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A grande dame (in French: "great lady") is a stock character designed to represent a stereotype of an elderly high society socialite.

In popular culture, the grande dame is usually portrayed as a slightly flamboyant woman, prone to extravagant and eccentric fashion, such as feather boas, large hats, and excessive costume jewelry. She may be overly pre-occupied with the concept of "acting ladylike" and expect all those around her to conform to her own high standards of etiquette.

Famous characters of this model include: Dame Maggie Smith as Constance, Countess of Trentham and Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham in Gosford Park and Downton Abbey respectively, Mrs. Peacock in the Cluedo (known as Clue in North America) board game, Princess Dragomiroff in Murder on the Orient Express, Clara Cluck in the Disney cartoons, and Lucille Bluth from Arrested Development.

The term is also used for famous old hotels with a history of catering to the aristocracy.^[1][2][3][4]

References[link]

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Annie Cordy
Born	Léonie Cooreman (1928-06-16) 16 June 1928 (age 84) Laeken, Belgium
Occupation	Actress Vocalist
Years active	1954–present

Léonie Cooreman known under the stage name Annie Cordy (born 16 June 1928) is a Belgian film actress and singer. She has appeared in 50 films since 1954. She has staged many memorable appearances at Bruno Coquatrix' famous Paris Olympia. Her version of "La Ballade de Davy Crockett" was number 1 in the charts for five weeks in France in August 1956.

She was born in Laeken, Belgium, where in 2004, King Albert II of Belgium bestowed upon her the title of Baroness in recognition for her life's achievements.^[where?]

Selected filmography[link]

• Rider on the Rain (1970)
• The Breach (1970)
• Le Chat (1971)
• Le mataf (1973)
• High Street (1976)
• Disco (2008)
• Le crime est notre affaire (2008)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Annie Cordy at the Internet Movie Database
• Annie Cordy at AllRovi

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Georges Moustaki

Giuseppe Mustacchi, known as Georges Moustaki (Greek: Ζορζ Μουστακί), (born in Alexandria, Egypt May 3, 1934) is a French singer and songwriter of Italo-Greek Jewish origin, best known for his poetic rhythm, eloquent simplicity and his hundreds of romantic songs. He has written songs for Édith Piaf (including "Milord"), Dalida, Françoise Hardy, Barbara, Brigitte Fontaine, Herbert Pagani, France Gall, and Cindy Daniel, as well as for himself.

Life[link]

His parents, Nessim and Sarah, came originally from the island of Corfu, Greece, and were Corfiot Italian Jews, but they moved to Alexandria, Egypt, where Georges learned French. They had a bookshop in the cosmopolitan city where many communities lived together.

At home, everyone spoke Italian. In the street, the children spoke Arabic. At school, young Giuseppe learned and spoke French. His parents were very attached to French culture and put him into a French school, along with his sisters.

Moustaki went to Paris in 1951 and was inspired by the young Georges Brassens. He changed his name to Georges Moustaki, in honor of him.

Moustaki sang songs in French, Italian, Greek, Portuguese, Spanish, English and Arabic.

He married at twenty and has a large family in France, Israel, Brazil and Venezuela.

Discography[link]

External links[link]

• (French) Official website
• (English) Biography
• in concert pictures

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