Johanne Harrelle (January 29, 1930 – August 4, 1994) was a Canadian actress, model, and writer, and the first black woman to rise to prominence in Quebec and Canada's fashion world.

[1] Her role in the film, as herself, describes the way in which she was perceived as an exotic outsider in French Canada, and people often assumed that she was Haitian, despite having been born in Montreal.

She was raised with her two brothers in an orphanage after their African American father died, and French Canadian mother fell ill when she was only 3 years old.

[1] Her first appearance on a fashion runway was at Montreal's upscale Ritz Carlton Hotel in the 1950s, when black models were unheard of, in Canada.

Late in life she returned to acting, with small supporting roles in the film The Kiss and the television series Marisol and Scoop.