René Angélil

René Angélil (born January 16, 1942 in Montreal, Québec, Canada) is a Canadian of Syrian [http://www.pokerpages.com/pokerinfo/tournamentgallery/wsop/rene-angelil.htm] ancestry. He is the husband and manager of singer Céline Dion. He studied in the Collège Grasset and Les Clercs de Saint-Viateur in Outremont, Montreal.

He started out as a pop singer in the 1960s in Montréal, Angélil formed a pop rock group, "The Baronets", with childhood friend Pierre Labelle and Jean Beaulne, who were known as "Québec's Beatles." This group had some hits in the 1960's as "C'est Fou, Mais c'est Tout" (a translation of the Beatles' song "Hold Me Tight") catering to the short-lived Quebec market for translations of English language pop hits from the United Kingdom or the United States. After the dissolution of the group, René Angélil and best friend Guy Cloutier began managing artists. Together they managed the career of two successful Québec entertainers René Simard and Ginette Reno, among many other pop stars of the time. They parted ways in 1981, each managing their own artists.

Not long after being replaced as Ginette's manager, at the end of 1981 René heard Céline Dion's demo tape. In 1987 and 1988, he won the Félix Award of Manager of the Year.

On December 17, 1994, after over 13 years of managing her, he married Céline, 26 years younger; she is his third wife. Their son, René-Charles Dion Angélil, was born on January 25, 2001. René also has three other children from his previous marriages.

He suffered from throat cancer (resulting in Dion temporarily halting her career to be with him), but has recovered. He is a keen poker player, having qualified for the 2005 World Series of Poker Tournament of Champions, and finishing in the money at the 2007 Mirage Poker Showdown event on the World Poker Tour, a series of high stakes tournaments. Angélil is also rumored to be a dedicated gambler away from the poker table. He reportedly gambles upwards of one million dollars per week at Caesars Palace, and keeps a line of credit for the same amount at Bellagio. [ [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,2000106,00.html Queen of Las Vegas brings her winning streak to Britain | Business | The Observer ] ] [ [http://vegasblog.latimes.com/vegas/2007/02/ramblin_gambin_.html Ramblin' Gamblin' Man: Rene Angelil | The Movable Buffet | Los Angeles Times ] ]

In July 2008, Angelil was named the director for the reality television show Star Academie's fourth season scheduled to start in February 2009. [ [http://lcn.canoe.ca/lcn/artsetspectacles/general/archives/2008/07/20080729-102729.html René Angelil prend la tête de l'académie] , LCN, July 29, 2008]

Marriages:

-1966: first wife Denyse Duquette: mother of Patrick Angélil (born in 1968, same year as future wife Céline Dion)

-1970: second wife Manon Kirouac, called Anne Renée on the stage (she was also a singer):mother of Jean-Pierre Angélil (born in 1974) and Anne-Marie Angélil (born in 1977)

-1994: third wife Céline Dion:mother of René-Charles Dion Angélil (born in 2001)

René Angélil was accused by Yun Kyeong Kwon Sung of sexual assault stemming from a 2000 incident that took place in a Las Vegas hotel. These charges were later investigated by Las Vegas police. Although Mr. Angélil eventually paid the woman $2 million dollars to settle things with his accuser, Mr. Angélil never admitted to doing anything wrong, always maintaining the settlement was to avoid negative publicity that might upset his wife Celine. Yun Kyeong Kwon Sung and her husband, Ae Ho Kwon, were later arrested in 2003 and charged with trying to extort money from Mr. Angélil over a false rape claim. Both individuals were convicted.

In 2001 René Angélil, along with his wife Celine Dion, filed a $5 million defamation lawsuit against Quebec tabloid Allo Vedettes for printing a story alleging the couple paid $5,000 to rent out the swimming pool of Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas so that Celine could sunbathe topless and René could go skinny dipping, allegations they strenuously denied. They later withdrew the case, saying it was not a priority in light of the terrorist events of 9/11.

A frenzy of speculation as to how much Mr. Angélil spends in casinos was created when Jan Jones, former Vegas Mayor and high ranking executive at Harrah's Communications, was quoted by a reporter from the London-based newspaper The Observer as saying "Celine Dion's husband is a big gambler. He probably gambles $1 million in a week, but he can afford to." A retraction was later issued by Caesar's Palace, which is owned by Harrah's, stating that Jan Jones' previous allegations were totally without merit.

René Angélil will be portrayed in an unauthorized TV Movie Biopic about Céline Dion by Toronto actor Enrico ColantoniFact|date=June 2008, and he is a frequent staple in comedian Kathy Griffin's stage acts.Fact|date=June 2008

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