NELLY ARCAN (born: Isabelle FORTIER)

According to news reports, NELLY ARCAN's body was found by her live-in boyfriend in her home on St. Dominick St., in Montréal, QC Friday, September 24, 2009. The first police report that I heard over the radio noted that she was 37 years old & that she had committed suicide. Subsequent newspaper articles have given her age as 35 & her funeral home obituary notes that she was 36 years old but her birth year was not indicated. One article lists her DOB as 1973-03-05 but I have no proof of this.

Nelly's birth name was Isabelle FORTIER, the daughter of Germain FORTIER & Jacinthe MERCIER, who were married in Notre-Dame-de-Fatima parish, in Lac-Mégantic, Frontenac County, QC. Her obituary notes that  they had 2 children: Isabelle & her brother, Érik.

Apparently, Isabelle left her hometown of Lac-Mégantic in her early twenties to settle in Montréal, where she became a Call Girl. The people, who knew her, claim that she was mentally unstable & suicidal, having attempted to kill herself on several occasions. As a result of these attempts, she was hospitalized now & then.

Isabelle wrote her first book, PUTAIN, under the pen name of NELLY ARCAN. Although a novel, PUTAIN (published 2002) was based upon her experience as a prostitute. It immediately became a bestseller and Nelly's name made the headlines. She was interviewed on radio & television, which brought her more popularity. Some say that the topic of SEX appealed to her readers. Successive novels by Nelly ARCAN were published: Folie (2004), L'enfant dans le miroir (2007), À ciel ouvert (2007) & her most recent novel, Paradis, clés en main (which was scheduled to be published in November 2009). The publisher intends to bring out the book at that date despite Nelly's suicide.

At the time of her death, Nelly was a chronicler on a Montréal television variety show, ICI, on channel VOX. Her co-workers were dismayed by the news of her death, but some commented not being surprised. Youth and good looks were important to Nelly and she was pushing 40 years of age, which seemed to be a problem for her. She had always been a beautiful blond woman and still was, and her physical beauty preoccupied her.

All of NELLY ARCAN's novels seem to be based upon her life experiences, both physical & emotional. I have not yet read any of her books, but I will do so shortly.

FORTIER

(1)

Noël FORTIER

Marthe GOLLE

1638-05-26

St-Rémi, Dieppe (Seine-Maritime), FRANCE

 (2)

Antoine FORTIER

Marie-Madeleine CADIEU/CADIEUX

1677-11-21

Beauport, suburb of Québec City, QC

 (3)

Jean-Baptiste FORTIER

Marie-Madeleine RUEL

1708-10-15

St-Laurent parish, Île-d'Orléans, Montmorency County, QC

 (4)

Basile FORTIER

Madeleine DELAGE

1751-10-11

St-Jean parish, Île-d'Orléans, Montmorency County, QC

(5)

Joseph FORTIER

Marie-Pélagie CLOUTIER

1785-02-07

Saint-Henri, Lévis County, QC

 (6)

Michel FORTIER

Cécile ROI/ROY

1820-07-25

Saint-Henri, Lévis County, QC

 (7)

Thomas FORTIER

Philomène BERNIER

1861-02-04

St-Vital parish, Lambton, Frontenac County, QC

 (8)

Arthur FORTIER

Albertine BERNIER

1901-07-22

St-Vital parish, Lambton, Frontenac County, QC

 (9)

Élie FORTIER

Amanda GRENIER

1938-09-22

St-Zénon parish, Piopolis, Frontenac County, QC

BÉDARD half-brothers: Rolland & Paul

Rolland & Paul BÉDARD,

well-known QC actors,

shared the same father,

Alonzo "Bozo" BÉDARD

who married Adèle "Addie" BOURQUE (Alexis+Olivine FUGÈRE) in  1912 in Montréal, QC. Addie gave birth to her only child, Rolland, in November 1913. In January 1915, she died of Meningitis.

Three years after the death of Addie, Alonzo married Marguerite AUDET (Alexis+Virginie BOUTHILLIER) in February 1918, who bore 7 children: Jean-Jacques, Marielle, Joseph-Charles, miscarriage, Paul, Marie-Anne, Joseph-Robert-Lucien. Alonzo died in 1945; therefore, Marguerite remarried & died in 1973.

Although born of the same father, Rolland & Paul were not close, nor did the former have much contact with his father's second family. Rolland felt that he was put aside by his step-mother, Marguerite, who, according to Rolland, treated him like a "slave" in that, being the eldest, he had to tend to most of the family chores. Rolland seems to have resented his step-mother to whom he did not speak for several years. He moved out of the family home at a young age & set out on his own.

Rolland's first job was as a tailor's assistant thinking he would eventually learn the trade & open his own shop. He was soon discouraged & went to work for Lasnier's Candle Shop where he made candles by hand-dipping them. This job lasted 4 years. He survived the Depression by doing odd jobs (painting, hanging wallpaper, moving helper, truck driver). From age 17, though, he also had small acting parts in radio plays and continued his career part-time by singing, acting & being a comedian till it became a fulltime job.

Paul, known in the family as "Ti-Paulo," was born in 1924 in Longueuil, QC. He had an easier life than his half-brother, Rolland, whom he admired because of his acting career, which he hoped to emulate. But, already having a BÉDARD actor in the family, Paul was advised to take on a stage name so as not to be confused or compared with Rolland. Paul decided to take the stage name of PAUL BERVAL, the name by which he became known for the rest of his life.

I have recently read the biography of each of the half-brothers and found it fascinating to discover that each, having lived in the same household, had experienced vastly different emotions despite similar surroundings.

1) ROLLAND BÉDARD, COMÉDIEN by André BOULANGER, published in 1984, gives us an intimate look into the psychological effects that living with a step-mother had on Rolland. This aspect of family life was not discussed in his brother's biography.

2) VIVRE POUR LE RIRE, biographie de PAUL BERVAL  by Pierre DAY, published in 2004, relates the daily life of a typical blue-collar Québec family living on the south shore of Montréal, QC.

BÉDARD

(1)

 Isaac BÉDARD

Marie GIRARD

1644-03-10

Calvinist Temple, LaRochelle, Aunis, FRANCE

 (2)

Jacques BÉDARD

Élisabeth DOUCINET

1666-10-04

Québec City, QC

 (3)

Jacques BÉDARD

Jeanne Élisabeth RENAULT/RENAUD

1702-11-27

Charlesbourg, QC

 (4)

Joseph BÉDARD

Marguerite LABERGE

1760-02-18

Charlesbourg, QC

 (5)

Jacques BÉDARD

Marie-Angélique DUMAIS/DEMERS

1788-11-17

Saint-Mathias-sur-Richelieu, Rouville County, QC

 (6)

Alexis BÉDARD

Catherine SÉGUIN dite LADÉROUTE

1815-01-10

 Marieville, Rouville County, QC

 (7)

Zéphirin BÉDARD

Edwidge LASNIER dite BELLEHUMEUR

1844-10-29

Marieville, Rouville County, QC

 (8)

Amédée BÉDARD

Philomène GARCEAU

1887-07-25

St-Pierre-de-Sorel, Richelieu County, QC 

 (9)

Alonzo BÉDARD

Adèle BOURQUE

1912-09-30

Immaculée-Conception parish, Montréal, QC

 Marguerite AUDET

1918-02-09

St-Antoine-de-Pade, Longueuil, Chambly Coutny, QC