The Dionne Quintuplets:

Annette (1934- ), Cecile (1934- ), Emilie (1934-1954), Marie (1934-1970), and Yvonne (1934-2001)

• the first quintuplets known to have survived infancy
• born May 28, 1934 in Corbeil, Ontario
• Yvonne died of cancer in Montreal on June 23, 2001
• the (identical) sisters became international celebrities after their birth (two months premature)
• each weighed less then two pounds
• their seemingly miraculous survival, and their family's impoverished background, inspired three Hollywood movies and made them the sensation of depression-era Canada
• Dr. Allan Roy Dafoe, the doctor who delivered the babies also became a celebrity
• the identical quintuplets were taken away from their parents and made wards of the Ontario government, under Dr. Dafoe's supervision
• authorities placed them in a virtual theme park called Quintland, across from the parents' home in Corbeil
• they were put on display for as many as 6,000 people a day who came to watch them play behind a one-way screen
• under Dafoe's supervision, the sisters became a huge commercial enterprise, endorsing hundreds of products ranging from corn syrup to Quaker Oats
• their father, Oliva, fought a nine-year battle to regain custody of his daughters
• they were returned to their parents in 1943
• two of the sisters died as adults
  • Emilie, died in 1954 at age 20 of an epileptic seizure
  • Marie died at home at age 36
• the three survivors live in the suburbs of Montreal
• in 1965 they co-authored an often bitter book about their childhood, called We Were Five
• in a recent interview, Annette Dionne blamed both Ontario officials and the Roman Catholic Church for allowing them to be treated like ``a commercial product''
• the sisters have filed a $10 million suit against the Ontario government, saying they were wrongly deprived of a share of the earnings from tourists
• a made-for-television movie about the quintuplets, shown by CBS in 1994, gave a negative depiction of Dr. Dafoe who limited their contact with their parents, and took control of their lives
• Annette Dionne, when interviewed, showed little rancor toward Dr. Dafoe, saying life in the nursery where they were kept was relatively pleasant
• in 1995 the surviving sisters alleged that they and their siblings were sexually abused by their father for years
• at a press conference launching the publication of their new biography, Family Secrets, by Jean-Yves Soucy, the sisters said they broke their long silence and published details of their physical and sexual abuse to help other victims
• Annette said that after being returned to parents, their father, who died in 1979, would take the girls out one at a time in the family car and sexually assault them
• Annette said she tried to discuss the abuse with a Roman Catholic priest at their private school; the advice she received was ``to continue to love our parents and to wear a thick coat when we went for car rides''

• in 1998 Yvonne, Cecile and Annette were awarded $4 million in compensation from the Ontario government
• filmography:
  • The Country Doctor (1936)
  • Reunion (1936)
  • Five of a Kind (1938)
• even Disney got into the act with Pluto's Quin-puplets (1937)

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