Biography
Yves Jacques is a Canadian film, television and stage actor. He was born on 10 May 1956 in Quebec City. He studied theatre at the Cégep de Saint-Hyacinthe and began acting on stage in Quebec City and Montreal. He gained wider recognition from 1981 as a sketch performer in the annual Bye Bye New Year's Eve variety special on Télévision de Radio-Canada.
To international audiences he is best known for playing Claude, the gay academic, in Denys Arcand's The Decline of the American Empire (1986) and The Barbarian Invasions (2003). On stage he originated the role of Lydie-Anne in the premiere of Michel Marc Bouchard's play Lilies. He has appeared in several films by French director Claude Miller, including Of Woman and Magic (2000) and Little Lili (2003).
Since 2001 he has toured in two productions by Robert Lepage, Far Side of the Moon and Le Projet Andersen, playing all the roles. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2009 for his work in theatre, television and film in Canada and abroad, and was named Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres by France in 2001.
