After his secondary education, he completed his university studies at
Université de Montréal majoring in social science while studying singing and theatre acting. In 1962 and 1963, he worked at the news service of radio station
CJMS. During the same period, he took part in a number of music and entertainment shows as an amateur singer and caught the attention of a number of producers. In the 1960s, he recorded a number of successful singles and hosted his first television broadcasts. In 1964, he was named "male discovery of the year" at the Gala des artistes in Quebec. Laprade also led a successful career as a radio host of radio entertainment shows on a number of radio stations, notably
CKVL,
CKAC,
CKLM,
CBF, CJMS and
CFGL and at the
Radio-Canada television network, where he notably hosted the game show
Le travail à la chaîne from 1972 to 1979. He also hosted shows in
Télé-Métropole and
Télévision Quatre-Saisons (TQS). From 1971 to 1973, he was director of programming at CKLM. He was also involved in charity telethons between 1977 and 1988 for the Canadian Cerebral Palsy Association. During the
1988 Canadian Federal elections, he ran unsuccessfully as a candidate of the
Liberal Party of Canada in the riding of
Hochelaga—Maisonneuve. In 2003, he appeared in the film
100% bio directed by
Claude Fortin and in 2011-2012, he made his "farewell tour" on the occasion of his 50-year music career. His discography includes a dozen albums and almost 40 hit singles. He acted in three plays,
Vacances pour Jessica in 1969 and
Madam Idora in 1971 both with director Henri Norbert and in 1989 in
Le grand oui, an adaptation of
Ciel de lit with director Marie-Michelle Desrosiers. Laprade died from
prostate cancer in
La Prairie, Quebec, on January 17, 2024, at the age of 83. ==Filmography==