Martine Carol
from the trailer for Action of the Tiger (1957)
Born	Marie-Louise Jeanne Nicolle Mourer (1920-05-16)16 May 1920 Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, Île-de-France, France
Died	6 February 1967(1967-02-06) (aged 46) Monte Carlo, Monaco
Other names	Marise Arley, Martine Carole, Marie-Louise Maurer
Years active	1941–1967
Spouse	Stephen Crane (1948–1953) Christian-Jaque (1954–1959) André Rouveix (1959–1962) Mike Eland (1966–1967)

Martine Carol (16 May 1920 – 6 February 1967) was a French film actress.

Biography[link]

Born Marie-Louise Jeanne Nicolle Mourer in Saint-Mandé, Val-de-Marne, (France), she studied acting under René Simon (1898–1966), making her stage debut in 1940 and her first motion picture in 1943. One of the most beautiful women in film, she was frequently cast as an elegant blonde seductress. During the late 1940s and early 1950s she was the leading sex symbol and a top box office draw of french cinema, and was considered a French version of America's Marilyn Monroe. One of her most famous roles was as the title character in Lola Montès (1955), directed by Max Ophüls, in a role which necessitated dark hair. However, by the late-1950s, roles for Carol had become fewer, due to the introductory of newcomer Brigitte Bardot.

Despite her fame and fortune, Martine Carol's personal life was filled with turmoil that included a suicide attempt and drug abuse, and four marriages. She was also kidnapped by gangster Pierre Loutrel (aka Pierrot le Fou or Crazy Pete), albeit briefly and received roses the next day as an apology.

She died unexpectedly of a heart attack in a Monte Carlo hotel room at the age of only forty-six.

Four weddings and two funerals[link]

Martine Carol was married four times, to:

1. Stephen Crane (Josef Stephen Crane, aka), American actor and restaurant manager, previously Lana Turner's husband. Married in 1948, divorced in 1953.
2. Christian-Jaque, film director. Married July 15, 1954, divorced in 1959.
3. Dr. André Rouveix, a young doctor she met in Martinique, Fort-de-France. Married August 3, 1959, divorced in 1962.
4. Mike Eland, English businessman. Married in 1966, until her death.

She was initially buried in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris. But her grave was violated (some media reported that she had been interred with her jewels). Martine Carol was then buried in the Grand Jas Cemetery (le cimetière "du Grand Jas") of Cannes (square n°3).

Partial filmography[link]

• Les amants de Vérone (1949)
• I Like Only You (1950)
• Caroline chérie (1951)
• Adorable Creatures (1952)
• Beauties of the Night (1952)
• Lucrèce Borgia (1953)
• Destinées (1954) segment "Lysistrata"
• Madame du Barry (1954)
• Nana (1955)
• Les Carnets du Major Thompson (1955)
• Lola Montès (1955)
• Around the World in 80 Days (1956)
• Action of the Tiger (1957)
• The Stowaway (1958)
• Ten Seconds to Hell (1959)
• Austerlitz (1959)
• Love and the Frenchwoman (1960)
• The Counterfeiters of Paris (1961)
• Vanina Vanini (1961)
• I Don Giovanni della Costa Azzurra (1962)

References[link]

Martine Carol's grave at the cimetière du Grand Jas in Cannes

• Chapuy, Arnaud (2001). Martine Carol filmée par Christian-Jaque : un phénomène du cinéma populaire. Paris: L'Harmattan. 

Bibliography[link]

• Debot, Georges (1979). Martine Carol ou la vie de Martine chérie. Préface de Mary Marquet. Paris: France-Empire. 
• Cohen, André-Charles (1986). Martine chérie. Collection photographique de Jean-Charles Sabria. Préface de Cécil Saint-Laurent. Paris: Ramsay. 

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Martine Carol

• Martine Carol at the Internet Movie Database
• Martine Carol at the TCM Movie Database
• Martine Carol at AllRovi
• Martine Carol at Find a Grave

Charles Boyer
from the film Love Affair (1939)
Born	(1899-08-28)28 August 1899 Figeac, Lot, Midi-Pyrénées, France
Died	26 August 1978(1978-08-26) (aged 78) Phoenix, Arizona, United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1920–1976
Spouse	Pat Paterson (1934–1978)

Charles Boyer (28 August 1899 – 26 August 1978) was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976.^[1] After receiving an education in drama, Boyer became a star of 1920s French theater, but he found his greatest success in American movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised in romantic dramas such as Conquest (1937), Algiers (1938), and Love Affair (1939). Another famous role was in the 1944 mystery-thriller Gaslight. He received four Academy Award nominations for Best Actor.

Early years[link]

Boyer was born in Figeac, Lot, Midi-Pyrénées, France, the son of Augustine Louise Durand and Maurice Boyer, a merchant.^[2] Boyer was a shy, small-town boy who discovered the movies and theatre at the age of eleven. Boyer performed comic sketches for soldiers while working as a hospital orderly during World War I.^[3] He began studies briefly at the Sorbonne, and was waiting for a chance to study acting at the Paris Conservatory.^[4] He went to the capital city to finish his education, but spent most of his time pursuing a theatrical career. In 1920, his quick memory won him a chance to replace the leading man in a stage production, and he scored an immediate hit.^[3] In the 1920s, he not only played a suave and sophisticated ladies' man on the stage but also appeared in several silent films.

MGM signed Boyer to a contract, and he loved life in the United States, but nothing much came of his first Hollywood stay from 1929 to 1931. At first, he performed film roles only for the money and found that supporting roles were unsatisfying. However, with the coming of sound, his deep voice made him a romantic star.^[3]

His first break came with a very small role in Jean Harlow's Red-Headed Woman (1932).^[5] After starring in a French adaptation of Liliom (1934) directed by Fritz Lang, he began to receive public favor;^[6] Boyer landed his first leading Hollywood role in the romantic musical Caravan (1934) with Loretta Young.^[7] French expatriate Claudette Colbert requested him in the psychiatric drama Private Worlds (1935),^[3] which was a modest success.^[4]

Stardom[link]

Until the early 1930s, Boyer mainly continued making French films, and Mayerling co-starring Danielle Darrieux in 1936 made him an international star. This was followed by Orage (1938), opposite Michèle Morgan. The offscreen Boyer was bookish and private, far removed from the Hollywood high life. But onscreen he made audiences swoon as he romanced Marlene Dietrich in The Garden of Allah (1936), Jean Arthur in History Is Made at Night (1937), Greta Garbo in Conquest (1937), and Irene Dunne in Love Affair (1939).^[3] His first Technicolor film was The Garden of Allah, which established him as a major actor in the U.S.^[6]

with Sigrid Gurie and Hedy Lamarr in Algiers (1938)

In 1938, he landed his famous role as Pepe le Moko, the thief on the run in Algiers, an English-language remake of the classic French film Pepe le Moko with Jean Gabin. Although he never invited costar Hedy Lamarr to "Come with me to the Casbah" in the movie, this line was in the movie trailer. The line would stick with him, thanks to generations of impressionists and Looney Tunes parodies.^[3][8] Boyer's role as Pepe Le Moko was already world famous when animator Chuck Jones based the character of Pepe le Pew, the romantic skunk introduced in 1945's Odor-able Kitty, on Boyer and his most well-known performance.^[9] Boyer's vocal style was also parodied on the Tom and Jerry cartoons, most notably when Tom was trying to woo a female cat. (See The Zoot Cat).

Boyer played in three classic films of unrequited love: All This, and Heaven Too (1940), with Bette Davis; Back Street (1941), with Margaret Sullavan; and Hold Back the Dawn (1941), with Olivia de Havilland and Paulette Goddard.^[10]

In contrast to his glamorous image, Boyer began losing his hair early, had a pronounced paunch, and was noticeably shorter than leading ladies like Ingrid Bergman. When Bette Davis first saw him on the set of All This, and Heaven Too, she did not recognize him and tried to have him removed.^[9]

In 1943, he was awarded an Honorary Oscar Certificate for "progressive cultural achievement" in establishing the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles as a source of reference (certificate). Boyer never won an Oscar, though he was nominated for Best Actor four times in Conquest (1937), Algiers (1938), Gaslight (1944) and Fanny (1961), the latter also winning him a nomination for the Laurel Awards for Top Male Dramatic Performance. He is particularly well known for Gaslight in which he played a thief/murderer who tries to convince his newlywed wife that she is going insane.

After World War II[link]

In 1947, he was the voice of Capt. Daniel Gregg in the Lux Radio Theater's presentation of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir,^[11] played in the film by Rex Harrison. In 1948, he was made a chevalier of the French Légion d'honneur.

When another film with Bergman, Arch of Triumph (1948), failed at the box office, he started looking for character parts. Apart from leads in several French films such as Max Ophuls' The Earrings of Madame de... (1953, again with Danielle Darrieux) and Nana (1955, opposite Martine Carol), he also moved into television as one of the pioneering producers and stars of Four Star Theatre; Four Star Productions would make him and partners David Niven and Dick Powell rich.^[3] In 1956, Boyer was a guest star on I Love Lucy.

On March 17, 1957, he starred in an adaptation for TV of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, There Shall Be No Night, by Robert E. Sherwood. The performance starred Katharine Cornell, and was broadcast on NBC as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame.^[12] He was nominated for the Golden Globe as Best Actor for the 1952 film The Happy Time; and also nominated for the Emmy for Best Continuing Performance by an Actor in a Dramatic Series for his work in Four Star Playhouse (1952–1956).

In 1951, he appeared on the Broadway stage in one of his most notable roles, that of Don Juan, in a dramatic reading of the third act of George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman. This is the act popularly known as Don Juan in Hell. In 1952, he won Broadway's 1951 Special Tony Award for Don Juan in Hell. It was directed by actor Charles Laughton. Laughton co-starred as the Devil, with Cedric Hardwicke as the statue of the military commander slain by Don Juan, and Agnes Moorehead as Dona Anna, the commander's daughter, one of Juan's former conquests. The production was a critical success, and was subsequently recorded complete by Columbia Masterworks, one of the first complete recordings of a non-musical stage production ever made. As of 2006, however, it has never been released on CD, but in 2009 it became available as an MP3 download.^[13] Boyer co-starred again with Claudette Colbert in the Broadway comedy The Marriage-Go-Round (1958–1960), but said to the producer, "Keep that woman away from me".^[14] He was also nominated for the Tony Award as Best Actor (Dramatic) in the 1963 Broadway production of Lord Pengo. Later the same year Boyer performed in Man and Boy on the London and New York stage.^[15]

Later career[link]

Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6300 Hollywood Blvd.

Onscreen, he continued in older roles: in Fanny (1961) starring Leslie Caron; Barefoot in the Park (1967) with Robert Redford and Jane Fonda; and the French film Stavisky (1974, starring Jean-Paul Belmondo), the latter winning him the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor,^[3] and also received the Special Tribute at Cannes Film Festival.^[16]

Another notable TV series, The Rogues, starred Boyer with David Niven and Gig Young; the show lasted through the 1964–1965 season.

His career lasted longer than other romantic actors, winning him the nickname "the last of the cinema's great lovers."^[10] He recorded a very dark album called Where Does Love Go? in 1966. The album consisted of famous love songs sung (or rather spoken) with Boyer's distinctive deep voice and French accent. The record was reportedly Elvis Presley's favorite album for the last 11 years of his life, the one he most listened to.^[17]

Later in life, he turned to character parts in such films as: Around the World in 80 Days (1956), How to Steal a Million (1966, featuring Audrey Hepburn), Is Paris Burning? (1966), and Casino Royale (1967). He had a notable part as a corrupt city official in the 1969 film version of The Madwoman of Chaillot, featuring Katharine Hepburn. His last major film role in Hollywood was that of the High Lama in a poorly received musical version of Lost Horizon (1973). A year later, he gave a final outstanding performance in his native language as Baron Raoul in Alain Resnais's Stavisky (1974)

For his contribution to the motion picture and television industries, Boyer has two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6300 Hollywood Blvd.

Interesting piece of trivia: Cyndi Lauper mouthed Marlene Dietrich and Charles Boyer's lines from the 1936 film, The Garden of Allah, in her 1984 video, "Time After Time."

Personal life[link]

In addition to French and English, Boyer spoke Italian, German, and Spanish.^[4][18]

His only marriage was to British actress Pat Paterson, whom he met at a dinner party in 1934. The two became engaged after two weeks of courtship and were married three months later.^[9] Later, they would move from Hollywood to Paradise Valley, Arizona.^[19] The marriage lasted 44 years. Boyer became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1942.^[20]

Boyer's only child, Michael Charles Boyer (December 9, 1943 – September 22, 1965),^[21] committed suicide, aged 21, playing Russian roulette after separating from his girlfriend.^[22]

On 26 August 1978, two days after his wife's death from cancer, and two days before his own 79th birthday, Boyer committed suicide with an overdose of Seconal while at a friend's home in Scottsdale. He was taken to the hospital in Phoenix, where he died.^[19] He was interred in Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California, alongside his wife and son.

Filmography[link]

Features[link]

Short subjects[link]

• The Candid Camera Story (Very Candid) of the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures 1937 Convention (1937, uncredited)
• Hollywood Goes to Town (1938)
• Les îles de la liberté (1943) Narrator
• Congo (1945) Voice
• On Stage! (1949)
• 1955 Motion Picture Theatre Celebration (1955, uncredited)

Television[link]

• Four Star Playhouse (29 episodes, 1952–1956)
• Charles Boyer Theater (1953)
• The Jackie Gleason Show (1 episode, 1953)
• Toast of the Town (2 episodes, 1953)
• I Love Lucy (1 episode, 1956)
• Climax! (1 episode, 1956)
• Hallmark Hall of Fame (1 episode, 1957)
• Playhouse 90 (1 episode, 1957)
• A Private Little Party for a Few Chums (1957)
• Goodyear Theatre (unknown episodes, 1957–1958)
• Alcoa Theatre (3 episodes, 1957–1958)
• What's My Line? (4 episodes, 1957–1958, 1962–1963)
• The Dinah Shore Chevy Show (1 episode, 1960)
• The Dick Powell Show (4 episodes, 1962–1963)
• A Golden Prison: The Louvre (1964, presenter)
• The Rogues (8 episodes, 1964–1965)
• The Bell Telephone Hour (1 episode, 1966)
• The Name of the Game (1 episode, 1969)
• Film '72 (1 episode, 1976)

Broadway[link]

• Red Gloves (1948–1949)
• Don Juan in Hell (1951–1952)
• Kind Sir (1953–1954)
• The Marriage-Go-Round (1958–1960)
• Lord Pengo (1962–1963)
• Man and Boy (1963)

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

External links[link]

Biography portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Charles Boyer

• Charles Boyer at the Internet Movie Database
• Charles Boyer at the TCM Movie Database
• Charles Boyer at the Internet Broadway Database
• Charles Boyer at Find a Grave
• Sur le site Quercy.net À propos de Charles Boyer et de Figeac.
• Photographs and literature

Nana Mouskouri
Nana Mouskouri in 2006
Background information
Birth name	Ιωάννα Μούσχουρη (Ioánna Moúschouri)
Born	(1934-10-13) October 13, 1934 (age 77)
Origin	Chania, Crete, Greece
Genres	Jazz, Pop, Folk, Greek folk, World music, Classical
Occupations	Singer
Years active	1958–2008, 2011–present
Labels	Fontana, Polydor, Mercury, Verve, Philips, PolyGram, Universal Music France
Website	Universal Music France

Nana Mouskouri (Greek: Nάνα Μούσχουρη, pronounced [ˈnana ˈmusxuɾi]), born Iōánna Moúschouri (Greek: Ιωάννα Μούσχουρη, [ioˈana ˈmusxuɾi] on October 13, 1934, in Chania, Crete, Greece) is a Greek singer who has sold 300 million records worldwide in a career spanning over five decades^[1][2], which makes her one of the top-selling female singers of all time. Known as "Nána" to her friends and family as a child (note that in Greek her surname is pronounced with the stress on the first syllable - MOOS-hoo-ree - rather than the second), she has recorded songs in many languages, including Greek, French, English, German, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Hebrew, Welsh, Mandarin Chinese, Maori and Turkish.

The early years[link]

Nana Mouskouri's family lived in Chania, Crete, where her father, Constantine, worked as a film projectionist in a local cinema. Her mother, Alice, also worked in the same local cinema as an usherette. When Mouskouri was three, her family moved to Athens.

Mouskouri's family sent her and her elder sister, Eugenía or "Jenny", to the Athens Conservatoire. Mouskouri had displayed exceptional musical talent from the age of six. Jenny initially appeared to be the more gifted of the two sisters. Financially unable to support both girls' studies, the parents asked their tutor which one should continue. The tutor conceded that Jenny had the better voice, but Nana was the one with the true inner need to sing. Mouskouri has said that a medical examination revealed a difference in her two vocal cords and this could well account for her remarkable singing voice (in her younger years ranging from a husky, dark alto, which she later dropped, to a ringing coloratura mezzo), as opposed to her breathy, raspy speaking voice.^[3]

Mouskouri's childhood was marked by the German Nazi occupation of Greece. Her father became part of the anti-Nazi resistance movement in Athens. Mouskouri began singing lessons at age 12. As a child, she listened to radio broadcasts of singers such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Édith Piaf.

In 1950, she was accepted at the Conservatoire. She studied classical music with an emphasis on singing opera. After eight years at the Conservatoire, Mouskouri was encouraged by her friends to experiment with jazz music. She began singing with her friends' jazz group at night. However, when Mouskouri's Conservatory professor found out about Mouskouri's involvement with a genre of music that was not in keeping with her classical studies, he prevented her from sitting for her end-of-year exams.^{[citation needed]} During an episode of "Joanna Lumley's Greek Odyssey", shown on the UK ITV channel in the autumn of 2011, Mouskouri told the actress Joanna Lumley of how she had been scheduled to sing at the amphitheatre at Epidauros with other students of the Conservatoire, when upon arrival at the amphitheatre word came through from the Conservatoire in Athens that she had just been barred from participating in the performance there due to her involvement in light music. Mouskouri subsequently left the Conservatoire and began performing at the Zaki club in Athens.

She began singing jazz in nightclubs with a bias towards Ella Fitzgerald repertoire. In 1957, she recorded her first song, Fascination, in both Greek and English for Odeon/EMI Greece. By 1958 while still performing at the Zaki, she met Greek composer Manos Hadjidakis. Hadjidakis was impressed by Nana’s voice and offered to write songs for her. In 1959 Mouskouri performed Hadjidakis' Kapou Iparchi I Agapi Mou (co-written with poet Nikos Gatsos) at the inaugural Greek Song Festival. The song won first prize, and Mouskouri began to be noticed.

At the 1960 Greek Song Festival, she performed two more Hadjidakis compositions, Timōría ("Punishment") and Kyparissáki ("Little cypress"). Both these songs tied for first prize. Mouskouri performed Kostas Yannidis' composition, Xypna Agapi Mou ("Wake up, my love"), at the Mediterranean Song Festival, held in Barcelona that year. The song won first prize, and she went on to sign a recording contract with Paris-based Philips-Fontana.

In 1961, Mouskouri performed the soundtrack of a German documentary about Greece. This resulted in the German-language single Weiße Rosen aus Athen ("White Roses from Athens"). The song was originally adapted from a folk melody by Hadjidakis. It became a success, selling over a million copies in Germany. The song was later translated into several languages and it went on to become one of Mouskouri's signature tunes.

Family life[link]

Mouskouri has been married twice: firstly at 25, to Yorgos (George) Petsilas^[4], a guitarist in her backing band (the trio "The Athenians") and the first man she'd kissed. They had two children (Nicolas Petsilas in 1968 and Hélène (Lénou) Petsilas (singer) in 1970) but divorced when Mouskouri was 39.^[5] Not long after that, she met her second husband, André Chapelle, then her sound technician, but they did not marry then because she 'didn't want to bring another father into the family' and divorce was against her traditional Greek upbringing.^[5] They eventually married on 13 January 2003, and live primarily in Switzerland.

Life outside Greece[link]

In 1962, she met Quincy Jones, who persuaded her to travel to New York City to record an album of American jazz titled The Girl from Greece Sings. Following that she scored another hit in the United Kingdom with My Colouring Book.

In 1963 she left Greece to live in Paris, where she formed close frienships with the singer-songwriter Barbara and other leaders of French chanson.^[6] Mouskouri performed Luxembourg's entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1963 that year, À Force de Prier. The song achieved success, and helped win her the prestigious Grand Prix du Disque in France. Mouskouri soon attracted the attention of French composer Michel Legrand, who composed for her two major French hits Les Parapluies de Cherbourg (1964) and an arrangement of Katherine K. Davis' Carol of the Drum, L'Enfant au Tambour (1965).

In 1965 she recorded her second English-language album to be released in the United States, entitled Nana Sings. American calypso musician Harry Belafonte heard and liked the album. Belafonte brought Mouskouri on tour with him through 1966. They teamed for a live duo album entitled An Evening With Belafonte/Mouskouri. During this tour, Belafonte suggested that Mouskouri remove her signature black-rimmed glasses when on stage. She was so unhappy with the request that she wanted to quit the show after only two days. Finally, Belafonte relented and respected her wishes to perform while wearing glasses.^[7]

Mouskouri's 1967 French album Le Jour Où la Colombe raised her to super-stardom in France. This album featured many of her French songs, Au Cœur de Septembre, Adieu Angélina, Robe Bleue, Robe Blanche and the French pop classic Le Temps des Cerises. Mouskouri made her first appearance at Paris' legendary Olympia concert theatre the same year, singing French pop, Greek folk, and Hadjidakis numbers.

In 1968, Mouskouri was invited to host a BBC TV series called Presenting Nana Mouskouri. The next year she released a full-length British LP, Over and Over. The LP spent almost two years in the UK charts. She expanded her concert tour to Australia (where she met Frank Hardy, who followed her to the south of France in 1976), New Zealand and Japan. She recorded several Japanese songs for the Japanese market.

In France, she released a series of top-selling albums that included Comme un Soleil, Une Voix Qui Vient du Cœur, Vieilles Chansons de France, and Quand Tu Chantes!.

Middle years[link]

In 1979, Mouskouri released another English-language album named Roses and Sunshine. This album consisting largely of folk and country material, and included work from sources as Neil Young, Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan and John Denver. It was well received in Canada, and one of the album's tracks, "Even Now" (not the same song as the 1978 Barry Manilow hit), became a staple on beautiful music radio stations in the United States. She scored a worldwide hit in 1981 with Je Chante Avec Toi, Liberté, which was translated into several languages after its success in France. The momentum from this album also helped boost her following German album, Meine Lieder sind mein Leben. In 1984, Mouskouri returned to Greece for her first live performance in her homeland since 1962.

In 1985, Mouskouri recorded Only Love, the theme song to the BBC TV series Mistral's Daughter — based upon the novel by Judith Krantz — that reached #2 in the UK charts. The song was also a hit in its foreign language versions: L'Amour en Héritage (French), Come un'eredità (Italian), La dicha del amor (Spanish), and Aber die Liebe bleibt (German). The German version was also recorded with an alternate set of lyrics under the title Der wilde Wein but was withdrawn in favour of Aber die Liebe bleibt.

That same year, Mouskouri made a play for the Spanish-language market with the hit single Con Todo el Alma. The song was a major success in Spain, Argentina and Chile.

She released five albums in different languages in 1987, and the following year returned to her classical conservatory roots with the double LP The Classical Nana (aka Nana Classique), which featured adaptations of classical songs and excerpts from opera. By the end of 1987, she had performed a series of concerts in Asia, including South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.

Autobiography[link]

A French language autobiography appeared in 1989 titled "Chanter ma vie" (Singing my life), which is also the title of her French version of ABBA's "I Have a Dream".

In 2006, Greek publisher A.A. Livanis published a biography in Greek titled "To onoma mou ine Nana" (My name is Nana). In autumn 2007, the French and English versions of this biography appeared under the titles "Nana Mouskouri — Memoires — La fille de la Chauve-souris" (XO publishers) and "Nana Mouskouri — Memoirs" (Orion Publishing Group).^[8]

The later years[link]

Mouskouri's 1991 English album, Only Love: The Best of Nana Mouskouri became her best-selling release in the United States. She spent much of the 1990s touring the globe. Among her early 1990s albums were spiritual music, Gospel (1990), the Spanish-language Nuestras Canciones, the multilingual, Mediterranean-themed Côté Sud, Côté Coeur (1992), Dix Mille Ans Encore, Falling in Love Again: Great Songs From the Movies. Falling in Love featured two duets with Harry Belafonte.

In 1993, Mouskouri recorded the album, Hollywood. Produced by Michel Legrand it was a collection of famous songs from films, and served not only as a tribute to the world of cinema, but also as a personal reference to childhood memories of sitting with her father in his projection room in Crete.^{[citation needed]}

She recorded several more albums over 1996 and 1997, including the Spanish Nana Latina (which featured duets with Julio Iglesias and Mercedes Sosa), the English-language Return to Love, and the French pop classics, Hommages. In 1997, she staged a high-profile Concert for Peace at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York. This concert was later released as an album, and aired as a TV special on PBS in the U.S.

UNICEF/Politics[link]

Mouskouri was appointed as a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1993

Mouskouri was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in October 1993.^[9] She took over from the previous ambassador, the recently deceased actress Audrey Hepburn. Mouskouri's first U.N. mission took her to Bosnia to draw attention to the plight of children affected by Bosnian war. She went on to give a series of fund-raising concerts in Sweden and Belgium.

She was elected a Member of the European Parliament from 1994 until 1999, when she resigned from her position as an MEP. Several reasons have been given for this, one being her pacifism, and another being that she felt ill-equipped for the day-to-day work of a politician.^[10]

21st century and retirement[link]

Mouskouri lives in Switzerland with Chapelle, and, until her final performance in 2008, performed hundreds of concerts every year throughout her career. In 2004, her French record company released a 34-CD box set of more than 600 of Mouskouri's mostly-French songs. In 2006 she made a guest appearance at that year's Eurovision Song Contest which was held, for the first time ever, in her native Greece.

The ancient Herodes Atticus Theatre, in Athens, Greece.

In the same year, she announced her plans to retire. From 2005 until 2008, she conducted a farewell concert tour of Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, South America, the United States, and Canada. On July 23 and 24, 2008, Mouskouri gave her two final 'Farewell Concert' performances at the ancient Herodes Atticus Theatre, in Athens, Greece, before a packed stadium, including Greece's Prime Minister and Athens mayor, plus the mayors of Berlin, Paris and Luxembourg, along with fans from around the world and thousands of her Athenian admirers.^[1]

In 2010, in response to the financial situation in Greece caused by excessive deficit,^[11] Mouskouri announced that she would forgo her pension to contribute to the country's recovery. She commented: "Everywhere I see stories about my country going bankrupt. And people are aggressive about it. It's frightening. And it's painful for me. Nobody wants their country to be treated badly. It's frustrating and very sad."^[5]

In late 2011 Mouskouri released two newly-recorded CDs, the first featuring songs of the Greek Islands, recorded with other Greek singers, and the second featuring duets with French contemporaries. In late November 2011 Mouskouri sang again at single one-off concert, with guests, in Berlin, commemorating the 50th anniversary of her hit single "The White Rose of Athens".^[12] Dates of a multi-city tour of Germany in early 2012 have also been announced.

Record sales[link]

Universal Music Group, which has over the decades come to acquire virtually all the labels under which Mouskouri recorded, claims that Nana Mouskouri has sold nearly 400 million discs worldwide,^[1][13] recording about 1,500 songs in 15 languages on 450 albums. She has more than 230 gold and platinum albums worldwide, making her a candidate for the best-selling female recording artist of all time.^[2]

Impersonators[link]

The British comedian Benny Hill impersonated Mouskouri on The Benny Hill Show. He wore long dresses and long black hair, that he stroked back, and talked and sang with a slow and quiet voice. He described the songs with long and verbose introductions before singing them.^[14]

Partial discography[link]

Autobiographies[link]

• Chanter ma vie, by Nana Mouskouri, Grasset ed., 1989. ISBN 2-246-39211-X and ISBN 978-2-246-39211-8. (French)
• Το όνομά μου είναι Νάνα (To onoma mou einai Nana) (My Name Is Nana), by Nana Mouskouri, Livani Publishing, 2006. ISBN 960-14-1341-3, ISBN-13 978-960-14-1341-9. (Greek)
• Memoirs, by Nana Mouskouri, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, ISBN 0-297-84469-5 and ISBN 978-0-297-84469-3. (English)
• Mémoires: La fille de la chauve-souris, by Nana Mouskouri, XO Éditions, ISBN 2-84563-311-4 and ISBN 978-2-84563-311-7. (French)
• Stimme der Sehnsucht: Meine Erinnerungen by Nana Mouskouri, translated by Ulrike Lelickens, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf. ISBN 3-89602-848-0 and ISBN 978-3-89602-848-8. (German)

See also[link]

	Biography portal
	Music portal
	Greece portal
	Eurovision portal

• Best selling music artists
• List of Cretans
• Music of France

References[link]

• (French)(English)(Spanish)

This article incorporates information from the German Wikipedia. Site québécois de Nana Mouskouri Biography, discography by language, list of 1 800 recordings, covers magazines, TV in Quebec, drawings, memories et topicalities.

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nana Mouskouri

Official

• Nana Mouskouri's profile at UNICEF
• Official website – (English) (German)
• Nana Mouskouri at Universal Music France

Biographies

• Nana Mouskouri at Allmusic

Discography

• Nana Mouskouri discography at MusicBrainz

Filmography

• Nana Mouskouri at AllRovi

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)

Ranbirraj "Raj" Kapoor (Hindi: राज कपूर, Punjabi: ਰਾਜ ਕਪੂਰ, Rāj Kapūr, 14 December 1924 – 2 June 1988), also known as The Show-Man, was an Indian film actor, producer and director of Hindi cinema.^[1] He was the winner of nine Filmfare Awards in India, and a two-time nominee for the Palme d'Or grand prize at the Cannes Film Festival for his films Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish (1954). His performance in Awaara was ranked as one of the top ten greatest performances of all time by Time magazine.^[2] His films were commercial successes that attracted worldwide audiences, particularly in Asia and Europe. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1971 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1987 for his contributions towards Indian cinema.

Early life and Background[link]

Raj Kapoor was born in Peshawar, British India (present day Pakistan), to a Khatri family of kapoor's and Ramsarni (Rama) Devi Kapoor (née Mehra). He was the eldest of six children in the family.^[3][4][5] He was the grandson of Dewan Basheshwarnath Kapoor and great-grandson of Dewan Keshavmal Kapoor, part of the famous Kapoor family. Two of Raj's brothers are actors Shashi Kapoor (a.k.a. Balbir Raj Kapoor) and the late Shammi Kapoor (aka Shamsher Raj Kapoor); the other two died in infancy. He also had a sister named Urmila Sial.

Raj Kapoor attended Colonel Brown Cambridge School, Dehradun in the 1930s.

Career[link]

At the age of eleven, he appeared in films for the first time, in the 1935 film Inquilab. After acting in several other films the next 12 years, Raj Kapoor's big break came with the lead role in Neel Kamal (1947) opposite Madhubala in her first role as a leading lady. In 1948, at the age of twenty-four, he established his own studio, R. K. Films, and became the youngest film director of his time making his directorial debut with the film Aag. Aag marked the first of many films in which he and Nargis appeared together. In 1949 he co-starred alongside Dilip Kumar in Mehboob Khan's blockbuster Andaz which was his first major success as an actor.

He went on to produce, direct and star in many box office hits such as Barsaat (1949), Awaara (1951), Shree 420 (1955), Chori Chori (1956), Jagte Raho (1956) and Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (1960). These films established his screen image as The Tramp modelled on Charlie Chaplin's most famous screen persona. In 1964 he produced, directed and starred in Sangam which was his first film in colour. This was his last major success as a leading actor. Outside of his home productions his other notable films were Anari (1959), Chhalia (1960) and Teesri Kasam (1963). He produced, directed and starred in his ambitious film, Mera Naam Joker which took more than six years to complete. When released in 1970, it was a box office disaster.

In 1971 he launched his eldest son Randhir Kapoor in Randhir's acting and directorial debut Kal Aaj Aur Kal which also starred Raj's father Prithviraj Kapoor as well as Randhir's would-be-wife Babita. He launched his second son Rishi Kapoor's career when he produced and directed Bobby (1973) which was not only a huge box office success but also introduced actress Dimple Kapadia, later a very popular actress, and was the first of a new generation of teen romances. Dimple wore bikinis in the film which was quite unique for Indian films then.

In the latter half of the 1970s and early 1980s he produced and directed films which focused on the female protagonists: Satyam Shivam Sundaram (1978) with Zeenat Aman, Prem Rog (1982) with Padmini Kolhapure and Ram Teri Ganga Maili (1985) which introduced Mandakini. He acted in fewer films by the late 1970s and early 1980s and focused on producing and directing films. He starred alongside Rajesh Khanna in Naukri (1979) and played the title role alongside Sanjay Khan in Abdullah (1980).

Raj Kapoor's last major film appearance was in Vakil Babu (1982) wherein he appeared with his younger brother Shashi. His last acting role was a cameo appearance in a 1984 released British made-for-television film titled Kim.

Death[link]

Raj Kapoor suffered from asthma in his later years; he died of complications related to asthma in 1988 at the age of 63. At the time of his death, he was working on the movie Heena (an Indo-Pakistan based love story). The film was later completed by his sons Randhir and Rishi Kapoor, and narrated by his brother Shammi Kapoor. The movie was released in 1991 and became a huge success at the Box Office. When he was being conferred upon the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, where his brother Shashi Kapoor was also present, the crowd was clapping around when President Venkataraman, who saw Kapoor's discomfort, came down the stage to give the award to the legend in the middle of thundering claps where he was breathing his last breath. And suddenly Kapoor collapsed, and was rushed to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences for treatment. The country's top cardiologists tried their best, but could not save him.^[6]

Legacy[link]

Raj Kapoor is appreciated both by film critics and ordinary film fans. Film historians and movie buffs speak of him as the "Charlie Chaplin of Indian cinema," since he often portrayed a tramp-like figure, who, despite adversity, was still cheerful and honest. His fame spread worldwide. He was adored by audiences in large parts of Africa, the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, China, and Southeast Asia; his movies were global commercial successes. Raj had the knack of getting the best out of any one, since he had mastered all departments of film making and even marketing them.^{[peacock term]} When Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru died in 1964 coinciding with release of Sangam, he took the opportunity to create a scene when Gopal ashes were immersed in Ganges, like Pandit Nehru described in his poetic will. His films reflected the Era in which it was made.

He had a great understanding of the public taste and a great sense of Box-Office. He was one of the pioneers of the Indian cinema, who talked about the potential of Hindi cinema emerging as a great revenue earner from the world market in fifties, which has become a reality today.^[7]

Many of Raj Kapoor's movies had a patriotic theme. His films Aag, Shree 420 and Jis Desh Men Ganga Behti Hai (In the country where the Ganges flows) celebrated the newly independent India, and encouraged film-goers to be patriots. Raj Kapoor commissioned these famous lyrics for Mera Joota Hai Japani, a song from the movie Shree 420:

Mera joota hai Japani (My shoes are Japanese)

Ye patloon Inglistani (These trousers are English)

Sar pe lal topi Roosi (The red cap on my head is Russian)

Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani (But still, however, my heart is Indian)

The song is still extremely popular and has been featured in a number of movies since Shree 420 was released. Indian author Mahasweta Devi stopped the show with her inaugural speech at the 2006 Frankfurt Book Fair when she used these lyrics to express her own heartfelt patriotism and debt to her country.

Raj Kapoor was a canny judge of filmi music and lyrics. Many of the songs he commissioned are evergreen hits. He introduced the music directors Shankar-Jaikishan and the lyricists Hasrat Jaipuri and Shailendra. He is also remembered for his strong sense of visual style. He used striking visual compositions, elaborate sets, and dramatic lighting to complete the mood set by the music. He introduced the actresses Nimmi, Dimple Kapadia, and Mandakini, as well as launching and reviving the careers of his sons Rishi, Randhir and Rajiv. He was also famous for making his actresses wear revealing clothing which was not very common in Indian cinema.

Personal life[link]

The Kapoor family lived in Peshawar and were khatris but they were also landowners in the canal colony of Lyallpur, British India, which is now called Faisalabad in the Punjab province of present-day Pakistan where the family lived for a while. He was married to Krishna Kapoor, sister of actors, Rajendra Nath and Prem Nath.^[8][9]

Kapoor is also known to have had a longtime romantic relationship with the renowned actress Nargis during the 1950s.^{[citation needed]} The couple starred in several films together, including Awaara and Shree 420.

Three of Kapoor's grandchildren are currently stars in the Bollywood film industry. His granddaughters are Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor, the daughters of Raj's son Randhir Kapoor and his wife Babita. His grandson Ranbir Kapoor is son of Rishi Kapoor and his wife Neetu Singh.

Awards[link]

Kapoor had received many awards throughout his career, including 9 Filmfare Awards and 19 nominations. His films Awaara (1951) and Boot Polish (1954) were nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. His acting in the former was rated as one of the "Top-Ten Performances of all time", by the Time Magazine.^[2] His film Jagte Raho (1956) also won the Crystal Globe award at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.

The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Bhushan in 1971 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1987 – the highest award for cinematic excellence in India. In 2001, he was honoured with “Best Director of the Millennium” by Stardust Awards. He was named “Showman of the Millennium” by Star Screen Awards in 2002.

In June 2011, Noah Cowan, Artistic Director of TIFF Bell Lightbox, and Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft along with members of the Kapoor family came together to pay tribute to the life and work of Indian actor, director, mogul and legend Raj Kapoor, as presented in partnership by TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), the International Indian Film Academy (IIFA), and the Government of Ontario.Indian Mirror Reports suggest Kapoor will be inducted onto the Brampton Walk of Fame in Ontario, Canada.^[10]

Association with other artists[link]

Shankar-Jaikishan[link]

Shankar-Jaikishan were his music director of choice. He worked with them in 20 films in all including 10 of his own films from Barsaat until Kal Aaj Aur Kal. (Jagte Raho with Salil Chowdhury and Ab Dilli Dur Nahin being two exceptions in this period). Only after Jaikishan died, did he turn to a different music director – Laxmikant-Pyarelal for Bobby, Satyam Shivam Sundaram, and Prem Rog (later on his children used Laxmikant-Pyarelal for Prem Granth also) and Ravindra Jain for (Ram Teri Ganga Maili and Henna). It is interesting to note that Raj Kapoor acted in a movie with music by Madan Mohan only once i.e. Dhoon (1953) which featured duet Hum pyar karenge by Hemant Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar, only instance Hemnat Kumar giving playback to Raj Kapoor, and did only one movie with O. P. Nayyar (Do Ustad).

List of films with Shankar-Jaikishan: (18 Films)

Nargis[link]

• Raj Kapoor and Nargis worked together in 16 films including 6 of his own productions.

Mukesh and Manna Dey[link]

Mukesh was Raj Kapoor's almost exclusive singing voice in almost all of his films. Also, when Mukesh died, Raj had said, Main ne apni aawaaz ko kho diya... (I have lost my voice...). However Manna Dey has also sung many notable and super-hit songs for Raj Kapoor, for instance in Shree 420 and Chori Chori. Examples of such Manna songs are best illustrated by the following list:

• "Laga Chunri Mein Daag" (Dil Hi To Hai)
• "Pyar Hua Iqrar Hua" (Shree 420)
• "Ae Bhai Zara Dekh Ke Chalo" (Mera Naam Joker)
• "Dil Ka Haal Sune Dil Wala" (Shree 420)
• "Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandni Mein Hum" (Chori Chori)
• "Jahan Mein Jati Hoon Wahin Chale Aate Ho" (Chori Chori)
• "Yeh Raat Bhigi Bhigi, Yeh Mast Fizayen" (Chori Chori)
• "Masti Bhara Hai Samaan" (Parvarish)
• "Mur Mur Ke Na Dekh" (Shree 420)
• "Chalat Musafir" (Teesri Kasam)
• "Belia Belia Belia" (Parvarish)
• "Lallah Allah Tera Nigehbaan" (Abdullah)
• "Mama O Mama" (Parvarish)

Filmography[link]

Further reading[link]

• The Kapoors: the first family of Indian cinema, by Madhu Jain. Penguin, Viking, 2005. ISBN 0-670-05837-8.

References[link]

Notes[link]

• Rajadhyaksha, Ashish; Willemen, Paul. Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema. London: British Film Institute; New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1994
• Kishore, Valicha. The Moving Image. Hyderabad: Orient Longman, 1988

External links[link]

• Raj Kapoor at the Internet Movie Database
• 12 Indians who are famous in Russia

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2009)

Shree 420 (translation: Mr. 420, also transliterated as Shri 420) is a 1955 Bollywood film directed, produced by and starring Raj Kapoor.^[1]

The film centers on Raj, a poor, but educated orphan who comes to Bombay with dreams of success. Kapoor's character is heavily influenced by Charlie Chaplin's "little tramp", much like Kapoor's character in his 1951 Awaara.

The film is a collaboration between director/producer Kapoor and writer Khwaja Ahmad Abbas, with music composed by the team of Shankar Jaikishan, and lyrics by Shailendra. The song "Mera Joota Hai Japani" ('My shoes are Japanese'), became hugely popular and a patriotic symbol of the newly independent India.

Plot[link]

Shree 420 is the tale of a country boy, Raj (Raj Kapoor), from Allahabad, who travels to the big city, Bombay, by walking, to earn a living. He falls in love with the poor but virtuous Vidya (Nargis), but is soon seduced by the riches of a freewheeling and unethical lifestyle presented to him by an unscrupulous and dishonest businessman, Seth Sonachand Dharmaanand (Nemo) and the sultry temptress Maya (Nadira). He eventually becomes a confidence trickster, or "420," who even cheats in card gambling. Vidya tried hard to make Raj a good man but fails.

Meanwhile, Sonachand comes up with another scheme to exploit poor people, whereby he promises permanent homes to them at just Rs.100. The scheme pays off, as people start hoarding money for a home, even at the cost of other important things. Vidya's contempt for Raj increases even more. Raj becomes wealthy, but soon realizes that he paid a very high price for it. When Raj discovers that Sonachand has no plans to fulfill his promises, he decides to make wrongs right.

Raj takes all the bond papers of the people's homes & tries to flee Sonachand's home, only to be caught by Sonachand & his cronies. In a scuffle that occurs, Sonachand shoots Raj dead. When people hear the shooting, they come & see Raj dead. Sonachand tells police that Raj was trying to flee after stealing money from his safe, hence Sonachand shot him.

Upon this, the "dead" Raj springs back to life & using pure logic, proves Sonachand's guilt. Sonachand & his partner's are arrested, while Vidya happily forgives Raj. The film ends with Raj telling that 'yeh 420 nahi; Shree 420 hain'("These are not just con men, they are con men in garb of respected men").

Star Cast[link]

• Nargis ...Vidya
• Raj Kapoor ...Ranbir Raj
• Lalita Pawar ...Ganga Mai
• Nadira ...Maya
• Nemo ...Seth Sonachand Dharmanand
• Iftekhar ... Cameo as Police Inspector (as Iftikhar)

Allusions[link]

The title refers to section 420 of the Indian penal code, where crimes of theft and deception are punished, which relates to the troubles of the main character.

In Sanskrit, the name of the main character, "Vidya", means knowledge and Maya means illusion.

The words "Ramaiya Vastavaiya" in the song by the same name are from Telugu, while the rest of the song and the film are in Hindi.

Reception[link]

The movie proved to be popular in the Soviet Union and Romania. It was also said that Raj Kapoor was as popular as Nehru in Russia due to the success of the film.

The film grossed over Rs.20 million. This record was beaten 2 years later by Mother India in 1957.

The song "Mera Joota Hai Japani" has become a patriotic favourite among many Indians and is often referenced, including in a recent acceptance speech at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2006 by renown Bengali author Mahasweta Devi.

Soundtrack[link]

Awards[link]

• 1956: Filmfare Awards
  • Best Cinematographer: Radhoo Karmakar ^[2]
  • Best Editing: G.G. Mayekar
• 1956: National Film Awards
  • Certificate of Merit^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Shree 420 at the Internet Movie Database
• Rediff.com - Classics Revisited: Shree 420
• Shree 420: film analysis at Let's talk about Bollywood

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