Camille Bernard CM (February 25, 1898 – July 16, 1984) was a Canadian opera singer, actress and music educator from Quebec. [1] She was most noted as the founder of the Institut Camille-Bernard, a prominent theatre and music school in Montreal. [1]
Trained under Béatrice La Palme and Salvator Issaurel, she was a regular performer in Quebec until being invited in 1924 to study in Paris. Completing her training under Pauline Donalda and Yvette Guilbert, and regularly performed in both France [1] and Canada [2] for a number of years thereafter.
In 1929 she founded the Théâtre des petits, a children's school of diction, and later founded the École nouvelle, a school for children with language difficulties; the two institutions later merged into the Institut Camille-Bernard. [1] The Théâtre des petits also had a regular radio program on Montreal's CKAC. [1]
In 1973, she had her only major acting role, in Claude Jutra's film Kamouraska. [3] She won the Canadian Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. [4]
She was inducted into the Order of Canada in 1981. [5]