Jean-Claude Lord (6 June 1943 – 15 January 2022) was a Canadian film director and screenwriter.^[1] He was one of the most commercial of the Québécois directors in the 1970s, aiming his feature films at a mass audience and dealing with political themes in a mainstream, Hollywood style.

Lord was born inMontreal on 6 June 1943.^[2][3] He first worked as an assistant director and scriptwriter in the private sector.^[3] He was an apprentice toPierre Patry at the company Coopératio.^[4]

Lord's first feature wasDélivrez-nous du mal, released in 1965.^[3] It depicted a gay couple, reportedly a first for a Québécois film and regarded as a breakthrough since the influence of the Catholic Church was still strong in Quebec.^[5] His 1974 filmBingo exploits the post-October Crisis, post-Watergate paranoia prevalent in North America at the time with considerable panache. It was the subject of an intensive critical debate about its credentials as a left-wing film.^[6]

Lord directed his first English-language film,Visiting Hours, in 1982. The low-budget horror movie, which featuredWilliam Shatner andMichael Ironside, became a cult favourite.^[7] Four years later, Lord worked for the first time in television on the seriesLance et Compte. It centred around a fictitious ice hockey team, whose uniforms were similar to theQuebec Nordiques, contending for theStanley Cup and theWorld Cup of Hockey. The series – which ran from 1986 to 1989 – was credited with establishing a new benchmark for television shows in Quebec. It also aired in English on CBC asHe Shoots, He Scores, and was shown in France in 1987.^[8] He won aPrix Gémeaux in 1987 for the series.^[5]

In 1988, Lord directed the family filmLa Grenouille et la Baleine .^[9] The film starred Fanny Lauzier as Daphne, a young girl with an exceptional relationship with whales and dolphins due to her highly developed hearing. Her life changes when her grandfather decides to sell the seaside inn where she lives.^[10] This was the sixth and most popular film in theContes pour tous series. It was awarded and showcased at various international festivals, with 240,000 viewers in theaters, making it the largest Canadian audience of 1989.^[11]

Lord subsequently worked primarily in television on several other series and made-for-TV movies.^[3][12][13] He directed therevival ofLance et Compte that aired from 2000 until 2008.^[14] He was conferred thePrix Guy-Mauffette by theNational Assembly of Quebec in November 2017,^[14] in recognition of the contributions he made to the audiovisual industry and culture.^[7][8]

Lord was in a domestic partnership withLise Thouin until his death.^[5] Together, they had two children: Marie-Noëlle and Jean-Sébastien,^[5] who is also a film and television director, most noted for the filmsHeaven (Le petit ciel) andGuardian Angel (L'Ange-gardien).^[15]

Lord died on the evening of 15 January 2022. He was 78, and had suffered a major stroke on 30 December of the previous year.^[5][7][16]

• Deliver Us from Evil (Délivrez-nous du mal) – 1969^[12]
• The Doves (Les Colombes) – 1972^[12][13]
• Bingo – 1974^[12][13]
• Let's Talk About Love (Parlez-nous d'amour) – 1976^[12][13]
• Panic (Panique) – 1977^[13][17]
• Chocolate Eclair (Éclair au chocolat) – 1979^[12][13]
• Visiting Hours – 1982^[12][13]
• Covergirl – 1984^[12][13]
• The Vindicator – 1986^[12][13]
• Toby McTeague – 1986^[12][13]
• The Tadpole and the Whale (La Grenouille et la baleine) – 1988^[12][13]
• Mindfield (La mémoire assassinée) – 1989^[12][13]
• Eddie and the Cruisers II: Eddie Lives! – 1989^[12][13]
• Landslide [fr] – 1992^[12][13]
• North Station (Station Nord) – 2002^[12][13]

• Lance et Compte (TV series, 1986) {akaHe Shoots, He Scores (English) andCogne et Gagne (France)}^[17][14]
• Urban Angel (TV series, 1991)^[18]
• Sirens (TV series, 1994–1995)^[14]
• Jasmine (TV series, 1996)^[14][19]
• Lobby (TV series, 1997)^[17]
• Diva (TV series, 1997)^[14][20]
• Maurice Richard: Histoire d'un Canadien (TV miniseries Co-Directed with Pauline Payette, 1999)^[21]
• Quadra (TV series, 2000)^[14][22]
• L'or (TV series, 2001)^[14][23]
• Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension (TV series, 2002)^[14][24]
• Lance et Compte: La nouvelle génération (TV series, 2002)^[25]
• Lance et Compte: La reconquete (TV series, 2004)^[26]
• Lance et Compte: La revanche (TV series, 2006)^[27]
• Lance et Compte: Le grand duel (TV series, 2009)^[28]
• Secrets of the Summer House (TV movie, 2008)^[12][13]
• Out of Control (TV movie, 2009)^[12][13]
• Ring of Deceit (TV movie, 2009)^[12][13]
• Second Chances (TV movie, 2010)^[12][13]

• Jean-Claude Lord atIMDb

• 1943 births
• 2022 deaths
• Canadian screenwriters in French
• Canadian television directors
• Film directors from Montreal
• Writers from Montreal
• 20th-century Canadian screenwriters
• 20th-century Canadian male writers
• 21st-century Canadian screenwriters
• 21st-century Canadian male writers
• Screenwriters from Quebec

• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from January 2022
• Articles with hCards