Quebec actor and singer Paolo Noel passes away at 93

Quebec actor and singer Paolo Noel has died at age 93. (Noovo / Diane Bolduc Noel)

Paolo Noel, the “singing sailor,” passed away Sunday morning at 93.

The singer’s daughter-in-law, Pascale Lanari, announced the news on Facebook that afternoon, without detailing the cause of death.

Noel suffered from Alzheimer’s disease and had recently been admitted to palliative care.

Premier Francois Legault sent his condolences to the singer’s family and friends.

“I have fond memories of this charming singer, of Toast et cafe, of the Music-Hall des jeunes and of his role as a tough guy in Omerta,” he wrote on Twitter.

Born in Montreal on March 4, 1929, Noel spent part of his childhood in Gaspesie before returning to the metropolis. A particularly successful imitation of the French singer Tino Rossi made him the winner of a CKAC radio contest in 1948.

The following year, Noel made his cabaret debut by covering Rossi’s hits and those of Luis Mariano. He even slipped his own compositions into his singing tour, accompanying himself on the guitar.

Noel then joined Jean Grimaldi’s travelling troupe for several years, which toured burlesque revues intermingled with singing numbers across “French America.” During this time, he recorded his first records.

Noel hosted programs on CKVL radio and on Radio-Canada television — namely the variety show Music Hall in 1955. At the same time, he performed in several popular Montreal cabarets, and even became master of ceremonies at Café Havana and the renowned Casa Loma.

He later hosted several shows on Télé-Métropole, including Toast et café with Dominique Michel, Le Music-Hall des jeunes and Les Tannants de chez-nous with Gilles Latulippe. In 1968, readers of the gossip magazine Télé-Radiomonde elected him “Monsieur Radio-Télévision” at the Gala des artistes. He then moved to the radio station CJMS, where he hosted the program Le Café provincial.

Paolo Noel remained present on the charts throughout the 1960s, with pop-romantic hits such as J’avais 20 ans and L’amour est bleu. His career continued in cabarets in Quebec and Florida in the winter, on the trail of Canada’s “snowbirds.”

In addition to his singing career, Noel was also an actor, notably in the third season of the TV series Omerta - La loi du silence in 1999, in when he played the impassive hitman Tony Potenza. He reprised this role in the 2012 film Omerta.

Noel also graced the screen in Jean Martineau’s 1969 film Danger pour la société, in Ken Scott’s Les Doigts Croches (2009), and Gabriel Pelletier’s Ma tante Aline (2007).

This report was first published in French by The Canadian Press on April 17, 2022.