Claude Léveillée (16 October 1932 – 9 June 2011) was a Canadian actor, pianist, and singer-songwriter who composed over 400 songs, numerous instrumental scores, and a number of musicals.

[clarification needed][1] He composed several songs for Édith Piaf, including "Les Vieux" pianos, "Ouragan" and "Boulevard du crime.” He also composed for a number of Quebec singers, including Julie Arel ("Merci à toi" in 1976) and Nicole Martin ("Il est en nous l'amour" in 1985, and "Mon père et ma mère" and "On s'aimera" in 1987).

In 1954, at the age of 21 and with a Bachelor of Arts degree[3] from the classical course, he enrolled at the Université de Montréal in economics, politics and social sciences.

Showing little enthusiasm in class, he discovered an old piano in a room at the university, whose music led him to meet Élizabeth Chouvalidzé.

In October 1955, Léveillée and Élizabeth Chouvalidzé appeared on stage at the Université de Montréal in the magazine Bleu et Or,[3] to perform a number by Gilbert Bécaud and Liberace.

[3] In 1956, he played in "Le Secret de la rivière perdue" on Radio-Canada Television;[3] he also created a character for children, Clo-Clo (sets, script, text and music), on the "Domino" program (1957–59, 1961–62).

[3] In 1956, Léveillée met Paul Buissonneau at the École des beaux-arts de Montréal, where he was in charge of the musical score for the 1956 revival of Orion le tueur at the Centre Saint-André-Apôtre.

Boissonneau offered Léveillée the opportunity to open the next play he stages, La Tour Eiffel qui tue, presented from 4 to 9 March 1957 at the Salles du Gesù in Montreal and on 25 May in Edmonton.

This song, selected as one of the twelve finalists, was recorded shortly afterwards by Micheline Manseau to a honky-tonk piano rhythm ("[...] vous n'êtes plus de notre temps [...]").

[4] On 12 June 1959, under the influence of Paul Buissonneau and his wife Françoise, who were encouraging Édith Piaf to go to the little cabaret Chez Bozo, Claude Léveillée met the artist.

In 1961, Léveillée was artistic director of the small "boîte à chansons" Le Chat noir in Montreal, where he hired Gilles Vigneault and asked him after his performance if he had any other texts to set to music.

[3] On 21 May 1967, he performed the song "Le rendez-vous" on the American Ed Sullivan Show, broadcast live from Montreal on the occasion of the World's fair held there at the time.

In the 1960s, he produced The Old Pianos, Frédéric, The Legend of the White Horse, "Le Rendez-vous" (lyrics by Gilles Vigneault), The Scene, Emmène-moi au bout du monde and Soir d'hiver (poem by Émile Nelligan).

In the early 1970s, he produced songs such as "L'étoile d'Amérique", "Cheval de bois", "Si jamais" and "Marie Rose".

In the same year, he took part in the Fondation Québec-Afrique, singing in the collective project "Les Yeux de la faim".

In 1987, he shared the stage with Renée Claude for a few concerts under the title Partenaires dans le crime, then wrote the songs "On s'aimera" and "Mon père et ma mère" for which Nicole Martin joined as backing vocalist.

In 1988, McDonald's restaurants used his song, Frédéric, for the Quebec adaptation of the advertising campaign around the character Mac Tonight, renamed Pierrot McDo.

In the early 1990s, Léveillée landed the role of businessman and press magnate Émile Rousseau in the TV series Scoop, for which he also composed the musical score.

Marriages: Micheline Guernon (mother of her son Pascal); Monica Miller; Francine Massé; Hélène LeTendre LeBlond 1986–2011.