Hélène Baillargeon

Who was Hélène Baillargeon?

Hélène Baillargeon, CM was a Quebec singer, actor and folklorist probably best known as the host of the CBC television show Chez Hélène from 1959 to 1973.

She was born in Saint-Martin, Quebec in 1916 and studied singing at Quebec City and New York and then at Montreal with Alfred La Liberté. She went on to work as a researcher with Marius Barbeau at the National Museum of Canada in Ottawa. In 1944, Baillargeon married André Côté, a Crown attorney at Montreal. She performed and hosted shows on CBC radio and television such as Le réveil rural, Songs de chez nous and Cap aux sorciers. Baillargeon was named to the Order of Canada in 1973. In 1974, she was appointed a Canadian Citizenship Court judge. She also recorded a number of collections of French-Canadian folk songs.

She died in Montreal in 1997.