | Marco Caron | 904 | 3.23 | −1.28 | ||||
| Parti indépendantiste | Michel Lepage | 214 | 0.77 | - | ||||
| Total valid votes | 27,968 | 98.30 | ||||||
| Rejected and declined votes | 485 | 1.70 | ||||||
| Turnout | 28,453 | 65.87 | −13.71 | |||||
| Electors on the lists | 43,198 | |||||||
| Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec. | ||||||||
| 2007 Quebec general election: Borduas | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | ||||
| Parti Québécois | Pierre Curzi | 12,529 | 38.76 | −8.06 | ||||
| Action démocratique | Claude Gauthier | 10,123 | 31.31 | +13.44 | ||||
| Liberal | Jacques Charbonneau | 7,010 | 21.68 | −12.08 | ||||
| Green | Olivier Adam | 1,459 | 4.51 | – | ||||
| Québec solidaire | Julie Raby | 944 | 2.92 | – | ||||
| Independent | Super Cauchon | 262 | 0.81 | – | ||||
| Total valid votes | 32,327 | 99.12 | – | |||||
| Total rejected ballots | 286 | 0.88 | – | |||||
| Turnout | 32,613 | 79.58 | +1.74 | |||||
| Electors on the lists | 40,980 | – | – | |||||
| Source: Official Results, Le Directeur général des élections du Québec. | ||||||||
Filmography
edit- 1964 : Trouble-Maker (Trouble fête)
- 1971 : We Are Far from the Sun (On est loin du soleil) : Yvon
- 1973 : You Are Warm, You Are Warm (Tu brûles... tu brûles...)
- 1973 : The Paths of the World (Les Allées de la terre) : Antoine
- 1975 : Confidences of the Night (L'Amour blessé)
- 1976 : Let's Talk About Love (Parlez-nous d'amour)
- 1980 : Fantastica : André
- 1980 : Suzanne : Pierre
- 1981 : The Plouffe Family (Les Plouffe) : Napoléon Plouffe
- 1982 : Wild Flowers (Les Fleurs sauvages) : Pierre Dubuc
- 1982 : Red Eyes (Les Yeux rouges) : Bertrand Houle
- 1983 : Lucien Brouillard : Lucien Brouillard
- 1983 : Maria Chapdelaine : Eutrope Gagnon
- 1984 : Le jour S... : Jean-Baptiste Beauregard
- 1984 : The Crime of Ovide Plouffe (Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe) : Napoléon Plouffe
- 1985 : Le Million tout-puissant
- 1986 : Evixion
- 1986 : Intimate Power (Pouvoir intime) : Gildor
- 1986 : The Decline of the American Empire (Le Déclin de l'empire américain) : Pierre
- 1989 : In the Belly of the Dragon (Dans le ventre du dragon)
- 1990 : You're Beautiful, Jeanne (T'es belle Jeanne) : Paul
- 1990 : Babylone : Luigi
- 1993 : April One : Jean Leduc
- 1994 : Chili's Blues (C'était le 12 du 12 et Chili avait les blues) : Monsieur CN
- 1996 : A Cry in the Night (Le Cri de la nuit) : Pierre
- 1999 : Matroni and Me (Matroni et moi) : M. Larochelle
- 2003 : The Barbarian Invasions (Les Invasions barbares) : Pierre
- 2003 : 1604 : De Monts
- 2004 : La Pension des étranges
- 2004 : How to Conquer America in One Night (Comment conquérir l'Amérique en une nuit)
- 2004 : Tideline (Littoral) : Policier Turcot
- 2005 : Idole instantanée : Gaétan Lemieux
- 2006 : Roméo et Juliette : Paul Véronneau
- 2007 : Days of Darkness (L'Âge des ténèbres) : Pierre
- 2013 : Manigances : Notice Rouge : Georges Paoli
- 2016 : The New Life of Paul Sneijder (La Nouvelle Vie de Paul Sneijder) : Maître Wagner-Leblond
- 2015 : Chorus : Jérôme
- 2018 : The Fall of the American Empire (La Chute de l'empire américain) : Maître Wilbrod Taschereau
- 2020 : Old Buddies (Les Vieux chums)
- 2021 : A Revision (Une révision)
- 2021 : Joutel
- 2023 : Testament
Television
edit- 1975 : Youhou : Michel
- 1978 : Duplessis : Reporter
- 1979 : Riel : Isidore
- 1980 : Frédéric : Biker Leader
- 1984 : Le Parc des braves : Major Paul Bérubé
- 1985 : Un amour de quartier : Speedy Joe
- 1986 : Des dames de cœur : François O'Neil
- 1989 : Miléna Nova Tremblay : François Tremblay
- 1989 : Super sans plomb : J.-P. St-Onge
- 1989 : Un signe de feu : François O'Neil
- 1990 : Les Filles de Caleb : Dosithée Pronovost
- 1992 : Les Intrépides
- 1992 : Montréal P.Q. : Paulus Quintal
- 1992 : Les Cravates léopards : Vermontier
- 1993 : Shehaweh : Sieur de Maisonneuve
- 1993 : Les Grands Procès : Me Robert Calder
- 1994 : Cœur à prendre : Vincent, Bouquet
- 1994 : Les Jumelles Dionne (tv movie) : Alphonse Fortier
- 1995 : Jalna : Greg
- 1996 : Marguerite Volant : Renaud Larochelle
- 1997 : Le Masque : Victor Thibault
- 1996 : Virginie : Gilles Bazinet (1997-2002)
- 2004 : Smash : Bernier Fafard
- 2005 : Providence : Jean-Guy Bélanger
- 2005 : Le Négociateur : Maurice Martel
- 2007 : Les Invincibles : Gene
- 2010 : La Promesse : Daniel (Nurse)
- 2014 : Nouvelle Adresse : Gérard Lapointe
- 2014 : Mensonges : Dr Michel Pelletier (Psychiatrist)
- 2015 : O' : Richard
- 2018 : Appelle-moi si tu meurs : Cesare Ciccarelli
Theatre
edit- 2006: août (Jean Marc Dalpé)
- 2005: La Tempête (William Shakespeare)
- 2005: Coin St-Laurent
- 2002: La Nuit des rois (William Shakespeare)
- 2001: L'Hiver de force (Réjean Ducharme)
- 2001: Le Mouton et la Baleine (Ahmed Ghazali)
- 1999: Trick or treat (Jean Marc Dalpé)
- 1998: Le miroir aux tartuffes (Jean-Claude Germain)
- 1997: Chrysanthème (Eugène Lion)
- 1995: Mère Courage (Bertolt Brecht)
- 1994: La Mouette (Anton Tchekhov)
- 1993: La Reprise (Claude Gauvreau)
- 1992: Six personnages en quête d'auteur (Luigi Pirandello)
- 1992: Conte d'Hiver (Anne Legault)
- 1991: Shakespeare, un monde qu'on peut apprendre par cœur (Michel Garneau)
- 1989: La Nuit du 16 janvier (Ayn Rand)
- 1988: Le Baiser de la Femme Araignée (Manuel Puig)
- 1988: Cendres (David Rudkin)
- 1986: Deux sur la Balançoire (W. Gibson)
- 1986: Avec Lorenzo à mes Côtés (Grand Cirque ordinaire inspired from Musset)
- 1984: En attendant Godot (Samuel Beckett)
- 1984: Mère Courage (Bertolt Brecht)
- 1984: Le Tir à Blanc (André Ricard)
- 1979: Le Théâtre de la Maintenance (Jean Barbeau)
- 1978: L'Abécédaire Conditionnel (Michel Garneau)
- 1978: Les Fiancés de Rose Latulipe (Grand Cirque ordinaire)
- 1977: Les Nerfs à l'Air (Collective)
- 1977: L'Impromptu chez M. R. Pantalon
- 1976: La Steppette Impossible
- 1975: La Tragédie Américaine de l'Enfant Prodigue (Collective)
- 1975: Colette et Pérusse (Robert Claing)
- 1975: Une Brosse (Jean Barbeau)
- 1974: Floralie (Roch Carrier)
- 1974: Salut Galarneau (Jacques Godbout and D. Chouinard)
- 1973: Don Quichotte (Jean-Pierre Ronfard, adapted from Cervantes)
- 1973: Galipotte 8 (Robert Gravel)
- 1972: Les Oranges sont vertes (Claude Gauvreau)
- 1972: Sparages (Marcel Sabourin)
- 1971: Les Fourberies de Scapin (Molière)
- 1971: Chiniqui (Collective)
- 1970: Chmou (Pierre Bégin and Pierre Collin)
- 1970: La Guerre Yes Sir (Roch Carrier)
- 1969: Gens de Noël, Tremblez!, (Collective)
- 1969: À Cœur Ouvert (Robert Gurick)
- 1969: P.O.T. T.V., (Collective)
Note
editThe Sections Filmography, Television and Theatre were copied and adapted from the French Wikipedia Page of Pierre Curzi. See that page's history for attribution.
References
editExternal links
edit- Pierre Curzi at IMDb
- Curzi's Bio
- "Biography". Dictionnaire des parlementaires du Québec de 1792 à nos jours (in French). National Assembly of Quebec.
