Jean-Claude Lord (6 June 1943 – 15 January 2022) was a Canadian film director and screenwriter.[1] He was one of the most commercial of the Québécois directors in the 1970s, aiming his feature films at a mass audience and dealing with political themes in a mainstream, Hollywood style.
Early life
Lord was born in Montreal on 6 June 1943.[2][3] He first worked as an assistant director and scriptwriter in the private sector.[3] He was an apprentice to Pierre Patry at the company Coopératio.[4]
Career
Lord's first feature was Délivrez-nous du mal, released in 1965.[3] It depicted a gay couple, reportedly a first for a Québécois film and regarded as a breakthrough since the influence of the Catholic Church was still strong in Quebec.[5] His 1974 film Bingo exploits the post-October Crisis, post-Watergate paranoia prevalent in North America at the time with considerable panache. It was the subject of an intensive critical debate about its credentials as a left-wing film.[6]
Lord directed his first English-language film, Visiting Hours, in 1982. The low-budget horror movie, which featured William Shatner and Michael Ironside, became a cult favourite.[7] Four years later, Lord worked for the first time in television on the series Lance et Compte. It centred around a fictitious ice hockey team, whose uniforms were similar to the Quebec Nordiques, contending for the Stanley Cup and the World Cup of Hockey. The series – which ran from 1986 to 1989 – was credited with establishing a new benchmark for television shows in Quebec. It also aired in English on CBC as He Shoots, He Scores, and was shown in France in 1987.[8] He won a Prix Gémeaux in 1987 for the series.[5]
Lord subsequently worked primarily in television on several other series and made-for-TV movies.[3][9][10] He directed the revival of Lance et Compte that aired from 2000 until 2008.[11] He was conferred the Prix Guy-Mauffette by the National Assembly of Quebec in November 2017,[11] in recognition of the contributions he made to the audiovisual industry and culture.[7][8]
Personal life
Lord was in a domestic partnership with Lise Thouin until his death.[5] Together, they had two children: Marie-Noëlle and Jean-Sébastien,[5] who is also a film and television director, most noted for the films Heaven (Le petit ciel) and Guardian Angel (L'Ange-gardien).[12]
Lord died on the evening of 15 January 2022. He was 78, and had suffered a major stroke on 30 December of the previous year.[5][7][13]
Filmography
Features
- Deliver Us from Evil (Délivrez-nous du mal) – 1969[9]
- The Doves (Les Colombes) – 1972[9][10]
- Bingo – 1974[9][10]
- Let's Talk About Love (Parlez-nous d'amour) – 1976[9][10]
- Panic (Panique) – 1977[10][14]
- Chocolate Eclair (Éclair au chocolat) – 1979[9][10]
- Visiting Hours – 1982[9][10]
- Covergirl – 1984[9][10]
- The Vindicator – 1986[9][10]
- Toby McTeague – 1986[9][10]
- The Tadpole and the Whale (La Grenouille et la baleine) – 1988[9][10]
- Mindfield (La mémoire assassinée) – 1989[9][10]
- Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! – 1989[9][10]
- Landslide – 1992[9][10]
- North Station (Station Nord) – 2002[9][10]
Television
- Lance et Compte (TV series, 1986) {aka He Shoots, He Scores (English) and Cogne et Gagne (France)}[14][11]
- Urban Angel (TV series, 1991)[15]
- Sirens (TV series, 1994–1995)[11]
- Jasmine (TV series, 1996)[11][16]
- Lobby (TV series, 1997)[14]
- Diva (TV series, 1997)[11][17]
- Maurice Richard: Histoire d'un Canadien (TV miniseries Co-Directed with Pauline Payette, 1999)[18]
- Quadra (TV series, 2000)[11][19]
- L'or (TV series, 2001)[11][20]
- Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension (TV series, 2002)[11][21]
- Lance et Compte: La nouvelle génération (TV series, 2002)[22]
- Lance et Compte: La reconquete (TV series, 2004)[23]
- Lance et Compte: La revanche (TV series, 2006)[24]
- Lance et Compte: Le grand duel (TV series, 2009)[25]
- Secrets of the Summer House (TV movie, 2008)[9][10]
- Out of Control (TV movie, 2009)[9][10]
- Ring of Deceit (TV movie, 2009)[9][10]
- Second Chances (TV movie, 2010)[9][10]
References
External links
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