Françoise: Film Star

Françoise, my birth mother, was both an inspiration and a massive disappointment. I have photographs of her that look like me in drag. We had a very strong resemblance. At her funeral, two women approached me knowing who I was by looking at me, and they hadn’t seen Françoise for sixty years.

I was her second child. She’s had a daughter ten years before at age fifteen, a daughter that she gave up for adoption. She abandoned me because she wanted to go to France to be a film star. The photographs below speak to her success. But she was also a fabulist and when I met her, she would not tell me who my father was. That cost her my love. She was always putting herself ahead of me.

Regardless of her fibs, I was terribly proud to be the son of a francophone and an actor. She had an exciting life. On my second night in Montreal when I went back east to meet her, we had dinner in a spectacularly atmospheric little restaurant with Michel Tremblay, Canada’s greatest playwright. Through her, while I was there, I met the hoi polloi of Quebecois film and television. 

When the social worker who put us together first contacted me to tell me Françoise had been found, she told me a little about her, including that I could see her by renting the film Agnes of God. That’s how I first saw her. When she passed, I inherited a lot of her mementos from her life in the theatre and on screen. Hence the photos below.

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Yesterday quickly became sunny after sunrise. Our morning walk was pleasant because I had the right warm clothes on, and gloves. It was 3°. But as I worked on the loft through the day, the bright light was welcome in the house.

I donated 4 bags of books to the library book sale. Mel came to pick up the bags. I cleaned the induction countertop element that I bought when my stove was broken. I am going to try to sell it on our community Facebook page. And I went through 2 more boxes of mementos and souvenirs and chucked a lot of the stuff into the garbage. The stuff I saved is now stored away in small file boxes.

Best of all, I swept the floor of just under half the loft. Only the hardest place to get to, where the ceiling comes down to meet the floor, is left to be cleared of things for storge or discarding, then I will sweep the rest of the loft floor. It’s been a big job. I find it very satisfying to have taken on the work.

Once the loft is done, I have three closets to go through. I have several pairs of shoes/boots to get rid of, and some coats and old bedding may go. Then, I will go through the shed, which won’t be an onerous job, and after that I will be able to call Gabriola Disposal, and my studio will be cleared of all the accumulated crap.

I’ve put a lot of things together to donate to our GIRO store. GIRO is our recycling centre; the store is where items that are likely to sell go because sales revenue helps pay GIRO staff and expenses. When this job is done, I’ll have contributed to three charities and given work to a great local business (the disposal guy). 

At 14:30, the sunshine called to me, so Sheba and I went to Elder Cedar to walk the circuit. I was satisfied with my progress, and I have lots of time today to finish up and finally get the ladder out of the kitchen. When we got back to Pinecone Park, I did some reading. I find that I must read a little every day or I forget who people are and what has happened in the early part of the books.

Last night … same as always.

Today and tomorrow are predicted to be the last cool days. Things start warming up on Monday, but it’s going to be wet all week it seems. That’s okay with me, I have lots more cleaning and sorting to do, and my taxes and powers of attorney and representation to do. I’m progressing with my pre-death preparations.

The Young Girls of Rochefort. That's Gene Kelly with whom, Françoise says,
she had an affair during the filming. But, as I say, she was a fabulist and so
I'm not capable of believing her.

A Special Day: I'm very proud of Françoise and this film. She co-starred with
Marcello Mastroiani and Sophia Loren, and Marcello plays a gay man. I have a
copy of this film and it's a great story.

The Young Girls of Rochefort: Françoise befriended both Catherine
Deneuve (above) and her sister Françoise Dorléac. I have lots of 
souvenirs of their friendship including this photo.

A Special Day, for which she bore a mustache.

On set of The Young Girls of Rochefort

A Special Day

The Young Girls of Rochefort

The Young Girls of Rochefort: Catherine
Deneuve (right) and her sister Françoise Dorléac.

Agnes of God. I loved Ann Bancroft. I first sw her work in The Miracle
Worker, and I was a fan for life, so I was thrilled to see Françoise working
with her in this film. I worked on the play in Vancouver.

The Young Girls of Rochefort: Françoise and Gene Kelly.

The Young Girls of Rochefort

Agnes of God