Viola Léger was born in Fitchburg, Massachusetts, on June 29, 1930. She is a member of Canada’s artistic elite. One of her most well-known roles is “La Sagouine,” written by Antonine Maillet, which she has performed over 2,500 times to rave reviews.
On the recommendation of then-Prime Minister Chrétien, she was appointed to the Canadian Senate in 2001, representing L’Acadie, New Brunswick. In 1989, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2007, she received the Order of New Brunswick. For her work as an actress, she received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award in 2013.
She retired from public life after suffering a stroke in 2017. Funeral arrangements will be announced soon. This article was first published by the Canadian Press.on January 29, 2023.
Viola Leger Obituary: How Did Viola Leger?
Viola Léger, a former senator, actress, and educator, died at the age of 92. According to a statement from his management organization, Le Grenier musique, Léger died on Saturday in Dieppe, New Brunswick.
Léger is best known for her three thousand-plus performances as La Sagouine in Antonine Maillet’s play of the same name, for which she received the Dora Mavor Moore Award in 1981.
“I already knew at that point that she was a great actress and a great ambassador for l’Acadie. But understanding her journey, getting there, was a really enlightening experience as well.”
“I got at that time a really more in-depth understanding of who she was,” Gautreau said.
“Exceptional actress, extraordinary ambassador, she was for all of us an inspiration and a symbol of tenacity,” wrote Thériault.
René Cormier, independent senator for New Brunswick, tweeted that Léger offered an “invaluable legacy,” adding that she will “remain one of our greatest cultural ambassadors.”