Here, with much help from Facebook friends, is a list of the most iconic figures in Montreal history.
Criteria: the longer the person stayed in Montreal the more credit they get.
Iconic? It's the wall-poster quality of "wow I can't believe I met that person."
It's more about heavyweights than lightweights: purpose and gravitas count more than just notoriety, therefore yes to war heroes and no to TV personalities.
It's not merely about virtue. Three larger-than-life criminals are on this list.
There is plenty of scuttlebutt about these figures in my upcoming Montreal: 375 Tales.
This list is meant as a fun exercise. Many were surely overlooked, underrated, overrated. Please share your suggestions in the comments section. (note - a couple of small changes have been made to this original list to zap duplication and to add Pierre Trudeau)
Criteria: the longer the person stayed in Montreal the more credit they get.
Iconic? It's the wall-poster quality of "wow I can't believe I met that person."
It's more about heavyweights than lightweights: purpose and gravitas count more than just notoriety, therefore yes to war heroes and no to TV personalities.
It's not merely about virtue. Three larger-than-life criminals are on this list.
There is plenty of scuttlebutt about these figures in my upcoming Montreal: 375 Tales.
This list is meant as a fun exercise. Many were surely overlooked, underrated, overrated. Please share your suggestions in the comments section. (note - a couple of small changes have been made to this original list to zap duplication and to add Pierre Trudeau)
- Jacques Cartier
- Maurice "Rocket" Richard
- Jean Drapeau
- Jeanne Mance
- Lily St. Cyr
- Camilien Houde
- Leonard Cohen
- Jackie Robinson
- Emile Nelligan
- Brother Andre
- Celine Dion
- Thomas D'Arcy McGee
- Charles "Joe Beef" McKiernan
- Oscar Petersen
- Louis Cyr
- Katheri Tekakwithi
- Pierre Trudeau
- Michel Pagliaro
- William Shatner
- Mario Lemieux
- William Cornelius Van Horne
- Guy Lafleur
- Jean Beliveau
- Gilles Villeneuve
- Gary Carter
- Mederic Martin
- Robert Charlebois
- George "Buzz" Beurling
- Jimmy Orlando
- Rufus Rockhead
- Mitsou
- Guy Laliberté
- Ginette Reno
- Rusty Staub
- Calix Lavallee
- Shadrack Minkens
- Michel Tremblay
- Marguerite Bourgeoys
- Ernest Rutherford
- Gerry Boulet
- Monica "Machine Gun Molly" Proietti
- Mom Boucher
- Sam Steinberg
- Sam Bronfman
- Laurent Beaudoin
- Moise Safdie
- Hugh McLennnan
- Oliver Jones
- Aldo Nova
- Frank Marino
- Doug Harvey
- Toe Blake
- Nick Auf der Maur
- Frank Hanley
- Philippe Nicol
- JJ Harpell
- Douglas Leopold
- Genevieve Bujold
- Harry Ship
- Xavier Dolan
- Pierre Peladeau
- Jeff Skoll
- Jean Coutu
- Ewan Cameron
- Dany Laferrière
- Norman McLaren
- Jacques Plante
- Therese Casgrain
- Donald Gordon
- Gump Worsley
- Wilder Penfield
- Normand Bethune
- Stephen Leacock
- Armand Vaillancourt
- Frank Shoofey
- Richard Blass
- Butch Bouchard
- Red Storey
- Vladimir Guerrero
- Herbert Ames
- Frank Hanley
- Marjo
- Jeanne Le Ber
- Alys Robi
- Jojo Savard
- Paul Sieur Chomedey de Maisonneuve
- Irving Layton
- Mordecai Richler
- Percy Rodrigues
- Pedro Martinez
- Charlie Biddle
- Jacques Cinq Mars
- Gino Vanelli
- Leo Rene Maranda
- Al Palmer
- Dick Pound
- Michael Sarrazin
- Dunie Ryan
- Gerald Bull
- The Great Antonio
Thanks to the FB friends who helped create this list