Johanne Harrelle

Who was Johanne Harrelle?

Johanne Harrelle was a Canadian actress, model, and writer, and the first black woman to rise to prominence in Quebec and Canada's fashion world.

She is perhaps most famous for her autobiographical role in Claude Jutra's first feature, À tout prendre fr:À tout prendre. Ms. Harrelle, who lived with Jutra for a time, played the lover and companion to the film's other protagonist, Claude, who was played by Jutra himself. Her role in the film, as herself, is very telling as it describes the way in which she was perceived as an exotic outsider in French Canada, and people often assumed that she was Haitian, despite having been born in Montreal. These assumptions are played with in the film, as when she performs a song in patois, Ti-zoizeau Video on YouTube

Johanne was baptized Joan Harrell. She was raised with her two brothers in an orphanage after their African American father died and French Canadian mother fell ill when she was only 3 years old. She later became known in the fashion world as Johanne Harrelle. Her first appearance on a fashion runway was at Montreal's upscale Ritz Carleton Hotel in the 1950s, when black models were unheard of in Canada.