Claude Fournier, a leading figure in Quebec’s film and TV industry, has died.

The veteran director died on March 16 at Montreal University Hospital Center following a heart attack suffered during a vacation in Martinique, a spokesperson for the Association Québécoise de la production médiatique (AQPM) told Playback Daily. He was 91.

Fournier began his career as a journalist at Sherbrooke newspaper La Tribune and Radio-Canada before joining the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) in 1957 as a writer and director. His credits include the short films Télésphore Légaré, garde-pêche and Aliments, gentils aliments, which he co-directed with wife Marie-José Raymond.

Fournier made his feature debut in 1970 with the erotic comedy Two Women in Gold (Deux femmes en or), exploring the unfulfilled marriages of a pair of housewives in Quebec, played by Monique Mercure and Louise Turcot. Fournier also co-wrote the Oscar-nominated Canada-Italy copro A Special Day.

Fournier left the NFB to work with filmmakers Richard Leacock and D.A. Pennebaker before returning to Montreal in 1963 to found prodco Rose Films Inc. with Raymond. Fournier directed the film La pomme, la queue et les pépins under Rose Films.

Fournier and Raymond also helped launch Éléphant: The Memory of Quebec Cinema in 2008, a charity dedicated to preserving and providing access to Quebec’s film heritage. Nearly 250 films have been restored since launch, according to the organization’s website.

Tributes came pouring in following the announcement of Fournier’s passing by his twin brother, screenwriter Guy Fournier.

Quebec Premier François Legault posted on Twitter that Fournier left a “great legacy” in Quebec cinema, referencing Fournier’s films Deux femmes en or, Les chats bottés and Bonheur d’occasion, as well as his book René Lévesque, portrait d’un homme seul. “My condolences to his family, friends, loved ones,” he wrote.

Minister of Canadian Heritage Pablo Rodriguez also offered his condolences to Fournier’s family and loved ones in a Twitter post, lamenting the loss of a “an icon of Quebec cinema, whose impact on our culture was immense.”

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons