First appearance September 1976 Voiced by Roger Giguère Aliases Lesley Tranquille | Portrayed by Roger Giguère Nickname(s) Tranquille | |
Created by Éric Mérinat,Daniel Tremblay (design),Mérinat Marionettes | ||
Monsieur Tranquille is a character in the Canadian children's television series Patof voyage. He is well known for the 1977 disco hit Ma'm Thibault. He was portrayed by actor-comedian Roger Giguère.
Contents
Children's TV shows
Mr. Tranquille is first mentioned in the television series Patof raconte (CFTM-TV, 1975). Played by the soundman Roger Giguère, it's an invisible character and he interacts with the clown Patof by means of sound and music effects. It's only in the series Patof voyage (CFTM-TV, 1976) that Roger Giguère embodies him as a puppet.
Lesley Tranquille (a play on words that says Let-him Quiet) quickly wins the heart of the children. A single recorded in January 1977, Madame Thibault becomes a number one in Quebec. A disco version, mostly instrumental except for the phrase "Ma'm Thibault", is created and becomes a club hit. The single is even issued in France and Australia, where it becomes very popular. The song credited to "Tranquille", to dissociate from the TV character, is also issued on a K-tel double-LP compilation called Disco Fever (1978).
In September 1977, Mr. Tranquille get his own television series called Monsieur Tranquille (CFTM-TV, 1977). To increase the popularity of the character, two LPs, several coloring books and posters, as well as a series of eight comic books illustrated by Henri Desclez are published.
The following season, a new series called Le monde de Monsieur Tranquille (CFTM-TV, 1978) was created to be more educational. However, the series was canceled mid-season.
In spite of a short career, Mr. Tranquille fired the imagination of a generation of Québécois. Songs like Faut pas me chercher (a duet with Patof, 1976), Madame Thibault (1977), Ça va pas dans l'soulier? (1977), Les monstres (1977), Farnande (1977) and Pepperoni are among his greatest hits.
Television Series
DVD
Reconstituted chart
Songs
Title / Date / Best rank / Weeks on chart
Albums
Title / Date / Best rank / Weeks on Top 30