Kim Yaroshevsakaya rocked the childhood of an entire generation with her character Fanfreluche. But her friend Claire Pimparé remembers above all a “strong, avant-garde and determined” woman. “I loved him and I will always love him,” confides the interpreter of Passe-Carreau.
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“Kim Yaroshevskaya didn’t have it easy when she arrived in Quebec at the age of 10; but she has always been an extremely strong woman, with a lot of character and never submissive. This is what allowed him to create the character of Fanfreluche from scratch and make his mark,” says Claire Pimparé.
It was thanks to the show “Passe-Partout” that the friendship between Claire Pimparé and Kim Yaroshevskaya was born; the first played Passe-Carreau, while the second lent her features to the character of Grandmother.
Photo : © TQc
It is with a lot of emotion in her voice that the actress confided in the JournalMonday, the day after the death of Kim Yaroshevskaya. The great lady of Quebec culture died Sunday morning, at the age of 101, two weeks after being admitted to palliative care after suffering a fall. She retained her independence until the very end, living alone in her apartment on Nuns’ Island.
“She stayed lit, but she was tired of getting older; Kim loved to do everything in life, so she found it difficult to have life restrict her. She still retained all of her intelligence, her incredible curiosity and her great listening skills,” underlines Claire Pimparé.
A friendship of almost 50 years
The two women became friends on the set of the popular show Pass-Partoutin the late 1970s. They have remained in contact all these years, celebrating together the 100th anniversary of Kim Yaroshevskaya’s birth, in October 2023, “with flowers and champagne”.
Then, in recent years, their phone calls were replaced by email exchanges, a preferred means of communication for the now weakened centenarian.
“The calls stressed her out; she was afraid of falling when she went to get the phone when it rang. I wrote to him for the very last time in December to wish him happy holidays. I had the chance to tell her that I loved her, that she was my angel. So I know that she left knowing that I loved her,” confides Claire Pimparé.
