Acadian actress Viola Léger died on Saturday, according to a release from Carol Doucet at Le Grenier musique. She believes that the character of La Sagouine never could have remained as popular for as long without Léger. In 1985, she started her own theatre company, the Compagnie Viola Léger. In 1999, she created the Viola Léger Foundation, which awarded scholarships to actors at the beginning of their careers. “Viola Léger did not play La Sagouine, she was La Sagouine.”After the news of Léger’s death, Minister of Official Languages Ginette Petitpas Taylor took to Twitter to praise the late Acadian actress.
