Gilles Proulx was born on April 5, 1940, and grew up in the
Montreal neighbourhood of
Verdun. Proulx holds a
Bachelor's in
communications from the
Université du Québec à Montréal. He asserted that he earned a
Master's in communications from
Saint Louis University, in
St. Louis,
Missouri in 1986. On the January 10, 2007, episode of
Les Francs-Tireurs on
Télé-Québec he claimed that he did not actually earn the diploma. The show's research team inquired about his claim to the university, who confirmed that Gilles Proulx was not among their alumni. From 1979 to 1991, he taught a communications course at
Université de Montréal, and was a guest lecturer on radio journalism at
Université Cheikh Anta Diop in
Dakar,
Sénégal in 1983. He was the news director at
CKLM, a journalist on the show
le Temps de vivre on
Radio-Canada, and commentator on
CKOI-FM. After his return from
Bosnia and Herzegovina in August 1994, he published a long report on the humanitarian aspect of the
Canadian forces in
La Presse. He was best known as the host of
Journal du midi, over a span of 24 years. From 1984 to 1994 on
CJMS, from 1994 to 2004 on
CKAC, and from 2004 to 2008 on
CHMP-FM. Gilles Proulx has said that his colourful radio hosting style was inspired by
Adrian Cronauer, played by
Robin Williams in the film
Good Morning, Vietnam. In 1998 and 1999 he hosted
les Grands Dossiers historiques on the
Canal D television channel. Also a photographer and voyager, he has published various books, such as
À la conquête du monde in 1996, and
Globetrotter in 2000. On March 15, 2007, while he was undergoing a routine medical examination at the
Montreal Heart Institute, doctors determined that a
Coronary artery bypass surgery was necessary. Beginning in late 2009, he hosted a television series known as "Mémoire de Proulx" on
Canal VOX in Montreal, which was rebroadcast on other stations across Quebec. He currently appears as a commentator on
TVA and QUB Radio, as well as a columnist for the
Journal de Montréal. He also appears on the
Catholic and history orientated radio station
Radio Ville-Marie. ==Controversy==