René Angélil

René Angélil CM OQ (French pronunciation: [ʁəne ɑ̃ʒelil]; (1942-01-16)16 January 1942 – (2016-01-14)14 January 2016) was a Canadian musical producer, talent manager and singer. He was the husband and manager of singer Celine Dion.^[1]

René Angélil CM OQ
Angélil in 2009
Born	(1942-01-16)16 January 1942 Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Died	14 January 2016(2016-01-14) (aged 73) Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
Resting place	Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery, Montréal
Occupations	Talent manager record producer singer songwriter businessman
Years active	1961–2016
Spouses	Denyse Duquette ​ ​ (m. 1966; div. 1972)​ Anne Renée ​ ​ (m. 1973; div. 1985)​ Celine Dion ​ (m. 1994)​
Children	6

Early life

Angélil was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to a father of Syrian descent and a mother of Lebanese origin.^[2] His father, Joseph Angélil, was born in Montreal to parents from Damascus, Syria, and his mother, Alice Sara, was born in Montreal to Lebanese parents.^[3][4] He was the older of two children; he had a brother. Both of his parents were members of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.^{[citation needed]} Angélil studied at Collège Saint-Viateur (high school), in Outremont and at Collège André-Grasset (post secondary), in Montreal.

Career

Angélil started out in 1961 as a pop singer in Montreal. He formed a pop rock group, Les Baronets [fr], with childhood friends Pierre Labelle and Jean Beaulne. Les Baronets had some hits during the 1960s, mostly translations of English-language pop hits from the United Kingdom or the United States, such as 'C'est fou, mais c'est tout' in 1964 (a translation of The Beatles' song Hold Me Tight). After the dissolution of the group in 1972, Angélil and best friend Guy Cloutier began managing artists.^[5]

Together they managed the career of two successful Québec entertainers René Simard and Ginette Reno, among many other pop stars at the time. They parted ways in 1981 to each become solo managers. In 1981 (not long after being terminated as Ginette's manager and considering leaving the music business to pursue law school), René heard Celine Dion's demo tape when he was considered as a potential producer for her album. He soon took over as her agent.^[6] He continued as her manager until June 2014, when he stepped down because he had cancer.^[7]

Angélil became one of several co-owners of Montreal's iconic Schwartz's Deli in 2012.^[5]

He has also had occasional acting roles in film and television, notably a supporting role in Sex in the Snow (Après-ski) and a leading role in The Apparition (L'Apparition).

Personal life

Céline Dion and Angélil in 2012

In 1966, Angélil married his first wife, Denyse Duquette. Their son Patrick was born in 1968, and they divorced in 1972. He married singer Anne Renée^{[citation needed]} in 1974; they had two children, then divorced in 1986. Their daughter, Anne-Marie, married singer Marc Dupré in 2000.^[8]

Angélil was sent a tape of then 12-year-old singer Céline Dion and invited her to audition in Quebec. He began managing her career, taking the teen and her mother on tour in Canada, Japan and Europe. He mortgaged his house to finance her first album in 1981.

Angélil and Dion began a personal relationship in 1988 when she was twenty years old. Their first date took place the night Celine won the Eurovision Song Contest on 30 April 1988. Her mother was vehemently opposed to the union due to their 26-year age gap and his previous failed marriages. However, she eventually relented, as most of the family was supportive. The couple married on 17 December 1994. The lavish wedding ceremony at Montreal's Notre-Dame Basilica was broadcast live on Canadian television.^[9]

After Angélil was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1999, and before beginning radiation treatment, the couple turned to in-vitro fertilisation. Their efforts were extensively publicised. Their son René-Charles Angélil was born on 25 January 2001. Dion suffered a miscarriage in 2009, then gave birth to twin boys on 23 October 2010. The boys were named Eddy after Eddy Marnay, who produced Dion's first five albums, and Nelson Angélil after former South African president Nelson Mandela.^[10]

Angélil and Dion were huge fans of the Montreal Canadiens NHL hockey team, and were good friends of former Quebec Nordiques / Colorado Avalanche president and general manager Pierre Lacroix.^[11]

Montreal Jubilation Choir founder Trevor Payne has said that "backstage, out of the eye of the general public, they were the kindest, most down-to-earth superstars that I've ever known in my entire career."^[5]

Defamation suit

In 2001, Angélil and Dion filed a $5 million defamation lawsuit against the Quebec tabloid Allô Vedettes, which claimed that the couple paid $5,001 to rent the swimming pool of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas so that Dion could sunbathe topless and Angélil could go skinny dipping. The couple strenuously denied the claim.^[12]

Gambling

Angélil was an avid poker player, having qualified for the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, and finishing in the money at the 2007 Mirage Poker Showdown event on the World Poker Tour, a series of high-stakes tournaments. Angélil was also rumoured to be a dedicated gambler away from the poker table. He reportedly gambled upwards of $1 million a week at Caesars Palace, and kept a line of credit for the same amount at Bellagio.^[13][14] In 2007, Jan Jones, a casino executive and the former mayor of Las Vegas, claimed that Angélil gambled $1 million a week, but later retracted the statement. Caesars Palace later released a statement of Angélil's gambling losses and wins with his permission.^[15]

Later life, illness and death

Angélil suffered a heart attack in 1991 at age 49.^[16] In 1999, he was diagnosed with throat cancer, and made a full recovery after treatment.^[17] He appeared in the video for Simple Plan's song "Save You" as a survivor of cancer.^[18] In 2009, Angélil reportedly underwent a planned, heart-related medical procedure to deal with arterial blockage.^[19]

Angélil had surgery in December 2013 for throat cancer.^[20] In June 2014, Angélil stepped down as Dion's manager to focus on his health, but was still involved in business decisions related to her career.^[21] In September 2015, Dion announced that Angélil's cancer had progressed and that he had only "months to live".^[22] Angélil died on 14 January 2016, of throat cancer, two days before his 74th birthday.^[23][24][25] He received a "national funeral" service at Notre-Dame Basilica from the government of Quebec on 22 January, and was buried at the Notre Dame des Neiges Cemetery.^[26][27]

Following Angélil's death, Dion became the sole owner and president of her management and production companies, including CDA Productions and Les Productions Feeling.^[28][29]

Legacy and honours

• 1987 and 1988: Félix Award for Manager of the Year.
• June 2009: awarded the National Order of Quebec, as Chevalier
• July 2013: awarded the Order of Canada.^[30]
• 22 January 2016: flags flew at half-mast on Quebec and Montreal government buildings in his memoriam and an official national funeral of the Quebec government was held in Notre-Dame Basilica^[26][31]
• 15 February 2016: honoured by Grammy Award during its annual 'In Memoriam' tribute.^[32]
• 14 May 2021: asteroid 241364 Reneangelil, discovered by amateur astronomer Michel Ory at his observatory in Switzerland in 2008, was named by the Working Group for Small Bodies Nomenclature in his memory.^[33]

Representation in other media

• In July 2008, Angélil was named the fictional principal for the reality television show Star Académie's fourth season in 2009.^[34] He filled the principal role in the show's two separate runs in 2009 and 2012.
• Angélil was portrayed by actor Enrico Colantoni in a 2008 television biopic of Dion, Céline.
• In the 2021 film Aline, directed by and starring Valérie Lemercier and loosely based on Dion's life, the character representing Angélil was portrayed by Sylvain Marcel, an actor from Dion's hometown of Charlemagne.