Name	La Vie En Rose
Caption	Theatrical release poster
Director	Olivier Dahan
Producer	Alain Goldman
Writer	Isabelle SobelmanOlivier Dahan
Starring	Marion CotillardGérard DepardieuSylvie Testud
Music	Christopher GunningÉdith Piaf
Cinematography	Tetsuo Nagata
Editing	Richard Marizy
Studio	Légende Films
Distributor	Picturehouse (USA)
Released
Runtime	140 minutes
Country
Language	FrenchEnglish
Budget	$25 million
Gross	$86,274,793

La Vie En Rose (, literally Life in Pink; released in France as La Môme, referring to Piaf's nickname "La Môme Piaf," (meaning "baby bird, birdie, little bird") is a 2007 Franco-Canadian biographical film about the life of French chanteuse Édith Piaf co-written, and directed by Olivier Dahan. Marion Cotillard stars as Piaf. The title La Vie en Rose comes from Piaf's signature song. The film won five Césars, including one for Best Actress, and Cotillard won an Academy Award for her performance, marking the first time an Oscar had been given for a French-language role. She is also the first French actress to win a Comedy or Musical Golden Globe for a foreign language role. It also became the first French film to win more than one Oscar; the other being for Makeup.

Plot

The film's narrative structure is a largely non-linear series of key events from the life of Édith Piaf, many of which the audience ultimately learns are evoked as flashbacks from within Édith's own memory as she dies. Despite the fractured narrative approach, the film is anchored at the beginning by predominance of elements from her childhood, and at the end with the events prior to and surrounding her death, poignantly juxtaposed by a performance of her song, "Non, je ne regrette rien" (No, I don't regret a thing).

The film opens with Édith as a small child in 1918, crying on a stoop after being teased by other children on the streets of Paris. Her mother stands across the alley singing, panhandling for change. Édith's mother writes to her child's father, the acrobat, who is fighting in the trenches of World War I battlefields, informing him that she is leaving Édith with her mother so she can pursue the life of the artist. Her father returns to Paris and scoops up a sick Édith, then in turn leaves the child with his own mother, who is a madam of a bordello in Normandy. Now living as a child in a brothel, surrounded by the often brutal and demeaning business of prostitution, Édith is taken under the wing of the women there, especially Titine, a young troubled redhead who becomes emotionally attached to the little girl. Titine sings to, plays with, and tenderly cares for Édith through travails including an episode of keratitis-induced blindness that is healed through their prayers to St. Thérèse.

Years later, Édith's father returns for her. Despite anguished protests from both Titine and Édith, he takes the child away to join him as he works as a circus acrobat. As Édith is outside cleaning up after dinner one night, she watches a fire eater practicing, and in the flames sees an apparition of St Thérèse, who assures her that she will always be with her—a belief that she carries with her for the rest of her life.

When Édith is nine years old, her father leaves the circus after an argument with the manager and begins performing on the streets of Paris. During a lackluster performance of her father's contortionist skills while Édith holds a hat for coins, a passerby asks if Édith is part of the show and, with prompting by her father to "do something" so the half-interested audience doesn't leave, she spontaneously sings "La Marseillaise" with raw emotion, mesmerizing the street crowd.

Years later, a nightclub owner named Louis Leplée approaches Édith while she sings (and drinks) on the streets of Montmartre for supper money with her friend Mômone. He invites her to his club for an informal audition. Impressed, he hires her, after creating for diminutive Édith a stage surname of Piaf, a colloquialism for sparrow.

Soon, Leplée is shot dead, suspected by the police to be due to Édith's connections to the mafia through the pimp who has demanded a large portion of her street singing earnings. When Édith next attempts a show at a low grade cabaret, she is jeered and shouted off the stage by a hostile crowd, but she soon meets her next mentor—Raymond Asso, a songwriter and accompanist. He enlivens her performances by teaching her to gesture with her "great hands" while singing, and works with her on enunciation and other aspects of stage presence, including how to battle her initial fierce bouts of stage fright that almost prevent her from taking the stage for her first music hall performance.

While performing in New York City, Édith meets Marcel Cerdan, a fellow French national who is a boxer competing for the World Champion title. Though she quickly learns from him that he has a wife, who runs their pig farm while he's away, Édith tells Mômone that she is falling in love with Marcel. The affair that ensues, while supposedly secret, results in the playing of "La Vie En Rose" being played for Marcel wherever he goes. The morning after Édith has persuaded Marcel to fly to her from Paris to join her in New York, she wakes up to his kiss. She joyfully hurries to get him coffee and her gift to him of a watch, while she mocks and exasperatedly shouts at her oddly subdued entourage as they listlessly stand around her apartment. They finally break the news to her that Marcel's plane crashed. Édith hysterically searches for the ghost of Marcel that was lounging on her bed just a few moments before, crying out the name of her lost lover.

The narrative bookends these scenes from Édith's middle life with repeated vignettes of an aged-looking Édith with frizzy red hair, being nursed and tended to. She spends much of her time sitting in a chair by the lakeside, and when she stands, she has the stooped posture and slowness of a much older person. Another set of fractured memories shows Édith with short curly hair, plastered to her face like she is feverish, singing on stage and collapsing while she tries to sing, a moment when Édith herself realizes that her body is betraying her, when she is hosting a party at a Parisian bistro, and topples a bottle of champagne because of her developing arthritis, and to the morphine addiction that ultimately plays a large role in her demise, as she injects the drug with a young lover in her bedroom.

After her husband persuades her to enter rehabilitation for her addiction, she travels to California with him Jacques Pills and the audience sees the sober but manic-by-nature Édith being driven around in a convertible, laughing, joking, teasing her compatriots and generally being the life of the party, until she takes the wheel and promptly drives into a joshua tree. The hilarity is uninterrupted as Édith gets out and pretends to hitchhike—the whole episode appearing to be a metaphor for her lifelong frantic efforts to be happy and distracted by entertaining others, through all manner of disasters.

Years later, Piaf, now frail and hunched, squabbles with her entourage about whether or not she will be able to perform at the Olympia. No one but Édith thinks that she will be ready to attempt the feat, but she ultimately faces this reality herself. Then, a new songwriter and arranger shows up with a song, "Je ne regrette rien", and Édith exclaims: "You're marvelous! Exactly what I've been waiting for. It's incredible. It's me! That's my life, it's me." She announces that she will indeed perform it at the Olympia.

Memories from prior to and during her last performance, when she collapses onstage, are interwoven through the film, foreshadowing the tragic end to a stellar but prematurely ended stage life. The memories appear to almost haunt Piaf. In one series, prior to what turns out to be her last performance, Édith is finally ready to go onstage after a series of delays, when she asks for the cross necklace that she always wears. As her staff rush away to get it, she sits and, in her quiet solitude, experiences more memories of her past, and after Édith puts on the retrieved cross and shuffles out onto the stage, the film presents more flashbacks as she is singing one of her signature songs, "Je ne regrette rien."

She relives a sunny day on a beach with her knitting, when an older Édith with an obvious stoop graciously answers the simple and polite questions of an interviewer: what is her favorite color? (blue), her favorite food? (pot roast), and then more poignant questions that she also answers without hesitation, again showing the longings of her life. If you were to give advice to a woman, what would it be? "Love." To a young girl? "Love." To a child? "Love."

As though he is carrying a swaddled infant, Louis easily carries Édith, tiny and wasted away at the age of 47, into her bedroom and tucks her into bed, while the subtitle removes any illusions that this is other than the last day of her life. She is afraid. She says she cannot remember things, but has a disjointed series of memories of the kind of small moments that somehow define all our lives more than the "big moments" do—scrambled and fragmentary as a dying person might experience—her mother commenting on her "wild eyes," her father giving her a gift of a doll, and thoughts of her own dead child, Marcelle.

The film ends not with a death scene, which is implied, but with Édith performing "Je ne regrette rien" at the Olympia.

Cast

Marion Cotillard as Édith Piaf

Gérard Depardieu as Louis Leplée

Sylvie Testud as Mômone (Simone Berteaut)

Jean-Pierre Martins as Marcel Cerdan

Emmanuelle Seigner as Titine

Pascal Greggory as Louis Barrier

Catherine Allégret as Louise Gassion

Jean-Paul Rouve as Louis Gassion

Clotilde Courau as Anetta Gassion

Marie-Armelle Deguy as Marguerite Monnot

Marc Barbé as Raymond Asso

Caroline Raynaud as Ginou

Pavlína Němcová as American journalist

Production

Four songs were entirely performed by "Parigote" singer Jil Aigrot: "Mon Homme" (My Man), "Les Mômes de la Cloche" (The kids of the bell), "Mon Légionnaire" (My legionary), "Les Hiboux" (Owls) as well as the third verse and chorus of "L'Accordéoniste" (The accordionist) and the first chorus of "Padam Padam". Only parts of these last two songs were sung because they were sung while Piaf/Cotillard was fatigued and collapsed on stage. Apart from that, "La Marseillaise" is performed by child singer Cassandre Berger (lip-synched by Pauline Burlet, who plays the young Édith in the film), and Mistinguett's "Mon Homme" (My Man) and "Il m'a vu nue" (He saw me naked) (sung in part by Emmanuelle Seigner) also appear. Recordings of Piaf are also used.

The movie premiered at the Berlin Film Festival.

Box office performance

In theaters, the film grossed US$81,945,871 worldwide – $10,072,300 in the United States and Canada and $71,873,571 elsewhere in the world. In Francophone countries including Algeria, Monaco, Morocco and Tunisia, the film grossed a total of $42,014,775.

This film became the third-highest-grossing French-language film in the United States in the last two decades (behind Amélie and Brotherhood of the Wolf).

Critical reception

The film received generally favorable reviews from critics. In particular, critics praised the lifelike and deeply emotional performance of lead actress Marion Cotillard, culminating in her Oscar win for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Critic A.O Scott of The New York Times, while unimpressed with the film itself, was still rather impressed with Cotillard's performance: "It is hard not to admire Ms. Cotillard for the discipline and ferocity she brings to the role." Carino Chocano of the Los Angeles Times opined that "Marion Cotillard is astonishing as the troubled singer in a technically virtuosic and emotionally resonant performance..." Richard Nilsen from Arizona Republic was even more enthusiastic, writing "don't bother voting. Just give the Oscar to Marion Cotillard now. As the chanteuse Édith Piaf in La Vie en rose, her acting is the most astonishing I've seen in years."

Awards

Marion Cotillard won seven Best Actress Awards for her portrayal of Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose:

The Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

The Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Motion Picture (musical or comedy)

The Prix Lumière (equivalent to the Golden Globe in France) for Best Actress

The Golden Space Needle Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the 2007 Seattle International Film Festival

The BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

The César Award (equivalent to the Oscars in France) for Best Actress in a Leading Role

The Czech Lion (equivalent to the Oscars in the Czech Republic) Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

Other awards include:

The César for Best Production Design (Olivier Raoux)

The César for Best Photography (Tetsuo Nagata)

The César for Best Sound (Laurent Zeilig, Pascal Villard, Marc Doisne and Jean-Paul Hurier)

The César for Best Costume Design (Marit Allen)

Nominated for a further six Césars for Best Film, Best Director, Best Writing, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best editing.

The Academy Award for Makeup.

The BAFTA Awards for Best Makeup, Costume Design and Film Music.

Nominated for Best Film Not in the English Language at the BAFTAs.

Nominated for Academy Award for Costume Design.

Nominated for The Satellite Award for Best Editing.

Nominated for 2008 Ivor Novello Award for Best Original Film Score.

The Czech Lion for Best Film score.

References

External links

Interview with Olivier Dahan

Interview with Marion Cotillard

Category:2007 films Category:French films Category:Canadian films Category:French-language films Category:English-language films Category:2000s drama films Category:2000s musical films Category:Best Makeup Academy Award winners Category:Biographical films Category:Canadian drama films Category:Films directed by Olivier Dahan Category:Films featuring a Best Actress Academy Award winning performance Category:Films featuring a Best Actress César Award winning performance Category:Films featuring a Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe winning performance Category:Films set in the 1910s Category:Films set in the 1920s Category:Films set in the 1930s Category:Films set in the 1940s Category:Films set in the 1950s Category:Films set in the 1960s Category:Films shot in the Czech Republic Category:French drama films Category:Nonlinear narrative films

Name	Édith Piaf
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Édith Giovanna Gassion
Alias	La Môme Piaf(The Little Sparrow)
Born	December 19, 1915Belleville, Paris, France
Died	Plascassier, France
Instrument	Voice
Genre	CabaretTorch songsChanson
Occupation	Singer, songwriter, actress
Years active	1935–1963
Label	Pathé Records, Pathé-Marconi

Édith Piaf (, [PEE-ahf, pee-AHF] 19 December 1915 – 11 October 1963), born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became universally regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads. Among her songs are "La Vie en rose" (1946), "Non, je ne regrette rien" (1960), "Hymne à l'amour" (1949), "Milord" (1959), "La Foule" (1957), "l'Accordéoniste" (1955), and "Padam... Padam..." (1951).

Early life

Despite numerous biographies, much of Piaf's life is shrouded in mystery. She was born Édith Giovanna Gassion in Belleville, Paris. Legend has it that she was born on the pavement of Rue de Belleville 72, but her birth certificate cites the Hôpital Tenon, the hospital for the 20th arrondissement of which Belleville is part.

She was named Édith after the World War I British nurse Edith Cavell, who was executed for helping French soldiers escape from German captivity. Piaf—a Francilien colloquialism for "sparrow"—was a nickname she would receive 20 years later.

Her mother, Annetta Giovanna Maillard (1895–1945), was of French descent on her father's side and of Italian and Berber origin on her mother's. She was a native of Livorno, a port city on the western edge of Tuscany, Italy. She worked as a café singer under the name Line Marsa. with a past in the theatre. Édith's parents soon abandoned her, and she lived for a short time with her maternal grandmother, Emma (Aïcha) Saïd ben Mohammed (1876–1930). Before he enlisted with the French Army in 1916 to fight in World War I, her father took her to his mother, who ran a brothel in Normandy. There, prostitutes helped look after Piaf. inspired him to give her the nickname that would stay with her for the rest of her life and serve as her stage name, La Môme Piaf A barrage of negative media attention Piaf dated a Jewish pianist during this time and co-wrote a subtle protest song with Monnot. earned Piaf the right to pose for photographs with French prisoners of war, to boost their morale. The Frenchmen were supposedly able to cut out their photos and use them as forged passport photos. Piaf and Cerdan's affair made international headlines, (according to some, 10 October in Paris). She had been drifting in and out of consciousness for several months. Charles Aznavour recalled that Piaf's funeral procession was the only time since the end of World War II that he saw Parisian traffic come to a complete stop. (5 rue Crespin du Gast).

In popular culture

, Poland]]

Films

La Vie en rose (2007), a film about her life directed by Olivier Dahan, debuted at the Berlin Film Festival in February 2007. Titled La Môme in France, the film stars Marion Cotillard in the role that won her the Academy Award for Best Actress (Oscar), as Piaf. Dahan's film follows Piaf's life from early childhood to her death in 1963. David Bret's 1988 biography, Piaf, A Passionate Life, was re-released by JR Books to coincide with the film's release.

Piaf...Her Story...Her Songs (2003) is a film starring Raquel Bitton in her performance tribute to Edith Piaf. Bitton performs Piaf's most famous songs and describes her tempestuous life. Woven into the filmed concert is a luncheon in Paris, hosted by Bitton, in which some of Piaf's composers, friends, lovers, and family share their memories. These include Michel Rivgauche and Francis Lai, two of Piaf's composers, as well as Marcel Cerdan, Jr., son of the boxing champion who was her greatest love.

Piaf's relationship with Cerdan was also depicted in film by Claude Lelouch in the movie Édith et Marcel (1983), with Marcel Cerdan Jr. in the role of his father and Évelyne Bouix portraying Piaf. The film Piaf (1974) depicted her early years, and starred Brigitte Ariel, with early Piaf songs performed by Betty Mars.

Plays

Piaf (1978), by Pam Gems

Piaf Piaf (1988), by Juha Siltanen and Jorma Uotinen

The Sparrow and the Birdman By Raquel Bitton (1999)

Edith and Simone (2000 and 2006), by Ronny Verheyen

Pure Piaf (2006), by Alex Ryer

No Regrets (2009), by Scotti Sween (TheatreVision/Off-Off-Broadway)

Piaf de Musical (1999 and 2009), a Dutch musical

Edith, het legendarische verhaal van Edith Piaf(2009), by Yves Caspar

Mentions in popular media

In the 1973 Soviet film Seventeen Moments of Spring, her song "Non, je ne regrette rien" is listened to by Stirlitz and Pastor Schlag during their trip in a car together, which took place in the time of the World War II, which of-course was impossible since the song was written in 1956.

In 1996, Ari Folman released the near futuristic comedy Saint Clara. In this film, Édith Piaf is repeatedly mentioned by many of the adults, who remember her seemingly from school, and prove that they are part of the leading culture, as opposed to the immigrants, but the children on both sides have no knowledge of her, and ask who she was. The movie ends with the local men discovering that the Russian immigrants were intimately familiar with Piaf.

In the film Inception (2010), her song "Non, je ne regrette rien" is used frequently to signal to the characters that they are about to be ejected from the dream. The same song played several times slower than the original is also one the film's main musical themes. The film also stars Marion Cotillard, who had portrayed Piaf in La Vie En Rose.

In her song "Slave to the Rhythm" (1985 extended version), Grace Jones begins with an introductory narration that quotes Édith Piaf: "This is what Édith Piaf used to say, use your faults, use your defects, then you're going to be a star...".

In the film Saving Private Ryan (1998), Piaf's 1943 songs "C'Était Une Histoire D'Amour" and "Tu Es Partout" are central to providing a common thread of longing for loves and lives left behind in scenes between Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) and Private Ryan (Matt Damon) as well as providing a context for anecdotes from other central characters.

The song La Foule was used in the 2004 film My Summer of Love. The character Tamsin (Emily Blunt) continues to say that 'I just adore her. She was this marvellous Parisian woman who had such a wonderfully tragic life. She was married three times, and each husband died in mysterious circumstances. And the last one was a boxing champion and she killed him with a fork. She didn't even go to prison. Because in Paris crimes of passion are forgiven.'

Other

The minor planet of 3772 Piaf, discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Karachkina in 1982, is named after her.

Songs

;1925

;1933

;1934

;1935

;1936 (from the movie La Garçonne)

;1937

;1938

;1939

;1940

;1941 (from the movie Montmartre-sur-Seine)

;1942 (from the movie Montmartre-sur-Seine)

;1943 (from the movie Montmartre-sur-Seine)

;1944

;1945

;1946 (with Les Compagnons de la chanson) (with Les Compagnons de la Chanson) (with Les Compagnons de la Chanson) (with Les Compagnons de la Chanson)

;1947 (from the movie Neuf Garçons, Un Cœur) (from the movie Neuf Garçons, Un Cœur)

;1948

;1949 (from the movie L'Homme aux Mains d'Argile)

;1950

Hymn to Love

Autumn Leaves

The Three Bells

Simply a Waltz

(English version)

;1951 (with Eddie Constantine) (with Eddie Constantine) (with M. Jiteau)

;1952 (from the movie Boum sur Paris) (with Jacques Pills) (from the movie Boum sur Paris)

;1953 (with Jacques Pills) (from the movie Boum sur Paris)

;1954 (from the movie Si Versailles M'Était Conté) (from the movie French Cancan)

;1955

;1956

Heaven Have Mercy

One Little Man

'Cause I Love You

(English)

Don't Cry

I Shouldn't Care

My Lost Melody

;1957

;1958

;1959

;1960

;1961

No Regrets

;1962 (with Théo Sarapo) (with Charles Dumont) (with Mikis Theodorakis/Jacques Plante) (with Théo Sarapo)

;1963 (her last recording)

Filmography

La garçonne (1936), Jean de Limur

Montmartre-sur-Seine (1941), Georges Lacombe

Étoile sans lumière (1946), Marcel Blistène

Neuf garçons, un cœur (1947), Georges Freedland

Si Versailles m'était conté (1954), Sacha Guitry

French Cancan (1954), Jean Renoir

Música de Siempre (1958), sang La vida en rosa, the Spanish version of "La Vie en rose".

Les Amants de demain (1959), Marcel Blistène

Theatre credit

Le Bel Indifférent (1940), Jean Cocteau

Discography

The following titles are compilations of Édith Piaf's songs, and not reissues of the titles released while Édith Piaf was active.

The Voice of the Sparrow: The Very Best of Édith Piaf, original release date: June 1991

Édith Piaf: 30th Anniversaire, original release date: 5 April 1994

Édith Piaf: Her Greatest Recordings 1935–1943, original release date: 15 July 1995

The Early Years: 1938–1945, Vol. 3, original release date: 15 October 1996

Hymn to Love: All Her Greatest Songs in English, original release date: 4 November 1996

Gold Collection, original release date: 9 January 1998

The Rare Piaf 1950–1962 (28 April 1998)

La Vie en rose, original release date: 26 January 1999

Montmartre Sur Seine (soundtrack import), original release date: 19 September 2000

Éternelle: The Best Of (29 January 2002)

Love and Passion (boxed set), original release date: 8 April 2002

The Very Best of Édith Piaf (import), original release date: 29 October 2002

75 Chansons (Box set/import), original release date: 22 September 2005

48 Titres Originaux (import), (09/01/2006)

Édith Piaf: L'Intégrale/Complete 20 CD/413 Chansons, original release date: 27 February 2007

There are in excess of 80 albums of Édith Piaf's songs available on online music stores.

Édith Piaf on DVD

Édith Piaf – A Passionate Life (24 May 2004)

Édith Piaf : Eternal Hymn (Éternelle, l'hymne à la môme, Non-US Format, Pal, Region 2, import)

Piaf – Her Story, Her Songs (June 2006)

Piaf: La Môme (2007)

La Vie en rose (biopic, 2008)

Édith Piaf – The Perfect Concert and Piaf The Documentary (February 2009)

Books on Édith Piaf

The Wheel Of Fortune: The Autobiography of Édith Piaf by Édith Piaf (originally written in 1958, 5 years before her death), Peter Owen Publishers; ISBN 0720612284

Édith Piaf, by Édith Piaf and Simone Berteaut, published January 1982; ISBN 2904106014

memoirs, written by stepsister

The Piaf Legend, by David Bret, Robson Books,1988.

Piaf: A Passionate Life, by David Bret, Robson Books, 1998, revised JR Books, 2007

"The Sparrow – Edith Piaf," chapter in Singers & The Song (pp. 23–43), by Gene Lees, Oxford University Press, 1987, insightful critique of Piaf's biography and music.

Marlene, My Friend, by David Bret, Robson Books, 1993. Dietrich dedicates a whole chapter to her friendship with Piaf.

Oh! Père Lachaise, by Jim Yates, Édition d'Amèlie 2007, ISBN 978-0-9555836-0-5. Piaf and Oscar Wilde meet in a pink tinted Parisian Purgatory.

No Regrets. The Life of Edith Piaf, by Carolyn Burke, Alfred A. Knopf 2011, ISBN 978-0-307-26801-3. An in depth and insightful look at Piaf's life.

Édith Piaf in contemporary music

Raquel Bitton sings Edith Piaf..The Golden Album (CD) Soundtrack to:PIAF Her story Her songs starring Raquel Bitton

Barbara Feldon sings Édith Piaf's "La vie en rose" in the 1966 episode of Get Smart entitled "Casablanca".

Édith Piaf is mentioned in the song "St. Dominic's Preview" on the 1972 album of the same name by Van Morrison.

Édith Piaf is mentioned in the song "My Mother was a Chinese Trapeze Artist" by The Decemberists on the EP "5 Songs" (2001)

Édith Piaf is mentioned in the song "Piaf chanterait du rock" by Luc Plamondon, which was most famously recorded by Marie Carmen and Celine Dion.

The song "Edith and the Kingpin" on Joni Mitchell's 1975 album The Hissing of Summer Lawns was revealed to be about Édith Piaf in an interview with Mitchell published in the February 2008 issue of Mojo.

The Elton John song "Cage the Songbird", from his 1976 Blue Moves album, is a tribute to Édith Piaf.

The Marillion song "Lady Nina" has the following line: "And Edith Piaf sings a lullaby for the night."

Édith Piaf is mentioned in the song "Chocolate Cigarette" by Tom Russell and Sylvia Tyson on Russell's 1991 album Hurricane Season.

Astrid Kirchherr (as played by Sheryl Lee) is identified as a fan of Édith Piaf in the 1994 film Backbeat; in the movie, John Lennon (played by Ian Hart) is portrayed as being somewhat disdainful of her, referring to her as "bloody Édith Piaf".

Jeff Buckley, on the track "Last Goodbye" from his live album Mystery White Boy, asks the crowd in French 'Qu'est-ce que c'est Piaf?', before singing an impersonation.

In his 10 October 2004 concert in Tiananmen Square, Beijing, Jean Michel Jarre performed a rock arrangement of "La Foule".

In November 2008, the French group Mypollux released a rock arrangement of "La Foule".

In the motion picture Saving Private Ryan the Americans find a phonograph and play a French record just before the last climactic battle begins. The captain (Tom Hanks) identifies the singer as Édith Piaf.

The German band Rammstein borrows the lines "Oh non rien de rien, Oh non je ne regrette rien" for the song "Frühling in Paris" off their 2009 album Liebe ist für alle da.

Martha Wainwright sings a collection of 15 songs made famous by Piaf on her album Sans Fusils, Ni Souliers, A Paris: Martha Wainwright's Piaf Record, released on 24 November 2009, by MapleMusic Recordings. All songs were recorded at Dixon Place Theatre in New York City during the summer of 2009.

One of the most influential Japanese musician, Utada Hikaru, has covered the song Hymne à l'amour (Ai no Anthem) for her second compilation album Utada Hikaru Single Collection Vol. 2 in 2010.

Non, je ne regrette rien is featured extensively in the 2010 movie Inception

See also

Music of France

French popular music

Raquel Bitton

References

External links

Edith Piaf's songs

Genealogy of Edith Piaf, Généalogie magazine, n° 233, pp. 30–36

Category:1915 births Category:1963 deaths Category:1930s singers Category:1940s singers Category:1950s singers Category:1960s singers Category:People from Paris Category:Burials at Père Lachaise Cemetery Category:Cabaret singers Category:Cancer deaths in France Category:Deaths from liver cancer Category:French buskers Category:French female singers Category:French-language singers Category:French people of Italian descent Category:French people of Algerian descent Category:French pop singers Category:French Resistance members Category:Torch singers

Name	Marion Cotillard
Caption	Cotillard at the Paris premiere of Public Enemies, July 2009
Birth date	September 30, 1975
Birth place	Paris, France
Occupation	Actress, singer
Years active	1993–present
Domesticpartner	Guillaume Canet (2007–present)

Marion Cotillard (French pronunciation: [maʁjɔ̃ kɔtijaʁ]; born 30 September 1975) is a French actress and singer. She garnered critical acclaim for her roles in films such as My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument, Taxi, Furia and Jeux d'enfants. She has also appeared in such films as Big Fish, A Very Long Engagement (for which she received a César Award for Best Supporting Actress), A Good Year, Public Enemies, Nine, Inception and La Vie en Rose.

She won the Academy Award for Best Actress, BAFTA Award for Best Actress, César for Best Actress and the Golden Globe for Best Actress in Musical or a Comedy for her portrayal of French singer Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose. She made film history by becoming the first person to win an Academy Award for a French language performance. In 2010 she received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in the musical Nine.

Family and early life

Cotillard was born in Paris and grew up around Orléans, Loiret, in an artistically inclined, "bustling, creative household". Her father, Jean-Claude Cotillard, is an actor, teacher, former mime, and 2006 Molière Award-winning director of Breton descent (his mother, Léontine Cotillard, was born in March 1909 and lived in Plémet, Brittany until her death in February 2011). Cotillard's mother, Niseema Theillaud, is also an actress and drama teacher. She has two younger twin brothers, Quentin and Guillaume. Quentin Cotillard is a sculptor and painter living in San Francisco, United States, with his wife, Elaine O'Malley Cotillard, "a former Dutch National Ballet dancer who grew up in Marin County, and is now a San Francisco fashion designer". Guillaume Cotillard is a screenwriter and director.

Cotillard began acting during her childhood, appearing on stage in one of her father's plays.

Career

Early work (1993–2002)

After small appearances and performances in theater, Cotillard had occasional and minor roles in television series such as , but her career as a film actress began in the mid-1990s with small but noticeable roles in such films as Arnaud Desplechin's My Sex Life... or How I Got Into an Argument. Cotillard appeared in the comedy La belle verte, directed by Coline Serreau. In 1998, she starred in Gérard Pirès' action comedy Taxi. In the film, she plays Lili Bertineau, who becomes Daniel's girlfriend. Cotillard reprised the role in two sequels. She then ventured into anticipation science fiction with Alexandre Aja's Furia (1999).

Cotillard appeared in Pierre Grimblat's film Lisa as Young Lisa, alongside Jeanne Moreau, in the war drama In The Highlands. She starred in Gilles Paquet-Brenner's film Les jolies choses, adapted from the work of feminist writer Virginie Despentes. In the drama, Cotillard portrayed the characters of two twins of completely opposite characters, Lucie and Marie. She was nominated for a César Award for her performance. In Guillaume Nicloux's thriller Une affaire privée she portrayed Clarisse, friend of the disappeared.

Breakthrough (2003–2006)

Cotillard starred with Guillaume Canet in the romantic comedy film Love Me If You Dare as Sophie Kowalsky, the daughter of Polish immigrants. The film was directed by Yann Samuel. Cotillard had a notable supporting role in Tim Burton's film Big Fish, where she appeared alongside Ewan McGregor, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange and Allison Lohman. In the film she plays Joséphine, the French wife of William Bloom. She appeared in two critically successful films, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's A Very Long Engagement as Tina Lombardi, for which she won a César Award for Best Supporting Actress, and appeared in the mystery thriller Innocence as Mademoiselle Éva.

In 2005, Cotillard starred in Steve Suissa's romantic drama Cavalcade as Alizée. She also appeared in Abel Ferrara's religious drama Mary alongside Forest Whitaker and Juliette Binoche. Marion played Isabelle Kruger and Alice in the thriller film La Boîte noire, directed by Richard Berry. She appeared in the film Fair Play as Nicole. Cotillard starred in Ridley Scott's romantic comedy A Good Year, in which she portrayed Fanny Chenal, a French café owner in a small Provençal town, opposite Russell Crowe as a Londoner who inherits a local property. She appeared in the Belgian comedy Dikkenek, and learned to play the cello for her role as a soloist in the satirical coming-of-age film You and Me. Producer Ilan Goldman accepted and defended the choice even though distributors TFM reduced the money they gave to finance the film thinking Cotillard wasn't "bankable" enough an actress. Her portrayal was widely praised, including by the eminent theatre director Sir Trevor Nunn, who described it as "one of the greatest performances on film ever." It was dubbed "the most awaited film of 2007" in France, where some critics said that she had reincarnated Édith Piaf to sing one last time on stage.

On 10 February 2008, Cotillard became the first French actress to be awarded the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role since Stéphane Audran in 1973. She is the first actress to win a Golden Globe for a foreign language performance since 1972, when Liv Ullmann won for The Emigrants. She is also the first person to win a (Comedy or Musical) Golden Globe for a foreign language performance.

On 22 February 2008, she was awarded the César Award for Best Actress for her role in La Vie en Rose, becoming the first woman and second person (after Adrien Brody, The Pianist) to win both a Cesar and an Oscar for the same performance. Cotillard is the second French cinema actress to win this award and the third overall to receive an Academy Award. She is the first Best Actress winner in a non-English language performance since Sophia Loren's win in 1961. She is also the first and so far only winner of an Academy Award for a performance in the French language. In her Oscar acceptance speech, Cotillard proclaimed "thank you life, thank you love" and, speaking of Los Angeles, said "it is true, there is some angels (sic) in this city!"

The day following the ceremony, Cotillard was congratulated and praised by the President of France Nicolas Sarkozy in a statement saying,

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As La Vie En Rose was also a Czech production, as she mentioned in her César acceptance speech, on 1 March 2008, Cotillard won a Czech Lion Award for Best Actress. She could not attend the ceremony in Prague due to the filming of Public Enemies. Her friend Pavlína Němcová – who played the journalist in La vie en Rose – was there to accept the award on her behalf.

On 24 June 2008, Cotillard was one of 105 individuals invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Cotillard starred alongside Johnny Depp in Public Enemies, released in the United States on 1 July 2009. Later that year, Cotillard appeared in the film adaptation of the musical Nine, directed by Rob Marshall, and co-starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Penélope Cruz, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren and Kate Hudson. On 15 December 2009, Cotillard was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actress – Musical or Comedy for her performance in the film. The film was released on 18 December 2009.

For her role in the musical Nine as Luisa Contini, Time magazine ranked her as the fifth best performance by a female in 2009. She was ranked just behind Mo'Nique, Carey Mulligan, Saoirse Ronan and Meryl Streep. She was awarded the Desert Palm Achievement Actress Award at the 2010 Palm Springs International Film Festival for the role.

She appeared as the main antagonist "Mal Cobb" in Christopher Nolan's film Inception, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page, and released on 16 July 2010. She will co-star alongside Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, Kate Winslet and Matt Damon in Steven Soderberg's thriller film Contagion.

She will also in appear in Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris alongside Rachel McAdams and Owen Wilson.

On 15 March 2010 Cotillard was made a Chevalier (Knight) of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Order of the Arts and Letters) by the French government for her "contribution to the enrichment of French culture".

On 19 April 2011, Cotillard was signed on to star in Christopher Nolan's film The Dark Knight Rises playing Miranda Tate, a board member at Wayne Enterprises that is also an ally of Bruce Wayne. The film opens on 20 July 2012.

Other projects

In addition to her film work, Cotillard is interested in environmental activism, and has participated in campaigns for environmental protection. Cotillard used her high public profile to bring attention to the aims of Greenpeace, working for the environmental organization as a spokesperson, allowing the organization to use her apartment to test products. In 2005, she also contributed to Dessins pour le climat ("Drawings for the Climate"), a book of drawings published by Greenpeace to raise funds for the group.

In 2009, Cotillard was chosen as the face for Dior's "Lady Dior" advertising campaign and was featured in an online mini-movie directed by John Cameron Mitchell about the fictional character created by John Galliano. This campaign has also resulted in a musical collaboration with British indie rock band Franz Ferdinand, where Cotillard has provided the vocals for a composition performed by the group, entitled "The Eyes of Mars". Cotillard appeared on the cover of the November 2009 issue of Vogue with Nine co-stars Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman, Penélope Cruz, Kate Hudson and Fergie, and on the July 2010 cover by herself.

Personal life

Cotillard currently lives with French actor and director Guillaume Canet. Many reports say the couple prefer to live a simple lifestyle, and they are often spotted in cafes and shopping together in Paris. Neither star discusses their relationship with the media, although photos of the couple being affectionate regularly surface in the European tabloids. On 10 January 2011, Cotillard announced the couple is expecting their first child together in spring 2011.

She is a fan of Radiohead and Canadian singer Hawksley Workman; she has appeared in two of the latter's music videos, most notably "No Reason to Cry Out your Eyes (On the Highway Tonight)". Workman even revealed in interviews about his last album Between the Beautifuls that he worked and wrote songs with Cotillard while they both were in Los Angeles during the movie awards season. She is a supporter of the English football club Leeds United, a passion she developed after her compatriot Eric Cantona's spell at the club in the early 1990s.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Cotillard won a César Award for Best Supporting Actress for A Very Long Engagement (2004). Cotillard won an Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, a Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama and a César Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Édith Piaf in La Vie en Rose (2007). Cotillard and her co-stars of Nine won a Satellite Award for Best Cast - Motion Picture for the performance in the film.

Cotillard also has been nominated for numerous awards, including César Award for Most Promising Actress for Taxi (1998) and Les Jolies choses (2001), and a European Film Award for Best Actress for La Vie en Rose (2007). Additionally, Cotillard was nominated for an Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for Nine (2009).

Academy Award milestones

Cotillard received the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2007 becoming only the second French cinema actress, after Simone Signoret in 1959, to win this award and the third overall to receive an Academy Award (Juliette Binoche won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in 1997 for her critically acclaimed role in the picture The English Patient), although French expatriate Claudette Colbert was given an Oscar in 1934. She is the first Best Actress winner in a non-English language performance since Sophia Loren's win in 1961 and also became the first – and so far only – winner of an Academy Award for a performance in the French language.

Other awards

Cotillard for her portrayal of Lisa Young in the French film Lisa (2001), was the winner of Verona Love Screens Film Festival for Best Actress, she was the winner of Newport Beach Film Festival for Best Actress – Drama for Love Me If You Dare (2003).

References

External links

Category:BAFTA winners (people) Category:Best Actress Academy Award winners Category:Best Actress César Award winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actress Golden Globe (film) winners Category:Best Supporting Actress César Award winners Category:César Award winners Category:French people of Breton descent Category:French ecologists Category:French film actors Category:People from Orléans Category:People from Caen Category:1975 births Category:Living people

Name	Dalida
Alt	Promotional picture of Dalida taken in 1954.
Caption	Dalida in 1954
Birth name	Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti
Birth date	January 17, 1933
Birth place	Cairo, Egypt
Death date	May 03, 1987
Death place	Paris, France
Resting place	Montmartre Cemetery, Paris, France
Resting place coordinates
Monuments	Place Dalida, Paris, FranceStatue of Dalida at Montmartre Cemetery, Paris, France
Residence	Rue d'Orchampt 11 bis Montmartre, Paris, France
Nationality	Italian, naturalised French
Ethnicity	Italian
Citizenship	French and Italian
Other names	Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti/Yolanda Gigliotti
Style	Chanson, Classical, Pop, Popular Music, Disco, Franco Arabic, Raï, World Music
Occupation	Singer Actress
Years active	Singer (1956–1987) Actress (1954–1986)
Title	Miss Egypt 1954
Awards	Médaille de la Présidence de la République by Général de Gaulle
Signature	Dalida - signature.svg
Signature alt	"Dalida"
Website	www.Dalida.com

Dalida (17 January 1933 – 3 May 1987), born Iolanda Cristina Gigliotti, was a world-famous singer and actress born in Egypt with Italian origins but naturalised French with the name Yolanda Gigliotti. She spent her early years in Egypt amongst the Italian Egyptian community, but she lived most of her adult life in France. She received 55 gold records and was the first singer to receive a diamond disc. Dalida performed and recorded in more than 10 languages including: French, Arabic, Italian, Greek, German, English, Japanese, Hebrew, Dutch and Spanish.

Renowned for the changes she wrought to the French and global music industry with her powerful and colourful performances, she is today still remembered by aficionados throughout the world. An 30-year career (she debuted in 1956 and recorded her last album in 1986, a few months before her death) and a tragic death led to an iconic image as a combined Madonna, diva, tragic and renowned singer.

Biography

Early life and beginnings

Yolanda Christina Gigliotti was born in Shoubra, Cairo, Egypt. Her family was of Italian origin, from Calabria, Italy, but were living in Egypt, where Dalida’s father, Pietro Gigliotti, was first violinist (primo violino) at the Cairo Opera House. She was the middle child between two brothers, Orlando and Bruno (who would later in Dalida's career change his name to Orlando like his other brother and become her manager). Dalida’s early life was spent in the district of Shoubra, where she attended the Scuola Tecnica Commerciale Maria Ausiliatrice, an Italian Catholic school.

In 1950, Dalida participated in the Miss Ondine beauty pageant and won the title, and shortly after began working as a model for Donna, a Cairo-based fashion house. In 1954, at the age of 20, Dalida competed in and won the Miss Egypt pageant, and was crowned Miss Egypt. It was then that she was spotted by French director Marc de Gastyne and, much to the reluctance of her parents, she moved to Paris on Christmas Eve of the same year with the intention of pursuing a career in motion pictures. It was about this time she adopted the name Dalila, which was shortly thereafter changed to the more familiar Dalida.

Dalida collected 19 number one hit singles to her name in four languages (French, Italian, German, and Arabic) and has a long list of top 10, and top 20 hits in French, Italian, German, Spanish, and Arabic, and accumulated myriad top selling singles and albums largely, in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Greece, Canada, Russia, Japan, and Israel, spanning over forty years. Four of Dalida's English language recordings ("Alabama Song", "Money Money", "Let Me Dance Tonight", and "Kalimba de Luna"), gained moderate success primarily in France and Germany, without being widely distributed in the UK and US markets. Worldwide sales of her music are estimated at over 130 million, establishing her as one of the most noteworthy multi-lingual recording artists of the 20th century.

Dalida's mother tongue was Italian. She learned Egyptian Arabic growing up in Cairo, and acquired fluency in French after establishing herself in Paris in 1954. She later achieved command of the English language as well as reasonable conversational skills in German and Spanish. Dalida also had the aptitude of greeting her fans in basic Japanese. She was considered as a pop and music icon in Japan and her concerts there were met with almost unprecedented enthusiasm. Once during a concert in Japan, Dalida felt ill and couldn't continue to perform. The organisers expected an enraged reaction due to the cancellation of the concert but when Dalida came onstage and explained to her fans that she couldn't perform, she was met with great applause and her name echoed everywhere. She promised to hold the concert again, a promise which she soon fulfilled.

Career

1956–1976

Dalida's singing career started in Egypt when she was discovered by Cherif Kamel, host of the "Hit Parade" at the Geuzira Sporting Club during the early 1950s. Dalida’s quest for a career in French cinema proved to be of limited success. Instead, she began taking singing lessons, and was booked as a cabaret act on the Champs Élysées, which proved successful. Performing the song "Étrangère au Paradis" in a variety show at Bruno Coquatrix’ recently opened Paris Olympia theatre, Dalida was introduced to Lucien Morisse and Eddie Barclay, who played a considerable part in launching the starlet’s career. Morisse was artistic producer of the popular Radio Europe 1, and Barclay an established record producer. After signing a recording contract with Barclay, Dalida’s debut single "Madona" was promoted heavily by Morisse, and was a moderate success. However, the release of "Bambino" in 1956 would prove to be even more triumphant – it spent 46 weeks in the French top ten and remains one of the biggest-selling singles in French history, and for its sales (which exceeded 300,000 copies) Dalida was awarded her first gold disc, presented on 17 September 1957. The song bambino echoed everywhere in France and was a success even beyond the French frontiers. In the same year, she would also support Charles Aznavour at The Olympia. The follow up single to "Bambino", the exotic-sounding and mesmerizing "Gondolier", was released in the Christmas on 1957, was also a great success, as were other early releases such as "Come Prima (Tu Me Donnes)", "Ciao Ciao Bambina", and a cover of The Drifters’ "Save the Last Dance For Me", "Garde-Moi la Dernière Danse". These classical songs mark the first phase of Dalida's album and maintain their charm even today.

Dalida toured extensively from 1958 through the early 1960s, playing dates in France, Egypt, Italy, and the United States. Her tours of Egypt, and Italy spread her fame outside of France and Dalida soon became well-known throughout Europe. However, she waited too long before entering America's music scene and though great names of the American music industry wanted to introduce her to the United States, she refused commenting that "I took too long to start here". However some of her English songs and her performance at the Carnegie Hall were much applauded.

In 1961, Dalida performed a month of shows at the Olympia, with each selling out completely. Shortly afterwards Dalida embarked upon a tour of Hong Kong and Vietnam. Throughout the 1960s Dalida would frequently perform sell-out shows at The Olympia, and international dates became more frequent. In December 1968, she was awarded the Médaille de la Présidence de la République by Général de Gaulle, the only person from the music industry to have received this accolade.

The early 1970s became a transitional period for the singer, highlighted by some of her most successful singles. After gaining a keen interest in academia in the mid-1960s she chose to sing songs with more profound lyrics. She tried to probe into her inner-self and declared that she would sing only those songs which have a meaning for her. Bruno Coquatrix was dubious about Dalida’s career evolution, and was hesitant to book her for a series of performances in 1971. Dalida hired the hall herself, and her show was met with an impressive public response, thus forcing the world to acknowledge that a new and more powerful performer had emerged in Dalida. In 1973, a French version of the Italian song "Paroles Paroles", originally performed by Mina, was recorded by Dalida and her close friend Alain Delon. The song became a big hit and was the number one single in France and Japan. It was played consistently on french radios, at the request of listeners. The follow up, "Il Venait d’Avoir Dix-Huit Ans", reached number one in nine countries, and sold three and a half million copies in Germany. The way Dalida interpreted the song left people amazed."Gigi l’Amoroso", released in 1974, would actually perform better in the charts than its predecessor, reaching number one in 12 countries. A success which many other singers couldn't achieve. Touring would follow this period of unprecedented sales, with Dalida performing in Japan, Canada and Germany. In February 1975, French music critics presented the singer with the prestigious Prix de l'Académie du Disque Français.

1976–1987

1976 saw another career reinvention for Dalida; releasing what is widely regarded as the first French disco single, "J’attendrai". Around the same time, the popularity of the variety show in France was soaring, and Dalida made many television appearances during this period, not only in France but across Europe. In 1978, she recorded "Salma ya Salama", based on a traditional Egyptian folk song, which due to its chart success was translated from Arabic into French, Italian, and German. It was amongst the first Ethnic fusion hits in the world. Part of the lyrics are based on an Egyptian folk song about homesickness and celebrating the Egyptian nation.

This and other songs in Arabic by Dalida (such as "Helwa ya Baladi", and "Ahsan Nass") became extremely popular in Egypt, making Dalida one of the first singers to break through the barrier separating Arab and Western musics. She was received in Egypt like a queen with the Egyptian President himself coming at the airport to welcome her. Egyptians were soon wooed by her beauty, voice, charm, determination and wonderful songs and interpretations.

Her close friend Fairouz was the other major artist to be crossing the boundaries from East to West, with her immense success throughout Europe, North and South America, and Australia.

The success of "Salma ya Salama" was followed by the first French medley single, "Génération ‘78", a disco-fused combination of her biggest hit singles to date. It also became the first French single to be accompanied by a video clip. During this disco period, Dalida would earn a gay audience, a following which is still maintained today. In November, Dalida performed a Broadway-themed show at Carnegie Hall in New York, choreographed by Lester Wilson, who created the dance routines for John Travolta in the previous year’s cinema smash Saturday Night Fever. Her performance was highly praised by critics and audiences alike. Two years later, following the success of "Monday Tuesday... Laissez-Moi Danser" in the summer of 1979, she would replicate the show at the Palais des Sports, and each show sold-out, encouraging the singer to embark on a national tour which lasted until the autumn. In the same year, the lengthy "Gigi in Paradisco", a follow-up to the earlier "Gigi l’Amoroso", was released. Though it was not as popular as its predecessor, it was highly acclaimed and the new generation was soon dancing on Dalida disco tunes. The way Dalida shifted from a classical performer to a grave performer singing songs full of emotion (such as "Avec le temps", "Parlez-moi de lui" and "Darla darla dada", amongst others), to a Diva and pop star like figure making the stage glow with her hit dance numbers and colourful costumes and finally to a grief-stricken singer singing famous songs which announce her death (particularly songs such as "Mourir sur Scene", "Bravo" and "Téléphonez-moi"), Dalida showed that she was a strong-willed woman shifting with time and fashion. Her personal problems and troubling relationships, however, trapped her in the jaws of sadness leading to her suicide.

1981 marked the release of "Rio do Brasil", and several dates were played at The Olympia, emulating her successful 1980 tour. On the night of her first performance she became the first singer in the world to be awarded with a diamond disc, in recognition of her record sales which at that point in her career had exceeded 86 million. She was therefore much ahead of American singer Madonna since she was the first person to receive this success, thus paving the way for women to deliver powerful performances. Dalida spent much of 1982 and 1984 on tour, releasing the album "Les P'tits Mots" in 1983 which featured hit singles "Lucas" and "Mourir Sur Scène". The album "Dali" was released in 1984, and was accompanied by the release of several singles, including "Soleil", "Pour te dire je t’aime", a cover of Stevie Wonder’s "I Just Called to Say I Love You", and "Kalimba de Luna", originally recorded by Tony Esposito. All three achieved moderate chart success, and her next 1986 album, "Le visage de l'amour", would become her last album of completely new recordings (except the final song being "Mourir sur scène").

Other hit performances of Dalida include "The Lambeth Walk"; both in English and in French. The song "Je suis malade" written by Serge Lama and made into a success by Dalida reflects the singer's personal torments and unhappiness. The emotions with which she sang the song is unmatched even today. At the peak of her success, an obsessed fan of her tried to kidnap her in Canada by using a hammer. Fortunately enough, he didn't succeed.

Undaunted, she continued to deliver success after success: namely "Ensemble", "Ne lui dis pas", "La Valse des vacances", a cover version of Édith Piaf's "La vie en rose", "Born to sing"/"Mourir sur scène", amongst others.

Dalida underwent two major ophthalmic operations in 1985, forcing her to put her career on hiatus. The fear of her childhood days return as she again had to operate her eyes. The stage lights started to trouble her. In 1986, she would play the role of a young grandmother in the Youssef Chahine film "Le Sixième Jour", for which she received favourable critical response. Her last live performance, took place in Ankara, Turkey, in 1987.

Personal life

Despite enormous career success, Dalida’s private life was marred by a series of failed relationships and personal problems. Her first husband, Lucien Morisse, committed suicide several years after her divorce. Two of her lovers, Luigi Tenco and Richard Chanfray also took their own lives.

Death

On 3 May 1987 Dalida died as a result of an overdose of barbiturates, leaving a suicide note "La vie m'est insupportable... Pardonnez-moi" which reads "Life has become unbearable for me... Forgive me."

Dalida was buried in the famous Montmartre Cemetery (French: Cimetière de Montmartre), Paris, and a life-size statue of her was erected outside her tomb.

Legacy

Since her death, Dalida has become a cult figure to a new generation of fans. In 1988, The Encyclopaedia Universalis commissioned a poll which was eventually published in daily newspaper Le Monde, the aim of which was to reveal personalities that had the greatest impact on French society. Dalida polled second, behind Général de Gaulle.

In 1997, the corner of the rues Girardon and Abreuvoir in the Butte Montmartre, Paris, was inaugurated as Place Dalida and a life-size bust to her memory was erected. In 1999, a 3-CD box-set compiling her greatest hits was released. In 2000, Dalida's longtime friend Charles Aznavour recorded the hit "De la scène à la Seine", a joyful song of her life in France, and in 2002, the French government honoured her memory with a postage stamp done in commemoration of the 15th anniversary of her death. In the same year, Universal Music Group released Dalida's early album releases in special-edition packaging, with all of the tracks digitally remastered. Her output has also been the subject of various remix albums. She sold a total of 130 million records from 1956 to 2006. Since her death, many of Dalida's hits have been remixed to modern techno and dance beats, topping the charts in various countries to this day.

In 1999 the play "Solitudini – Luigi Tenco e Dalida", written and directed by Maurizio Valtieri, was performed in Rome.

In 2005, her life was documented in the two-part TV film Dalida, in the role of Dalida was Sabrina Ferilli.

From 11 May to September 2007, the Paris City Hall commemorated the 20th anniversary of Dalida’s death with an exhibition of her outfits and previously unreleased photographs.

Discography

See main article List of Dalida songs for a complete international listing of all Dalida's songs.

See main article Dalida albums discography for Dalida's albums discography.

See main article Dalida singles discography for Dalida's singles discography.

Filmography

This is a chronologically ordered list of films in which Dalida has appeared.

Awards

{| class="wikitable sortable" |- ! Year ! Award ! Country ! Category ! Result |- | 1958 | Radio Monte Carlo Oscars | France | Radio Monte Carlo Oscar | Won |- | 1958 | Paris Olympia music hall Bravos | France | Paris Olympia music hall Bravos (Shared recognition with Yves Montand) | Won |- | 1959 | Platinum Oscar Awards | Italy | Platinum Oscar Award | Won |- | 1959 | Golden She-Wolf Award | Italy | Golden She-Wolf Award | Won |- | 1959 | L'Oscar de la chanson Awards | France | L'Oscar de la chanson Award for Best Song | Won |- | 1959 | Radio Monte Carlo Oscar Awards | France | Radio Monte Carlo Oscar | Won |- | 1960 | Grand Prix Awards | Italy | Grand Prix Award for Best Italian Song (Shared award with Charles Aznavour) | Won |- | 1961 | Radio Monte Carlo Oscar Awards | Italy | Radio Monte Carlo Oscar | Won |- | 1962 | Radio Monte Carlo Oscar Awards | Italy | Radio Monte Carlo Oscar (Shared award with Johnny Hallyday) | Won |- | 1963 | Radio Monte Carlo Oscar Awards | France | Radio Monte Carlo Oscar for Most Successful International Artist | Won |- | 1964 | Juke Box Global Oscar Awards | Italy | Juke Box Global Oscar for The Year's Most-Played Artist on Jukeboxes in Italy | Won |- | 1965 | Cico Viola Prize | Brazil | Cico Viola Prize for "Zorba o Greco" | Won |- | 1966 | Paris Olympia music hall Bravos | France | Les Bravos du Musique Hall | Won |- | 1967 | Golden Caravel Awards | Italy | Golden Caravel Award | Won |- | 1968 | Canzonissima Oscar | Italy | Canzonissima Oscar | Won |- | 1969 | MIDEM Prize | Italy | MIDEM Prize for Highest Selling Musical Artist | Won |- | 1969 | Radio Luxembourg Hit Parade Oscar Awards | France | Radio Luxembourg Hit Parade Oscar | Won |- | 1969 | Radio Luxembourg Hit Parade Oscar Awards | France | Radio Luxembourg Hit Parade Oscar | Won |- | 1972 | Popularity Oscar | France | Popularity Osca for Most Popular Artist | Won |- | 1973 | APPCB (Association Professionnelle de la Presse Cinématographique Belge) Awards | Belgium | Gold Medal Award | Won |- | 1974 | Golden Gigi award | Spain | Golden Gigi Award (Special award) for Extraordinary Record Sales | Won |- | 1974 | Golden Heart Awards | Spain | Golden Heart Award for Most Popular Artist in Spain | Won |- | 1975 | L'Académie du Disque Français Awards | France | Global Oscar Oscar Mondial du Disque Award for "Gigi l'Amoroso" and "Il venait d'avoir dix-huit ans" | Won |- | 1975 | Oscar Awards | France | Eight Oscar Awards awarded at the Olympia in recognition of extraordinary, rare, and, distinguished achievements. | Won |- | 1975 | Golden Lion Awards | Germany | Golden Lion | Won |- | 1976 | French Summer Carnaval Awards | France | French Summer Carnaval Award | Won |- | 1976 | French Academy Awards | France | French Academy Award for a number one single in nine countries | Won |- | 1979 | Radio Monte Carlo Awards | France | Croque-Musique Award | Won |- | 1981 | Goldene Europa Awards | Germany | Goldene Europa for Artist of the Year in Germany | Won |- | 1985 | Golden Butterfly Awards | Turkey | Golden Butterfly Award | Won |- | 1987 | Dalida Award | Turkey | Dalida Award (Special Award) for Best Performance in Anatolia | Won |}

Honours and tributes

Honours

1950: Dalida won the title of Miss Ondine. 1954: Dalida won the Miss Egypt beauty pageant and crowned Miss Egypt 1954. 1962: Calabrian Citizen of Honour. 1968: Medal of the City of Paris. 1968: the French President's Medal (Médaille de la Présidence de la République) awarded by President of the French Republic Général de Gaulle on 5 December 1968, representing the only time in history an artist has ever been presented with this honour by the President of France to date. 1968: Ruby Cross (Croix de Vermeil) (Commander of Arts, Sciences and Letters). 1981: Dalida was awarded a medal by then-French Minister of Defence Charles Hernu.

;Foreign Honours 1988: Dalida was posthumously honoured by the "International Star Registry" (USA), with the issuance of a diploma, awarded three years after her death. 1997: Dalida was posthumously honoured by the City of Paris with a square named in her memory, named "Dalida Square", located at the angle of rues Girardon and Abreuvoirs, in the 18th arrondissement (borough) of Paris, France. 1997: Dalida became one of only three women in France to have a statue erected to her, along with Joan of Arc and Sarah Bernhardt. 1998: Dalida was posthumously honoured in Egypt in a tribute ceremony which took place on 27 October in Cairo and the "Dalida Prize" was awarded in her honour. 2001: Dalida was posthumously honoured by the French government with a second stamp bearing her likeness which was released by La Poste, the French postal service, as part of the Song Artists series. 10,157,601 copies were sold. 2003: Awarded prize for "Greatest Singer of the Century" in France, based on three criteria: numbers of album and single sales, number of radio airplays and chart positions. Dalida was placed third after Madonna and Céline Dion. In 2003 Dalida remained the number one favourite artist in France.

Polls

1965 – F.O.P. Poll: 'Favourite French singer'

1976 – Dalida was voted 'Woman of the Year' in Canada, ahead of Jackie Kennedy)

1982 – Paris Match magazine survey revealed that Dalida was the only representative from show business to appear in a list of most influential French women.

1985 – Dalida was voted 'Favourite French singer' (Télé 7 Jours magazine).

1986 – VSD magazine published a survey in which Dalida was voted 'Favourite French singer'.

1988 – SOFRES/Encyclopædia Universalis: In a survey asking the French public which events had the greatest impact on the French public between 1968 and 1988, 16% of the French public voted the 'Death of Général de Gaulle' and 10% voted the 'Death of Dalida'.

2001 – IFOP Survey: Dalida was voted the 'Most important female singer who had the greatest impact on French society in the 20th century', along with Édith Piaf.

2005 – Dalida was voted the 'Favourite singer in 2004' amongst Italians, and held seventh place amongst the most collected musical artists in Italy.

2005 – Dalida was voted 'Top 58th French person of all time' in a survey sponsored by the France 2 television channel. The only women from show business which appeared in this list were Catherine Deneuve, Brigitte Bardot, Simone Signoret, Édith Piaf and Dalida.

Honorific eponyms

;Geographic locations : Dalida Square, 18 arr., Paris : rue Dalida, Laval, Que., Canada

Art (selection)

Jean Sobieski: Dalida (Oil on canvas, 19??)

Magguy Crouzet: Dalida (Portrait in dot-sculpture, 1976)

Michel Souvais: Dalida, femme est la nuit (Oil on canvas, 1977)

Alain Aslan: Dalida (Yolanda Gigliotti), funerary statue (Bronze sculpture, 1987)

Alain Aslan: Dalida (Yolanda Gigliotti) (Bronze bust, 1997)

Francesco Gallo: Dalida (Yolanda Gigliotti) (Bronze sculpture, 2007)

FS62: Dalida (Black and white portrait in acrylic, 2008)

Dalida in contemporary music

The Dalida song "Born to Sing" (original French title "Mourir sur scène" and later translated to English, Italian and Spanish) was covered in English by Dalida's long time friend Shirley Bassey, released in 1986 as a B-side of a Towerbell Records single (A-side: "There's No Place Like London"). Although the recording has never been re-released, Shirley Bassey performed the song in 1995 during some concerts as part of her 40th anniversary world tour. Shirley Bassey's interpretation of "Born to Sing" is also sometimes titled or referred to as "I Was Born to Sing Forever."

In 1996, Céline Dion and Alain Delon performed the song "Paroles, paroles" on the 1996 New Year's Eve France 2 television programme.

In 1998, Sarah Brightman’s released the song "There for Me", an English language version of "Fini, la comédie". The song first appeared on her Time to Say Goodbye album, featuring José Cura. It was also released as a single, with ‘O mio babbino caro” as the B-side track. Often on her 2000/2001 La Luna tour, Brightman would perform this duet with Josh Groban, and this was included in the DVD.

The song "De la scène à la Seine", by Charles Aznavour, from his year 2000 album "Azvanour, 2000" is a tribute to Dalida.

In 2000, Sarah Hohn (featuring Wehrlen), released a cover of the song "Paroles, paroles" in tribute to Dalida and Alain Delon. In 2002, an interpretation of the song "Pour ne pas vivre seul", by Firmine Richard, was included in the movie "8 femmes", by François Ozon. In 2004, the song "Laissez-moi danser (Monday Tuesday)" was covered by Star Academy 4 in France, under the shorter name "Laissez-moi danser", in honour of Dalida.

In 2005, Lebanese singer Grace Deeb released a cover of the song "Helwa ya baladi", which reached number one spots over the charts.

In 2007, Spanish singer Luz Casal released the song "18 años", a new Spanish-language interpretation of "Tenía 18 años", the Spanish version of "Il venait d'avoir 18 ans" (English version: "He Must Have Been Eighteen"), in honour of French music, with entirely new Spanish lyrics, on her album "Vida tóxica". In 2007, Italian singer Patty Pravo released the tribute album "Spero che ti piaccia... Pour toi", in tribute to Dalida.

In 2007, Lebanese singer Elissa (Arabic: إليسا) paid hommage to the chanteuse, covering her famous song, "Helwa ya baladi".

In 2007, Italian singer-songwriter Franco Battiato released the album "Fleurs 2", containing the track "Il venait d'avoir 18 ans", a cover in hommage to the singer, performed with the participation of Persian vocalist Sepideh Raissadat (Persian: سپیده رئیس سادات).

In 2008, French singer Michèle Torr covered the song "Pour ne pas vivre seul", released on her album "Ces années-là", in hommage to Dalida. A live version of her rendition was also released on her live DVD "Olympia 2008", and digital album of the same name, both released in 2009. In 2009, Lara Fabian released the tribute album "Toutes les femmes en moi", containing an interpretation of the song "Il venait d'avoir 18 ans", of which the former is in part tribute, and the latter in tribute to Dalida.

In 2009, Arthanor Music released the tribute album "Un clip de toi (Hommage à Dalida, 1988)", containing four tracks originally recorded in 1988 by David Heissen and dedicated to Dalida.

Music from motion pictures and TV

The following Dalida songs have appeared in the formentioned motion pictures or TV series. {|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 90%;" border="2" cellpadding="4" background: ##F0F8FF; |- align="center" ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Motion picture ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Songs ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Director ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Ref |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 1961 | Mädchen für die Mambo-Bar aka "Des filles pour le mambo bar" (France: French title) aka "$100 a Night" (USA: dubbed version: English title) aka "Girls for the Mambo-Bar" (UK) | "Am Tag, als der Regen kam" | Wolfgang Glück | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 1979 | Série noire | "Le Lambeth Walk" | Alain Corneau | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 1984 | La Triche | "Fini, la comédie" and "Je suis toutes les femmes" | Yannick Bellon | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 1991 | Hors la vie (aka "Out of Life") | "Salma ya salama" | Maroun Bagdadi | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 1994 | Mina Tannenbaum | "Il venait d'avoir 18 ans" | Martine Dugowson | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 1995 | Gazon Maudit (aka "French Twist") | "Salma ya salama" | Alain Chabat | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 1995 | Pigalle | Unknown | Karim Dridi | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 1996 | Pédale douce | "Bambino", "Salma ya salama" and "Je suis toutes les femmes" | Gabriel Aghion | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 1996 | Un Air de Famille (aka "Family Resemblances" (USA)) | "Come prima" | Cédric Klapisch | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 1997 | On connaît la chanson aka "Same Old Song" (USA) | "Paroles, paroles" | Alain Resnais | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 1997 | Mémoires d'immigrés, l'héritage maghrébin | "Helwa ya baladi" | Yamina Benguigui | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 1998 | A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries aka "La fille d'un soldat ne pleure jamais" (France) aka "Soldier's Daughter Never Cries" (Australia: TV title) | "Ciao amore ciao" | James Ivory | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 1999 | Novios | "Gigi l'Amoroso" | Joaquín Oristrell | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 1999 | Recto/Verso | "Paroles, paroles" | Jean-Marc Longval | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 1999 | Tontaine et Tonton | "Il venait d'avoir 18 ans" and "Gigi l'amoroso" | Tonie Marshall | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 1999 | Un pont entre deux rives aka "The Bridge" | Unknown | Gérard Depardieu | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 2001 | Souffle | "Buenas noches mi amor" | Muriel Coulin and Delphine Coulin | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 2001 | Mauvais genresaka "Transfixed" (Canada: English title: festival title) (USA)aka "Bad Genres" (International: English title: festival title)aka "Gender Bias" (USA) | "Il venait d'avoir 18 ans" | Francis Girod | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 2001 | Absolument fabuleux | "Il venait d'avoir 18 ans" | Gabriel Aghion | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 2001 | C'est la vie | "Darla dirladada" | Jean-Pierre Améris | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 2001 | Paroles de Bibs | "Paroles, paroles" | Jocelyne Lemaire-Darnaud | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 20XX | La Bonne Adresse | "Pezzettini di bikini" | Gary Goldman | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 2002 | L'Adversaire aka "The Adversary" | "Histoire d'un amour" | Nicole Garcia | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 2003 | Perduto Amor | "Itsi bitsi petit bikini" | Franco Battiato | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 2005 | Dalida: Le Film | Principal singer on entire soundtrack | Joyce Buñuel | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 2005 | L'un reste, l'autre part | "Il venait d'avoir 18 ans" | Claude Berri | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 2005 | The Secret Life of Words (International: English title) (UK) (USA)aka "La vida secreta de las palabras" (Spain) aka "La vida secreta de les paraules" (Spain: Catalan title) | "Histoire d'un amour" | Isabel Coixet | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 2006 | aka "" | "Bambino" | Michel Hazanavicius | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 2007 | Michou D'Auber | "Bambino" | Thomas Gilou | |- |----- bgcolor="#F0F8FF" | 2007 | L'Ennemi intimeaka "Intimate Enemies" (Canada: English title) | "Come prima" | Florent Emilio Siri | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 2008 | Mesrine : L'Instinct de mort | "Romantica" and "La Danse de Zorba" | Jean-François Richet | |- |----- bgcolor="#FFFFFF" | 2010 | Les Amours Imaginaires (Canada: Original title)aka "Heartbeats" (USA) (Europe: English title: festival title) aka Fantastikes agapes (Greece: Greek title)aka Love, Imagined (International: English title) | "Bang Bang" | Xavier Dolan | |}

Theatrical productions

Several theatrical productions have been made about Dalida's life. In 1999, "Solitudini – Luigi Tenco e Dalida", written and directed by Maurizio Valtieri, was performed in Rome. "Dalida: Une Vie", directed by René Simard and under the authorisation of Orlando Productions, was performed from October 2003 to June 2006, in Quebec, Canada, and was shown in Beirut, Lebanon in May 2004. In 2005, the play "Dalida, à quoi bon vivre au mois de mai ?", written by Joseph Agostini and Caroline Sourrisseau, was performed at the Ateliers Théâtre in Montmartre.

Biographies

Dalida, by Michel Delain, Éditions de l'Heure, 1962. Dalida, La gloire et les larmes, by Pascal Sevran, 1976. 25 ans de triomphe, by Christian Page, Delmas Éditeur, 1981. Dalida, by Christian Page, Têtes D'affiche, 1982. Dalida, mon amour, by Anne Gallimard and Orlando, Édition NRJ, 1984. ISBN 2908070014 and ISBN 978-2908070019. Lorsque l’amour s’en va, by Catherine Benoît Sévin, Michel Lafon, 1987; Carrere, 1989. ISBN 2868044069 and ISBN 978-2908070019. Dalida, mon amour, by Anne Gallimard and Orlando, Édition NRJ, 1989. ISBN 2908070014 and ISBN 978-2908070019. Dalida mon amour, by Orlando, Hachette Littérature, 1991. ISBN 2738203620 and ISBN 978-2738203625. Dalida, Histoire d’une femme, by Jean-François Josselin and Jeff Barnel, Jean-Claude Lattès, 1994. ISBN 2709614502 and ISBN 978-2709614504. Les larmes de la gloire, by Bernard Pascuito, Éditions Michel Lafon, 1997. ISBN 284098301X and ISBN 978-2840983019. Dalida, by C. Daccache, Éditions Vade Retro, 1998. ISBN 2909828514 and ISBN 978-2909828510. Dalida: Mon frère, tu écriras mes mémoires, by Catherine Rihoit, Plon, 1998. Dalida, by Catherine Rihoit, Omnibus, 1998. ISBN 2259000835 and ISBN 978-2259000833. Star pour toujours, by Julie Thamin, Gep, 2000. Dalida: Entre violon et amour, by Isaline, Éditions Publibook, 2002. ISBN 2748326296 and ISBN 978-2748326291. Du Nil à la scène, Jacques Brachet, Éditions Va bene and Éditions de la courtine, 2001, 2002. ISBN 2848690070 and ISBN 2913483364. Dalida: Une oeuvre en soi, by Michel Rheault, Nota Bene, 2002. ISBN 289518111X. Luigi Tenco. Vita breve e morte di un genio musicale, by Aldo Fegatelli Colonna, A. Mondadori, 2002. ISBN 880450087 and ISBN 9788804500872. Ciao, ciao bambina, by Henri-Jean Servat and Orlando, Éditions Albin Michel, 2003. ISBN 2226142983 and ISBN 978-2226142986. Dalida, by Catherine Rihoit, Plon, re-published 2004. ISBN 2259201806 and ISBN 978-2259201803. D’une rive à l’autre, by David Lelait, Payot, 2004. ISBN 2228899046 and ISBN 978-2228899048. L’argus Dalida: Discographie mondiale et cotations, by Daniel Lesueur, Éditions Alternatives, 2004. ISBN 2862274283 and ISBN 978-2862274287. La véritable Dalida, by Emmanuel Bonini, Éditions Pygmalion, 2004. ISBN 2857049021 and ISBN 978-2857049029. Mademoiselle succès, Barclay France, 2004. UPC 602498110843. Dalida: La femme de cœur, by Jeff Barnel, Éditions du Rocher, 2005. ISBN 2268055000 and ISBN 978-2268055008. Dalida: La voce e l'anima, by Giandomenico Curi, 2005. ISBN 8876416870 and ISBN 978-8876416873. Top Dalida, Éditions Paul Beuscher, 2005. ASIN B000ZG64FO. Dalida: La voce, Il suono, L'anima, by Mino Rossi, Edizioni Franciacorta, 2005. ISBN 8889364017 and ISBN 978-8889364017. Quasi sera: una storia di Tenco, by A. Montellanico, StampaAlternativa/NuoviEquilibri, 2005. ISBN 8872269105. D’une rive à l’autre, by David Lelait-Helo, Éditions J'ai Lu, 2006. ISBN 2290345679 and ISBN 978-2290345672. Ntaainta Dalida, Éditions Odos Panos and 20 ans sans elle, 2006. Dalida passionnément, by Arianne Ravier, Éditions Favre, 2006. ISBN 2828909271 and ISBN 978-2828909277. Dalida, by Henry-Jean Servat and Orlando, Éditions Albin Michel, 2007. ISBN 2226152180 and ISBN 978-2226152183. Dalida, tu m'appelais petite sœur…, by Jacqueline Pitchal, Éditions Carpentier Didier, 2007. ISBN 2841675041 and ISBN 978-2841675043. Dalida: Une vie brûlée, by Bernard Pascuito, L'Archipel, 2007. ISBN 2841879550 and ISBN 978-2841675043. Dalida: Une vie... , by Jacques Pessis, Célina Jauregui, Emmanuel Polle and N-T Binh, Édition Chronique, 2007. ISBN 2205060066 and ISBN 978-2205060065. Dalida: Le temps d'aimer, Fabien Lecœuvre, Éditions City Editions, 2007. ISBN 2352880467 and ISBN 978-2352880462. Luigi Tenco: Ed ora avrei mille cose da fare, by R. Tortarolo and G. Carozzi, Arcana, 2007. ISBN 887966431X and ISBN 978-8879664318. Dalida: Ses fans, ses amis ont la parole, by Claire Nérac and Cédric Naïmi, Éditions du Rocher, 2008. ISBN 2268065804 and ISBN 978-2268065809. Mia zia, ma tante Dalida, by Stéphane Julienne and Luigi Gigliotti, Ramsay ed., 2009. ISBN 2812200111 and ISBN 9782812200113. Dalida, le profil perdu, by Jean-Manuel Gabert, Éditions de la Belle Gabrielle, La légende de Montmartre collection, 2009. ISBN 2917269022 and ISBN 978-2917269022. Pour Dalida, by Colette Fellous, Flammarion ed., 2010. ISBN 2080690566 and ISBN 978-2080690562.

Internet websites: Hit-Parade France, Hit Parade Italia, Infodisc, Official Montmartre Tourist Information Authority, Dalida Official Website.

See also

List of Dalida songs

Dalida albums discography

Dalida singles discography

Italian Egyptians

Music of France

Paris Olympia

Best selling music artists

Miss Egypt beauty pageant and titleholders

Montmartre Cemetery (French: Cimetière de Montmartre)

Footnotes

Notes

A month of sold-out shows at the Paris Olympia corresponds to sales of at least 56,000 tickets.

References

Bibliography

;Primary sources

Dalida, mon amour, by Anne Gallimard and Orlando, Édition NRJ, 1989. ISBN 2908070014 and ISBN 978-2908070019. Dalida mon amour, by Orlando, Hachette Littérature, 1991. ISBN 2738203620 and ISBN 978-2738203625. Dalida, Histoire d’une femme, by Jean-François Josselin and Jeff Barnel, Jean-Claude Lattès, 1994. ISBN 2709614502 and ISBN 978-2709614504. Dalida: Mon frère, tu écriras mes mémoires, by Catherine Rihoit, Plon, 1998. Dalida, by Catherine Rihoit, Omnibus, 1998. ISBN 2259000835 and ISBN 978-2259000833. Ciao, ciao bambina, by Henri-Jean Servat and Orlando, Éditions Albin Michel, 2003. ISBN 2226142983 and ISBN 978-2226142986. Dalida, by Catherine Rihoit, Plon, re-published 2004. ISBN 2259201806 and ISBN 978-2259201803. L’argus Dalida: Discographie mondiale et cotations, by Daniel Lesueur, Éditions Alternatives, 2004. ISBN 2862274283 and ISBN 978-2862274287. Dalida: La femme de cœur, by Jeff Barnel, Éditions du Rocher, 2005. ISBN 2268055000 and ISBN 978-2268055008. Dalida, by Henry-Jean Servat and Orlando, Éditions Albin Michel, 2007. ISBN 2226152180 and ISBN 978-2226152183. Dalida, tu m'appelais petite sœur…, by Jacqueline Pitchal, Éditions Carpentier Didier, 2007. ISBN 2841675041 and ISBN 978-2841675043. Mia zia, ma tante Dalida, by Stéphane Julienne and Luigi Gigliotti, Ramsay, 2009. ISBN 2812200111 and ISBN 9782812200113.

;Secondary sources

Internet websites: Hit-Parade France, Hit Parade Italia, Infodisc, Official Montmartre Tourist Information Authority, Dalida Official Website.

Further reading

Le sixième jour, by Andrée Chedid, R. Julliard Ed., 1960, republished 1968 (Presses de la Cité), 1971 (Flammarion), 1976 (Le Livre de Poche), 1985 (Collection Castor poche), 1986 (Flammarion), 1989 (Éditions J'ai lu), 1992 (Flammarion) (Collection Vieux Fonds), ISBN 2080605577 and ISBN 978-2080605573, 1994 (Collection Librio), ISBN 2080605577 and ISBN 978-2080605573, 2003 (Flammarion) (Collection Librio), ISBN 2290337374 and ISBN 978-2290337370. 50 ans de chanson française : de Trenet à Bruel, by Lucien Rioux, Éditions L'Archipel, 1992, republished 1994. ISBN 2909241688 and ISBN 978-2909241685. L'Italia di Sanremo, by Gianni Borgna, Mondadori (Milano), 1998. ISBN 8804436387 and ISBN 978-8804436386. La chanson française et francophone, by Pierre Saka and Yann Plougastel, Éditions Larousse, 1999. ISBN 2035113466 and ISBN 978-2035113467. Hit-Parades, 1950–1998, by Daniel Lesueur, Éditions Alternatives et Parallèles, 1999. ISBN 2862271837 and ISBN 978-2862271835. Merci les artistes !, by Maritie Carpentier and Gilbert Carpentier, Éditions Anne Carrière, 2001. ISBN 2843371481 and ISBN 978-2843371486. Salut les Sixties, by Jean Peigné, Éditions de Fallois, 2003. ISBN 2877064719 and ISBN 978-2877064712. Olympia. Bruno Coquatrix, 50 ans de Music-Hall, by Jean-Michel Boris, Jean-François Brieu and Eric Didi, Éditions Hors Collection, 2003. ISBN 2258062349 and ISBN 978-2258062344. L'odyssée de la chanson française, by Gilles Verlant, Dominique Duforest and Christian Eudeline, Éditions Hors Collection, 2006. ISBN 2258070872 and ISBN 978-2258070875. Le Roman de l'Olympia, by Pierre Philippe, Les Éditions du Toucan, 2009. ISBN 2810001138 and ISBN 978-2810001132. Les Années 60: Rêves et Révolutions, by Frédéric Quinonero, Éditions D. Carpentier, 2009. ISBN 2841676536 and ISBN 978-2841676538.

External links

;Official Official Website –

;Biographies Biography at RFI Musique (Radio France Internationale) Biography at Télé Melody

Dalida at Billboard.com

;Discography

;Filmography Dalida: Le Film (Ego Productions Site) –

;General

Place Dalida at the website of the Official Montmartre Tourist Information Authority (in English), which displays images of the plaza which is named in Dalida's memory and of the statue erected in her honour.

Category:Dalida Category:1933 births Category:1987 deaths Category:18th arrondissement of Paris Category:1950s singers Category:1960s singers Category:1970s singers Category:1980s singers Category:Actors who committed suicide Category:Arabic-language singers Category:Burials at Montmartre Cemetery, Paris Category:Disco musicians Category:Drug-related suicides in France Category:English-language singers Category:Entertainers who committed suicide Category:Egyptian immigrants to France Category:Egyptian people of European descent Category:Egyptian people of Italian descent Category:French actors Category:French dance musicians Category:French female models Category:French female singers Category:French film actors Category:French musicians Category:French people of Italian descent Category:German-language singers Category:Italian actors Category:Italian dance musicians Category:Italian female models Category:Italian female singers Category:Italian film actors Category:Italian musicians Category:Italian-language singers Category:Italian expatriates in France Category:Models who committed suicide Category:Musicians who committed suicide Category:Miss Egypt Category:Naturalized citizens of France Category:People from Cairo Category:People with acquired French citizenship Category:Spanish-language singers

Name	Audrey Hepburn
Caption	Hepburn in a studio publicity portrait for 1957 film Love in the Afternoon
Birth name	Audrey Kathleen Ruston
Birth date	May 04, 1929
Birth place
Death date	January 20, 1993
Death place
Death cause	Appendiceal cancer
Resting place	Tolochenaz Cemetery, Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland
Occupation	Actress, humanitarian
Years active	1948–1992
Nationality	British
Other names
Website
Spouse
Partner
Children
Parents
Awards	List of awards and honours

Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 192920 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century. Redefining glamour with "elfin" features

Life and career

Early life

Audrey Kathleen Ruston, later double-barelled by her father to the surname Hepburn-Ruston, was born on Rue Keyenveld (or Keienveldstraat in Dutch) in Ixelles (or Elsene in Dutch), a municipality in Brussels, Belgium. Hepburn, the only child of Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston (1889–1980), an English banker of Irish descent, Hepburn's father's job with a British insurance company meant that the family often travelled between Belgium, England, and the Netherlands. From 1935 to 1938, Hepburn was educated at Miss Rigden's School, an independent girls' school in the village of Elham, Kent, in the southeast of England.

Childhood and adolescence in World War II

Hepburn's parents, members of the British Union of Fascists in the mid-1930s (according to Unity Mitford, a friend of Ella van Heemstra and a follower of Adolf Hitler), divorced in 1935 when her father, a Nazi sympathiser, left the family. Her father's abandonment left her in a traumatic state. Years later, she located him in Dublin, Ireland through the Red Cross. Although he remained emotionally detached, Hepburn remained in contact and supported him financially until his death.

Moving to their grandfather's home in Arnhem, Netherlands in 1939, her mother relocated her and her two half-brothers in the belief that Netherlands would protect them from German attack. While in Arnhem, Hepburn attended the Arnhem Conservatory from 1939 to 1945 where she trained in ballet alongside the standard school curriculum. After the Germans invaded the Netherlands in 1940, Hepburn adopted the pseudonym Edda van Heemstra, a derivative of her mother's name "Ella," modifying her mother's documents because an "English sounding" name was considered dangerous during the German occupation. Her mother also felt that the name Audrey may have indicated her British roots too strongly – an unwanted asset particularly as it could have attracted the attention of occupying German forces and resulted in confinement or deportation.

By 1944, Hepburn had become a proficient ballerina. She had secretly danced for groups of people to collect money for the Dutch resistance. She later said, "The best audience I ever had made not a single sound at the end of my performances." After the Allied landing on D-Day, living conditions grew worse and Arnhem was subsequently devastated by Allied artillery fire under Operation Market Garden. During the Dutch famine that followed in the winter of 1944, the Germans blocked the resupply routes of the Dutch's already-limited food and fuel supplies as retaliation in railway strikes hindered German occupation. People starved and froze to death in the streets; Hepburn and many others resorted to making flour out of tulip bulbs to bake cakes and biscuits. One way that Hepburn passed the time was by drawing; some of her childhood artwork can be seen today.

Hepburn's half-brother Ian van Ufford, spent time in a German labour camp. Suffering from malnutrition, Hepburn developed acute anaemia, respiratory problems, and oedema. Hepburn, in 1991, commented, "I have memories. More than once I was at the station seeing trainloads of Jews being transported, seeing all these faces over the top of the wagon. I remember, very sharply, one little boy standing with his parents on the platform, very pale, very blond, wearing a coat that was much too big for him, and he stepped on to the train. I was a child observing a child."

When the country was liberated, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration trucks followed. Hepburn said in an interview that she fell ill from putting too much sugar in her oatmeal and eating an entire can of condensed milk. Hepburn's war-time experiences sparked her devotion to UNICEF, an international humanitarian organisation, in her later career. Hepburn appeared as a stewardess in a short tourism film for KLM, before travelling with her mother to London. Gaskell provided an introduction to Marie Rambert, and Hepburn studied ballet at the Ballet Rambert, supporting herself with part-time work as a model. Hepburn eventually asked Rambert about her future; Rambert assured her that she could continue to work there and have a great career, but the fact that she was relatively tall (1.7m / 5 ft 7) coupled with her poor nutrition during the war would keep her from becoming a prima ballerina. Hepburn trusted Rambert's assessment and decided to pursue acting, a career in which she, at least, had chance to excel. After Hepburn became a star, Rambert said in an interview, "She was a wonderful learner. If she had wanted to persevere, she might have become an outstanding ballerina."

Hepburn's mother worked menial jobs in order to support them and Hepburn needed to find employment. Since she had trained to become a performer all her life, acting seemed a sensible career. She said, "I needed the money; it paid ₤3 more than ballet jobs." Her acting career began with the educational film Dutch in Seven Lessons (1948). As a London chorus girl, she played in the musical theatre productions High Button Shoes (1948) at the London Hippodrome and Cecil Landeau's musical revues Sauce Tartare (1949) and Sauce Piquante (1950) at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End. Her theatre work, however, revealed that her voice was not strong and needed to be developed. Hepburn, therefore, took elocution lessons with the actor Felix Aylmer. Hepburn was spotted by a scout for Paramount Pictures during her work in the West End. Opening on 24 November 1951 at the Fulton Theatre, the play ran for 219 performances finishing on 31 May 1952. Hepburn's performance earned her a Theatre World Award. Originally, the film was to only have had Peck's name above its title in large font while she would receive "Introducing Audrey Hepburn" beneath. After filming had been completed and Hepburn had won the 1954 Academy Award for Best Actress for the role, Peck suggested to Wyler that he elevate her to equal billing so her name appeared before the title and in type as large as his. Due to the instant celebrity that came with Roman Holiday, Hepburn spawned what became known as the Audrey Hepburn "look" while her illustration was placed on the September 1953 cover of TIME magazine. Hepburn garnered critical and commercial acclaim for her portrayal of the incognito princess and supplemented her Academy Award win with her first BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama. A. H. Weiler noted in The New York Times that although "she is not precisely a newcomer to films, [Hepburn,] who is being starred for the first time as Princess Ann, is a slender, elfin and wistful beauty, alternately regal and childlike in her profound appreciation of newly found, simple pleasures and love. Although she bravely smiles her acknowledgement of the end of that affair, she remains a pitifully lonely figure facing a stuffy future." In allowing her to become a star, Hepburn later called Roman Holiday her dearest movie. Returning to the New York stage after filming Roman Holiday for four months, Hepburn performed in Gigi for eight months. The play was performed in Los Angeles and San Francisco in its last month. She was signed to a seven-picture contract with Paramount with twelve months in between films to allow her time for stage work.

in Sabrina (1954)]] Following Roman Holiday, she starred in Billy Wilder's romantic Cinderella-story comedy Sabrina (1954) where wealthy brothers (Humphrey Bogart and William Holden) compete for the affections of their chauffeur's innocent daughter (Hepburn). For her performance, she was nominated for the 1955 Academy Award for Best Actress while winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role the same year. The uncredited Hubert de Givenchy was responsible for many of Hepburn's outfits in the film. Initially disappointed, Givenchy noted that he had expected Katharine Hepburn upon being told that "Miss Hepburn." When faced with this actress, he told Hepburn he had little time to spare. Nevertheless, she knew exactly how she wanted to look and asked to view his latest collection. Hepburn was asked to play Anne Frank's counterpart in both the Broadway and film adaptations of Frank's life. Hepburn, however, who was born the same year as Frank, found herself "emotionally incapable" of the task, and at almost thirty years old, too old. The role was eventually given to Susan Strasberg and Millie Perkins in the play and film respectively.

Having become one of Hollywood's most popular box-office attractions, she went on to star in a series of successful films during the remainder of the decade, including her BAFTA- and Golden Globe-nominated role as Natasha Rostova in War and Peace (1956), an adaptation of the Tolstoy novel set during the Napoleonic wars with Mel Ferrer and Henry Fonda. The year 1957 saw her debut in musical film titled Funny Face which saw her perform alongside Fred Astaire; she also starred alongside Gary Cooper and Maurice Chevalier in the romantic comedy Love in the Afternoon. The Nun's Story (1959), in which she starred alongside Peter Finch, accrued her third Academy Award nomination and earned her another BAFTA Award. Films in Review stated that her performance "will forever silence those who have thought her less an actress than a symbol of the sophisticated child/woman. Her portrayal of Sister Luke is one of the great performances of the screen." Reportedly, she spent hours in convents and with members of the Church to bring truth to her portrayal: "I gave more time, energy and thought to this than to any of my previous screen performances." Subsequently, she starred with Anthony Perkins in the romantic adventure Green Mansions (1959) where Perkins, a young man, meets "a girl of the forest" (Hepburn) and falls in love with her. In 1960, she appeared alongside Burt Lancaster and Lillian Gish in her only western film The Unforgiven for which she received lukewarm reception.

Breakfast at Tiffany's and continued stardom

Three months after the birth of her son, Sean, in 1960, Hepburn began work on Blake Edwards' Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), a film very loosely based on the Truman Capote novella. The film was drastically changed from the original version. Capote disapproved of many changes and proclaimed that Hepburn was "grossly miscast" as Holly Golightly, a quirky New York call girl; a role he had envisioned for Marilyn Monroe. Holly Golightly, Hepburn's high fashion style and sophistication within the film became synonymous with her. She named the role "the jazziest of my career" yet admitted that, "I'm an introvert. Playing the extroverted girl was the hardest thing I ever did."The little black dress which is worn by Hepburn in the beginning of the film is cited as one of the most iconic items of clothing in the history of the twentieth century and perhaps the most famous little black dress of all time.

Playing opposite Shirley MacLaine and James Garner, her next role was in William Wyler's lesbian-themed drama The Children's Hour (1961) which saw Hepburn and MacLaine play teachers whose lives become troubled after a student accuses them of being lesbians. The film was one of Hollywood's earliest treatments on the subject of lesbianism while Variety magazine also complemented Hepburn's "soft sensitivity, marvellous projection and emotional understatement" adding that Hepburn and MacLaine "beautifully complement each other."

Her only film with Cary Grant came in the comic thriller Charade (1963). Hepburn, who plays Regina Lampert, finds herself pursued by several men (including Grant) who chase the fortune her murdered husband had stolen. The role earned her third and final competitive BAFTA Award and accrued another Golden Globe nomination. Grant (59 years old at the time), who had previously withdrawn from the starring male lead roles in Roman Holiday and Sabrina, was sensitive about the age difference between Hepburn (at age 34) and him, making him uncomfortable about the romantic interplay. To satisfy his concerns, the filmmakers agreed to change the screenplay so that Hepburn's character would be the one to romantically pursue his. Grant, however, loved to humour Hepburn and once said, "All I want for Christmas is another picture with Audrey Hepburn."

Paris When It Sizzles (1964) reteamed Hepburn with William Holden nearly ten years after Sabrina. The screwball comedy set in Paris saw Hepburn as Gabrielle Simpson, the young assistant of a Hollywood screenwriter (Holden) who aids his writer's block by acting out his fantasies of possible plots. The film, called "marshmallow-weight hokum", was "uniformly panned"; Behind the scenes, the set was plagued with problems: Holden tried, without success, to rekindle a romance with the now-married actress; that, combined with his alcoholism made the situation a challenge. Hepburn did not help matters: after principal photography began, she demanded the dismissal of cinematographer Claude Renoir after seeing what she felt were unflattering dailies. yet Hepburn's landing the role of Eliza Doolittle in the 1964 George Cukor film adaptation of the stage musical sparked controversy. Firstly, by producer Jack Warner, the decision had been made to cast someone other than Julie Andrews, who had originated the role on Broadway, in fear that Andrews' then-limited film experience would prevent the film's success. Initially refusing, Hepburn asked Warner to give it to Andrews, but when informed that it was either she or Elizabeth Taylor who would receive the part, she accepted the role. Secondly, the casting Hepburn, a non-singer, in a major musical created further friction. Deemed below par, Hepburn's originally recorded vocals were replaced with those of Marni Nixon. Upset, she reportedly stormed off the set yet returned early the next day to apologise for her "wicked" behaviour. In the finished film, Hepburn's only singing vocals remain in one line in the song "I Could Have Danced All Night", on a section of the song "Just You Wait" and the entirety of its reprise. Footage of several songs with Hepburn's original vocals still exist and have been included in documentaries and the recent releases of the film, yet only Nixon's renditions have been released on LP and CD. When asked about the dubbing of an actress with such distinctive vocal tones, Hepburn frowned and said, "You could tell, couldn't you? And there was Rex, recording all his songs as he acted ... next time —" She bit her lip to prevent her saying more. The latter, an edgy thriller in which Hepburn demonstrated her acting range by playing the part of a terrorised blind woman. It was a difficult film and despite being produced by Mel Ferrer, filmed on the brink of their divorce while she lost fifteen pounds under the stress, Hepburn earned a fifth Academy Award nomination. Additionally on the bright side, she found co-star Richard Crenna to be very funny, and she had a lot to laugh about with director Terence Young. They both joked that he had shelled his favourite star twenty-three years before; he had been a British Army tank commander during the Battle of Arnhem.

Departure from cinema and final entertainment-related projects

From 1967 onward, after fifteen highly successful years in film, Hepburn decided to devote more time to her family and acted only occasionally.

She attempted a comeback in 1976, co-starring with Sean Connery, in the period piece Robin and Marian, which was moderately successful. In 1979, Hepburn took the lead role of Elizabeth Roffe in the international production of Bloodline, re-teaming with director Terence Young (Wait Until Dark). She shared top billing with co-stars Ben Gazzara, James Mason and Romy Schneider. Author Sidney Sheldon revised his novel when it was reissued to tie into the film, making her character a much older woman to better match the actress' age. The film, an international intrigue amid the jet-set, was a critical and box office failure.

Hepburn's last starring role in a cinematic film was with Ben Gazzara in the 1981 comedy They All Laughed, directed by Peter Bogdanovich. The film was overshadowed by the murder of one of its stars, Bogdanovich's girlfriend, Dorothy Stratten; the film was released after Stratten's death but only in limited runs. In 1987, she co-starred with Robert Wagner in a tongue-in-cheek made-for-television caper film, Love Among Thieves, which borrowed elements from several of Hepburn's films, most notably Charade and How to Steal a Million.

After finishing her last role in a motion picture in 1988, a cameo appearance as an angel in Steven Spielberg's Always, Hepburn completed only two more entertainment-related projects in the remainder of her life, both critically acclaimed. Gardens of the World with Audrey Hepburn was a PBS documentary television series, her final performance before cameras filmed on location in seven countries in the spring and summer of 1990. A one-hour special preceded the series, debuting in March 1991, while the series commenced the day after her death (21 January 1993). For the series' debut, Hepburn was posthumously awarded the 1993 Emmy Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement – Informational Programming. Recorded in 1992, her spoken word album, Audrey Hepburn's Enchanted Tales, features readings of classic children's stories and earned her a posthumous Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for Children. She remains one of few entertainers to win Grammy and Emmy Awards posthumously.

Contributions to UNICEF

Just after filming the cameo appearance for Always (1989), Hepburn was appointed Goodwill Ambassador of UNICEF. Grateful for her own good fortune after enduring the German occupation as a child, she dedicated the remainder of her life to helping impoverished children in the poorest nations. Hepburn's travels were made easier by her wide knowledge of languages; besides being naturally bilingual in English and Dutch, Audrey also was fluent in French, Italian, Spanish, and German.

Though she had done work for UNICEF in the 1950s, starting in 1954 with radio presentations, this was a much higher level of dedication. Those close to her say that the thoughts of dying, helpless children consumed her for the rest of her life. Her first field mission was to Ethiopia in 1988. She visited an orphanage in Mek'ele that housed 500 starving children and had UNICEF send food. Of the trip, she said, "I have a broken heart. I feel desperate. I can't stand the idea that two million people are in imminent danger of starving to death, many of them children, [and] [sic] not because there isn't tons of food sitting in the northern port of Shoa. It can't be distributed. Last spring, Red Cross and UNICEF workers were ordered out of the northern provinces because of two simultaneous civil wars... I went into rebel country and saw mothers and their children who had walked for ten days, even three weeks, looking for food, settling onto the desert floor into makeshift camps where they may die. Horrible. That image is too much for me. The 'Third World' is a term I don't like very much, because we're all one world. I want people to know that the largest part of humanity is suffering".

In August 1988, Hepburn went to Turkey on an immunization campaign. She called Turkey "the loveliest example" of UNICEF's capabilities. Of the trip, she said, "the army gave us their trucks, the fishmongers gave their wagons for the vaccines, and once the date was set, it took ten days to vaccinate the whole country. Not bad". In October, Hepburn went to South America. In Venezuela and Ecuador, Hepburn told the United States Congress, "I saw tiny mountain communities, slums, and shantytowns receive water systems for the first time by some miracle – and the miracle is UNICEF. I watched boys build their own schoolhouse with bricks and cement provided by UNICEF".

Hepburn toured Central America in February 1989, and met with leaders in Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala. In April, Hepburn visited Sudan with Wolders as part of a mission called "Operation Lifeline". Because of civil war, food from aid agencies had been cut off. The mission was to ferry food to southern Sudan. Hepburn said, "I saw but one glaring truth: These are not natural disasters but man-made tragedies for which there is only one man-made solution – peace". In October, Hepburn and Wolders went to Bangladesh. John Isaac, a UN photographer, said, "Often the kids would have flies all over them, but she would just go hug them. I had never seen that. Other people had a certain amount of hesitation, but she would just grab them. Children would just come up to hold her hand, touch her – she was like the Pied Piper".

In October 1990, Hepburn went to Vietnam in an effort to collaborate with the government for national UNICEF-supported immunization and clean water programmes.

In September 1992, four months before she died, Hepburn went to Somalia. Hepburn called it "apocalyptic" and said, "I walked into a nightmare. I have seen famine in Ethiopia and Bangladesh, but I have seen nothing like this – so much worse than I could possibly have imagined. I wasn't prepared for this". "The earth is red – an extraordinary sight – that deep terracotta red. And you see the villages, displacement camps and compounds, and the earth is all rippled around them like an ocean bed. And those were the graves. There are graves everywhere. Along the road, around the paths that you take, along the riverbeds, near every camp – there are graves everywhere". Though scarred by what she had seen, Hepburn still had hope. "Taking care of children has nothing to do with politics. I think perhaps with time, instead of there being a politicization of humanitarian aid, there will be a humanization of politics". "Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist. I have seen the miracle of water which UNICEF has helped to make a reality. Where for centuries young girls and women had to walk for miles to get water, now they have clean drinking water near their homes. Water is life, and clean water now means health for the children of this village". "People in these places don't know Audrey Hepburn, but they recognize the name UNICEF. When they see UNICEF their faces light up, because they know that something is happening. In the Sudan, for example, they call a water pump UNICEF".

In 1992, United States President George H. W. Bush presented her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom in recognition of her work with UNICEF, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awarded her The Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award for her contribution to humanity. This was awarded posthumously, with her son accepting on her behalf.

Death

, Switzerland]] Upon return from Somalia to Switzerland in the autumn of 1992, Hepburn began suffering from abdominal pains. She went to specialists and received inconclusive results, so decided to have herself examined while on a trip to Los Angeles, California in October. On 1 November, Hepburn checked in at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center with her family. Doctors performed a laparoscopy and discovered abdominal cancer that had spread from her appendix, a very rare form of cancer belonging to a group of cancers known as pseudomyxoma peritonei (PMP). Having grown slowly over several years, the cancer had metastasised, not as a tumour, but as a thin coating over her small intestine. After performing surgery, the doctors put Hepburn through 5-fluorouracil Leucovorin chemotherapy. A few days later, she had an obstruction and medication was not enough to dull the pain. She underwent further surgery on 1 December. After one hour, the surgeon decided that the cancer had spread too far to be removed fully. Because Hepburn was unable to fly on commercial aircraft, Hubert de Givenchy arranged for Rachel Lambert "Bunny" Mellon to send her private Gulfstream jet, filled with flowers, to take Hepburn from California to Switzerland.

Hepburn died in her sleep of appendiceal cancer, on the evening of 20 January 1993, at her home in Tolochenaz, Vaud, Switzerland. After her death, Gregory Peck went on camera and tearfully recited her favourite poem, "Unending Love" by Rabindranath Tagore.

Funeral services were held at the Village Church of Tolochenaz, Switzerland on 24 January 1993. Maurice Eindiguer, the same pastor who wed Hepburn and Mel Ferrer and baptised her son Sean in 1960, presided over her funeral while Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, of UNICEF, delivered an eulogy. Many family members and friends attended the funeral, including her sons, partner Robert Wolders, brother Ian Quarles von Ufford, ex-husbands Andrea Dotti and Mel Ferrer, Hubert de Givenchy, executives of UNICEF, and fellow actors Alain Delon and Roger Moore. The same day as her funeral, Hepburn was interred at the Tolochenaz Cemetery, a small cemetery that sits atop a hill overlooking the village.

Personal life

Romances, marriages, children and miscarriages

In 1952, Hepburn was engaged to the young James Hanson, whom she had known since her London dancing days. She called it "love at first sight"; however, after having her wedding dress fitted and the date set, she decided the marriage would not work because the demands of their careers would keep them apart most of the time. Rather ambiguously, she issued a statement about her change of heart, "When I get married, I want to be really married." In the early 1950s, she also dated future Hair producer Michael Butler. Hepburn and Gregory Peck bonded during the filming of Roman Holiday (1953) and there were rumours that they were romantically involved; both denied it. Hepburn, however, added, "Actually, you have to be a little bit in love with your leading man and vice versa. If you're going to portray love, you have to feel it. You can't do it any other way. But you don't carry it beyond the set." They did however become lifelong friends. During the filming of Sabrina (1954), Hepburn and the already-married Holden became romantically involved. She hoped to marry him and have children however she broke off the relationship when Holden revealed that he had undergone a vasectomy. Although a common perception that Bogart and Hepburn (both starred in Sabrina together) did not get along, Hepburn commented that, "Sometimes it's the so-called 'tough guys' that are the most tender hearted, as Bogey was with me."

At a cocktail party hosted by Gregory Peck, Hepburn met American actor Mel Ferrer. Ferrer, vying for Hepburn to take the title role, sent her the script for the play Ondine. She agreed and rehearsals started in January 1954. Eight months later, on 24 September 1954, after meeting, working together and falling in love, the pair were married while preparing to star together in the film War and Peace (1955). Before having their only son, Hepburn had two miscarriages in March 1955 and in 1959. The latter occurred when filming The Unforgiven (1960) where breaking her back after falling off a horse and onto a rock resulted in hospital stay and miscarriage induced by physical and mental stress. Hepburn, therefore, took a year off work in order to successfully have a child. Sean Hepburn Ferrer, their son, whose godfather was the novelist A. J. Cronin who resided near Hepburn in Lucerne, was born on 17 July 1960. Despite the insistence from gossip columns that the marriage would not last, Hepburn claimed that she and her husband were inseparable and very happy together yet admitting that he had a bad temper. Ferrer was rumoured to be too controlling of Hepburn and had been referred to by others as being her Svengali – an accusation that Hepburn laughed off. William Holden was quoted as saying, "I think Audrey allows Mel to think he influences her". Despite their marriage of 14 years, the pair lasted until 5 December 1968, separated and divorced. Their son believed that Hepburn had stayed in the marriage too long. In June 2008, Mel Ferrer died of heart failure at the age of ninety.

She met Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti on a cruise and fell in love with him on a trip to Greek ruins. She believed she would have more children, and possibly stop working. She married him on 18 January 1969 and aged 40, she gave birth to their son Luca Dotti on 8 February 1970. When pregnant with Luca in 1969, Hepburn was more careful, resting for months and passing the time by painting before delivering him by caesarean section. Hepburn had her final miscarriage in 1974.although Dotti loved Hepburn and was well liked by Sean, who called him "fun", he began having affairs with younger women. The marriage lasted thirteen years and ended in 1982 when Hepburn felt Luca and Sean were old enough to handle life with a single mother. Although Hepburn broke off all contact with Ferrer (she only spoke to him twice more in the remainder of her life), she remained in touch with Dotti for the benefit of Luca. In October 2007, Andrea Dotti died from complications of a colonoscopy.

with Hepburn and Robert Wolders in 1981]] From 1980 until her death, Hepburn lived and was romantically involved with Dutch actor Robert Wolders who was the widower of actress Merle Oberon. She had met Wolders through a friend, in the later stage of her marriage to Dotti. After Hepburn's divorce from Dotti was final, Wolders and she started their lives together, although they never married. In 1989, she called the nine years she had spent him the happiest years of her life. "Took me long enough," she said in an interview with American journalist Barbara Walters. Walters then asked why they never married; Hepburn replied that they were married, just not formally.

Pets

While resting at home from her first miscarriage, Mel Ferrer brought her the fawn from the movie Green Mansions to keep as a pet. They called him Ip (short for Pippin). Hepburn had several pets, including a Yorkshire Terrier named Mr. Famous, who was hit by a car and killed. To cheer her up, Mel Ferrer got her another Yorkshire named Assam of Assam. She also kept Ip; they made a bed for him out of a bathtub. Her son Sean also had a Cocker Spaniel named Cokey. When Hepburn was older, she had two Jack Russell Terriers.

Miscellaneous

One year after Marilyn Monroe sang "Happy Birthday, Mr. President" to President John F. Kennedy, Hepburn, the President's favourite actress, sang "Happy Birthday, Dear Jack" to him, on what turned out to be his final birthday (29 May 1963). Hepburn is associated with the poem "Time-Tested Beauty Tips" (although the author is humourist Sam Levenson), which she used to recite to her sons. The poem includes verses such as, "For beautiful hair, let a child run his or her fingers through it once a day", and, "For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry".

Legacy

Hepburn's legacy as an actress and a personality has endured long after her death. The American Film Institute named Hepburn third among the Greatest Female Stars of All Time. Even in her last years, she remained a visible presence in the film world. She received a tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center in 1991 and was a frequent presenter at the Academy Awards. She was the recipient of four posthumous awards including the 1993 Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award and competitive Grammy and Emmy Awards. She has been the subject of many biographies since her death and the 2000 dramatisation of her life titled The Audrey Hepburn Story which starred Jennifer Love Hewitt and Emmy Rossum as the older and younger Hepburn respectively. The film concludes with footage of the real Audrey Hepburn, shot during one of her final missions for UNICEF.

Hepburn's image is widely used in advertising campaigns across the world. In Japan, a series of commercials used colourised and digitally enhanced clips of Hepburn in Roman Holiday to advertise Kirin black tea. In the United States, Hepburn was featured in a Gap commercial which ran from September 7, 2006, to October 5, 2006. It used clips of her dancing from Funny Face, set to AC/DC's "Back in Black", with the tagline "It's Back – The Skinny Black Pant". To celebrate its "Keep it Simple" campaign, the Gap made a sizeable donation to the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.

Hepburn has been considered a gay icon.

Style

(1963), an iconic little black dress by Givenchy]] Hepburn's stardom created her status as a fashion icon, exercising fashion both in her lifetime while continuing to influence fashion today. She appeared on the covers of Vogue and Harper's Bazaar. Her style was partially the result of the meeting with the couturier Hubert de Givenchy during the filming of Sabrina in 1954 who designed her dresses for the film. Givenchy remained Hepburn's friend, his muse and ambassador throughout her life who always amazed, even after many years of collaboration: "Her measurements have not changed an inch in thirty-five years." To which Audrey replied, "I have many things in common with Hubert. We like the same things." Hepburn's fashion styles continue to be popular among women today. Contrary to her image, although Hepburn did enjoy fashion, she did not place much importance on it; she preferred casual and comfortable clothes. In addition, she never considered herself to be attractive. She stated in a 1959 interview, "you can even say that I hated myself at certain periods. I was too fat, or maybe too tall, or maybe just plain too ugly... you can say my definiteness stems from underlying feelings of insecurity and inferiority. I couldn't conquer these feelings by acting indecisive. I found the only way to get the better of them was by adopting a forceful, concentrated drive."

The "little black dress" from Breakfast at Tiffany's, designed by Givenchy, was sold at a Christie's auction on 5 December 2006 for £467,200 (approximately $920,000), almost seven times its £70,000 pre-sale estimate. This is the highest price paid for a dress from a film. The proceeds went to the City of Joy Aid charity to aid underprivileged children in India. The head of the charity said, "there are tears in my eyes. I am absolutely dumbfounded to believe that a piece of cloth which belonged to such a magical actress will now enable me to buy bricks and cement to put the most destitute children in the world into schools". However, the dress auctioned by Christie's was not the one that Hepburn wore in the film. Of the two dresses that Hepburn did wear, one is held in the Givenchy archives while the other is displayed in the Museum of Costume in Madrid.

Credits in film, television and theatre

Awards

See also

List of persons who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards

Little black Givenchy dress of Audrey Hepburn

White floral Givenchy dress of Audrey Hepburn

References

Further reading

External links

of Hepburn (and the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund)

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