"In Montreal, everything always ends up in tears." - Dan BurkeDrama is king in Montreal.
The city's most prominent routinely tumble into a spiral that leads far below the surface of the earth; Mom Boucher, Arturo Gatti, The Rizzutos, Dunie Ryan, Nelly Arcan and so many others.
"Famous acrobat dancer" Johnny Starr is the subject of a Daniel Proulx La Presse article from 24 May 1992, called Grandeur and Decadence, which tells the story of a lesser-known tap dancing sensation.
I have imperfectly translated it below.
Starr's story appears to have been made into a minor mid-eighties stage play"Ou Es Tu Johnny Starr?"
No idea where or what Cafe Romeo was.
**
It's Friday night in the late 1950s at Cafe Romeo, on St Catherine a stone's throw from The Main. It's payday. Longshoremen are up from the port. Taxi drivers. People drinking their welfare cheques. Bad boys. Pimps and their girls, some scraped from the bottom of the barrel, others fresh off the farm.
It smells of beer and smoke. Everybody's smoking. Cigarettes aren't evil yet. The place is jammed. People shout to be heard.
It smells of beer and smoke. Everybody's smoking. Cigarettes aren't evil yet. The place is jammed. People shout to be heard.
Suddenly, on the small stage, in front of a velvet curtain, the ageless emcee stands microphone in hand, clad in a worn-out tux. He's joyous. He has a job to do. He rolls his 'r's in both languages. Ladies and gentlemen, a great star tonight: Johnny Starr!"
Johnny is not called Starr for nothing. He's the king. His name is in big letters out front. He's 25. He dances like no other. He's beautiful. The women swoon. His costumes, his act are impeccable. He's a talent, it's clear even in this place full of riff-raff.
The beautiful years pass. Johnny becomes an orphan in the age of rock music.
He moves to Paris in 1966. But the French have changed too. He performs the Pigalle before returning home. He dances at the Théâtre des Variétés on Papineau near Mount Royal before fading away. The Johnny Starrs of this world, their time has come and gone.
The beautiful years pass. Johnny becomes an orphan in the age of rock music.
He moves to Paris in 1966. But the French have changed too. He performs the Pigalle before returning home. He dances at the Théâtre des Variétés on Papineau near Mount Royal before fading away. The Johnny Starrs of this world, their time has come and gone.
Jean Claude Therrien is 46. He lives in a tiny, miserable apartment near Théâtre des Variétés where he had his last moments on stage.
He has no fridge. He stores his meager provisions between the windows. He is known in nearby bars as "the wolf." He drinks like a sponge and is not shy to show off his homosexual tendencies. He sometimes wears a dress and a fur coat. At his age!
He has no fridge. He stores his meager provisions between the windows. He is known in nearby bars as "the wolf." He drinks like a sponge and is not shy to show off his homosexual tendencies. He sometimes wears a dress and a fur coat. At his age!
An anonymous phone call led police to his home on 24 April 1981.
They find his rotting corpse in the bathroom, in a pool of blood. He'd been stabbed.
It's a lovers quarrel, conclude investigators. Johnny Starr earns a small article in a daily newspaper and an article in a weekly news magazine. People really should read those more as they sometimes tell us a lot.
They find his rotting corpse in the bathroom, in a pool of blood. He'd been stabbed.
It's a lovers quarrel, conclude investigators. Johnny Starr earns a small article in a daily newspaper and an article in a weekly news magazine. People really should read those more as they sometimes tell us a lot.