Gabriel Arcand

He is the brother of film director Denys Arcand.

After studying philosophy at McGill University, Arcand spent his formative professional years at La Criée in Marseilles, France, and later in Poland where he studied theatre. Since he made his 1973 screen debut in his brother's first feature, La Maudite Galette, he established himself as Quebec’s iconic strong, silent type and has given subtle but powerful performances in a wide range of films such as Réjeanne Padovani, Les Plouffe, Le Crime d’Ovide Plouffe, Le Déclin de l’empire américain, Post Mortem and Congorama.

He won the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television's award for Best Actor at the 6th Genie Awards in 1985 for his performance in The Crime of Ovide Plouffe (Le Crime d'Ovide Plouffe) and at the 2nd Canadian Screen Awards in 2014 for The Dismantling (Le Démantèlement), and the award for Best Supporting Actor at the 8th Genie Awards in 1987 for Decline of the American Empire. He was also nominated for Best Actor at the 3rd Genie Awards in 1982 for Les Plouffe and at the 20th Genie Awards for Post Mortem, and for Best Supporting Actor at the 2nd Genie Awards in 1981 for Suzanne and at the 20th Genie Awards in 1999 for Le Grand serpent du monde.