Lucknerson Junior Mervil (born October 20, 1967), is a Haitian-Canadian singer-songwriter, actor and entrepreneur. He is known for his work in the French musical Notre-Dame-de-Paris, playing Clopin in the original French & English casts.
During early 1990s, he achieved fame as the front runner of pop-rock/funk band RudeLuck by winning music contest L’Empire des futures starts. He was approached by Luc Plamondon, to star in a Quebec/French cast new musical called Notre-Dame-de-Paris. In 2001, he starts his film career with the French movie Betty Fisher et autres histoires from director Claude Miller and will appear in several films throughout his career. He revisited his theatre musical career this time in Quebec with Génération Motown which was shown in Québec city and Montreal. Mervil hosted acclaimed boy/girl band contest Mixmania, on Vrak-TV, which will earn him an Award for his hosting skills. He hosted a public affairs television program Le 3950 on TV5.
Mervil is also known for his involvement in his community. In particular when Hurricane Jeanne hit his mother land in 2004. He shared the profit of his single Ti peyi a with the CECI and Medecins du Monde Canada. That year, for his implication and bringing the Haitian and Quebecer communities together he was named Patriot of the Year by the Saint-Jean-Bapstiste Society. He release his creole album Ti Peyi A that year featuring songs like Ti Mari & Mezanmi that are known as anthems in Haiti.
Early life
Mervil was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. His family moved to Quebec when he was four years old. He lived in New York between the ages of 12 and 17, and then returned to Quebec.
Career
Mervil recorded several albums of reggae and rap music, including three with his band RudeLuck and later a self-titled solo album in 2000.
Mervil performed the role of Clopin is the original distribution of the 1998 Notre-Dame de Paris musical. He made several subsequent television appearances, and in 2001 acted in the film Betty Fisher et autres histoires in 2001.
Mervil was a spokesperson for the Canadian Centre for International Studies and Cooperation. He founded the charitable organization, Vilaj vilaj.
Personal life
Mervil is a father of 3.
Luck Mervil pleaded guilty in May 2018 to one charge of sexual exploitation for engaging in sexual relationship with a girl in 1996. The sexual contacts started when the girl was 17 and Mervil was 29, and continued after she turned 18. Despite age of consent in Canada being 14 years old at the time, the conviction stems from the fact Mervil was "in a position of authority" when the sexual contacts started while the girl was a minor. The judge, accepting the joint recommendation of the prosecution and defense, sentenced Mervil to 6 months to be served in the community, the first three of which under house arrest.
Discography
1993 : RudeLuck (with RudeLuck) 1995 : Two (with RudeLuck) 1998 : Revolution (CD single, with RudeLuck) 1999 : Aller Simple 2000 : Luck Mervil 2003 : Soul 2009 : Ti peyi a
Filmography
Movies
2001: Betty Fisher et autres histoires as François Diembele
2004: C'est pas moi, c'est l'autre as Dieudonné
2004: On the Verge of a Fever () as actor and composer
2006: A Sunday in Kigali as Raphaël
Television
1997: Sauve qui peut! (series) as Christopher Étienne
1999: Notre-Dame de Paris (special) as Clopin
1998–2001: Piment Fort (recurring game show guest) 2002: The Mess Age (English performance, recorded in Montreal) 2003: (VRAK.TV), show host