Beloved Actress Kim Yaroshevskaya Has Died

Kim Yaroshevskaya, a Russian-born Canadian actress best known for her roles in Quebec children’s television, has died. Yaroshevskaya passed away on Sunday, Jan. 12 at the age of 101, her family confirmed, per Le Quotidien. Quebec’s Union des artistes (UDA) also announced her passing in a tribute shared to Facebook.

“Kim Yaroshevskaya, who embellished the lives of several generations of young and old children, has left us,” the statement read. “Many will have been marked by her performance of Fanfreluche or grandmother in Passe-Partout. We will not be able to forget her roles on television, cinema and theater, where she played great playwrights such as Dostoevsky, Tchekhov and Tennessee Williams.”

The UDA concluded, “Our sincere condolences to his relatives, her family and all those affected by his characters.”

Born in Moscow in 1923 to activist parents, Yaroshevskaya came to Quebec when she was just 10. Instilled with a love of art and imagination at a young age, Yaroshevskaya attended music, drawing, and dance classes before eventually discovering theater. She joined the theater troupe Le Grenier, where, in the ‘50s, she created the character of the Fanfreluche doll, which she later brought to TV on the Radio-Canada television series Fafouin in 1954. The character later joined the series La boîte à surprise from 1956 to 1967, per the CBC. The actress reprised the character in the French-language Canadian children’s series Fanfreluche for which she wrote and performed all the scripts. The series aired for 50 episodes from 1968 until 1971.

Years later, Yaroshevskaya entertained a new generation of children in the cult program Passe-Partout. The actress starred as Grand-mère for 10 years from 1977 until 1987. She also starred in the English Canadian drama series Home Fires.

Throughout her career, Yaroshevskaya also maintained a presence on the stage, appearing in about 50 plays and interpreting the works of Tennessee Williams, Ionesco, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Camus, and Réjean Ducharme.

Outside of acting, Yaroshevskaya was also an author. She published several works of children’s literature, including La Petite Kim (Little Kim’s Doll), and in 2017 published her biography, Mon voyage en Amérique. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 1991, and a Compagne de l’Ordre des arts et des lettres du Québec in 2017.