Carole Laure was born on 5 August 1948 in Québec, in a small parish called Shawinigan, not far from Montreal. Carole’s parents adopted her when she was a child and brought her up alongside their own children. Carole spent a happy childhood, growing up with six brothers and sisters and attending school at the local convent. She developed a passion for music at an early age and soon proved to be an extremely talented young pianist.

After leaving school Carole became a teacher, but at the age of 20 she began to get involved in the Canadian film world. Carole made her first screen appearance in Jean Chabot’s short entitled "Mon enfance". Then in 1971 she landed a major role in Jacques Godbout’s film "IXE-13". But it was Carole’s work with the director Gilles Carle which would really give the young actress her first big break. In 1973 Carole Laure’s film career got off to a flying start when she played the part of a country music singer in Carle’s "La Mort du bûcheron".

The following year Carole was back on cinema screens once again, starring in Dusan Makavejev’s 1974 film "Sweet Movie" (in which she gave a memorable appearance lying naked in a bath tub full of melted chocolate). Over the next few years the actress would star in a growing number of feature films.

But in 1977, Carole Laure’s encounter with the Canadian singer/ musician Lewis Furey would dramatically alter the course of her career - and cause a few major changes in her personal life too. Laure met the English-speaking star in a cabaret in Montreal and, sharing a mutual passion for music, the pair began spending a great deal of time together. Furey persuaded Laure to try her hand at singing and began writing material for her. At the end of the year the couple staged a concert at Le Palace in Paris, Laure performing Furey’s new songs. Laure and Furey soon became an inseparable couple off-stage as well as on and it was not long before they became a husband-and-wife team.

Meanwhile Laure continued her acting career. Having made a name for herself in Canada, she soon began to land roles in major French films. Director Alain Corneau was the first to spot the young Canadian’s talent in 1977, casting Laure opposite French star Yves Montand in a detective thriller .

Laure was back on French cinema screens the following year, playing the part of Solange in Bertrand Blier’s "Préparez vos mouchoirs" (a film in which the young Canadian starred alongside Gérard Depardieu and Patrick Dewaere).

1978 proved to be an extremely busy year for Carole Laure. After finishing shooting with Blier she returned to Canada to perform a joint show with Lewis Furey at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde in Montreal. Later that year she would also go into the studio to record her début album, "Alibis". This first album, entirely written by her husband, Furey, was a highly acclaimed work which fused the ambience of 1920’s Berlin cabaret with the sensual Tango of Gardel. The following year Laure’s hectic schedule finally began to slow down a little, although she did return to Paris in 1979 to perform a joint concert with Furey at the Bobino.

Meanwhile Lewis Furey was hard at work writing the musical "Fantastica". The musical, starring Carole Laure in the lead role (of course), was staged in 1980 and was subsequently transformed into a film by Gilles Carle. "Fantastica" proved to be something of a success with the public. The title track from the musical also gave Carole Laure one of her most memorable hits.

In March 1982, Laure and Furey returned to Paris, premièring their new show at the Théâtre de la Porte St Martin. Canada’s most popular celebrity duo brought the house down in Paris, performing a set of 26 solos and duets which included Laure’s greatest hits from "Alibis" and "Fantastica". This exceptional show proved a huge hit with Parisian audiences, running for nearly two months, and a live album of the concert was released later that year. After the triumph at the Théâtre de la Porte St Martin, Laure set off on a series of tours, playing dates across France and in her native Québec.

1983 was a memorable year in Laure and Furey’s personal life, Carole giving birth to the couple’s first child, a baby daughter named Clara. Later that same year Laure resumed her acting career, Gilles Carle offering her the lead role in "Maria Chapdelaine" (his film adaptation of the famous Canadian novel written at the beginning of the century).

Meanwhile Furey was concentrating on his songwriting and composition work. 1985 saw the release of "Night Magic", the film musical he had co-written with the legendary singing star Leonard Cohen. Furey had also been busy writing new material for his wife but Laure was giving priority to her acting career at this stage. It was only after devoting a further four years to film-making and taking a short time off to give birth to her second child that Carole Laure finally resumed her singing career.

Laure finally returned to the recording studio in 1989 to make a new album entitled "Western Shadows". As the title suggests, Laure gave full rein to her passion for Country and Western music on this album, recording some excellent cover versions of Country and Western classics. The most outstanding tracks on this new album were "Danse avant de tomber" (Boris Bergman’s French version of Doc Pomus’s legendary song "Save the Last Dance for Me") and a superb cover, in English, of the classic country hit "Stand by your man".

Following the release of the album "Western Shadows" Laure set off on another extensive tour. She premièred her new show, "Bonsoir mon amour", in Montreal in September 1990 and then took it to Paris, performing at the Bataclan in March 1991. This magnificently choreographed and extremely sensual show proved a huge hit with both the public and the critics, many of whom began comparing Laure to the famous American rock’n’ folk singer Rickie Lee Jones.

In August 1991 Laure returned to Paris to record her new album, "She Says Move On", which was released in the autumn of that year. On 2 October the Canadian singer embarked upon another extensive tour, which included a triumphant run at the Olympia in Paris (14 - 19 April 1992). Laure brought the house down in Paris with a new version of her famous show "Bonsoir mon amour", which was reworked to include material from her new album.

In 1993 Laure turned her attention to her acting career again, her appearances on the music scene over the next three or four years being few and far between. Music fans would have to wait until 1997 before Carole Laure the singer resurfaced, going into the studio to record a new album entitled "Sentiments naturels". This album found Laure and husband Furey experimenting with a totally new sound, fusing elements of techno, house and rap with trip-hop influences.

Furey had been studiously keeping in touch with the latest developments on the modern music scene and when he set about writing material for Laure’s new album he chose to collaborate with the most happening young DJs on the French scene (working with the likes of DJ Cam and Dimitri From Paris). English producer Todd Terry, world famous for his superb remixes of tracks by Everything but the Girl, also brought his inimitable touch to Carole Laure’s "Sentiments naturels". Add to this the excellent lyrics penned by Laure herself but also by Jean Fauque (Alain Bashung’s fetish songwriter) and Carole Laure was guaranteed to have another best-selling album on her hands.

The following year Carole Laure and Lewis Furey presented their new show "Sentiments naturels" (based on the album of the same name) in Paris. The show, an exciting fusion of dance, theatre and music-hall, featured a huge cast of dancers and singers who provided backing vocals for Laure, the unmistakable star of the show. "Sentiments naturels" proved such a hit with French audiences that the show (initially set to run from 22 January to 25 February) was extended for a full week.

June 98