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AUTHENTICITY : The POSTER of is fully guaranteed ORIGINAL from 1962 , It
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Paypal & All credit cards. SHIPPMENT : SHIPP worldwide via registered airmail is $ 29 . Poster will be sent rolled in a special protective rigid sealed tube. Handling around 5-10 days after payment. Paris Blues
Directed by Martin Ritt
Produced by Sam Shaw
Written by Walter Bernstein
Irene Kamp
Jack Sher
Lulla Rosenfeld (adaptation)
Based on Paris Blues
1957 novel
by Harold Flender
Starring Paul Newman
Joanne Woodward
Sidney Poitier
Louis Armstrong
Diahann Carroll
Music by Duke Ellington
Cinematography Christian Matras
Edited by Roger Dwyer
Production
company
United Artists
Distributed by United Artists
Release date
27 September 1961 (USA)
Running time
98 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Paris Blues is a 1961 American feature film made on location in Paris, starring Sidney Poitier as expatriate jazz saxophonist Eddie Cook, and Paul Newman as trombone-playing Ram Bowen.[1][2] The two men romance two vacationing American tourists, Connie Lampson (Diahann Carroll) and Lillian Corning (Joanne Woodward) respectively. The film also deals with American racism of the time contrasted with Paris's open acceptance of black people. The film was based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Harold Flender.[3]
The film also features trumpeter Louis Armstrong (as Wild Man Moore) and jazz pianist Aaron Bridgers; both play music within the film. It was produced by Sam Shaw, directed by Martin Ritt from a screenplay by Walter Bernstein, and with cinematography by Christian Matras. Paris Blues was released in the U.S. on September 27, 1961.
Contents [hide]
1 Plot
2 Cast
3 Production
4 Soundtrack
4.1 Reception
4.2 Track listing
4.3 Personnel
5 See also
6 References
7 External links
Plot[edit]
On his way to see Wild Man Moore (Louis Armstrong) at the train station, Ram Bowen (Paul Newman), a jazz musician, encounters Connie Lampson, (Diahann Carroll), a newly arrived tourist, and invites her to see him perform that night at Club 33. Connie isn't interested but her friend, Lillian (Joanne Woodward) insists they go to see him. After Ram finishes performing with his friend Eddie (Sidney Poitier), he offers to take both women to breakfast. When Ram suggests that he and Connie go off and have a private breakfast together she is offended, and Ram is angered at being rejected. However Lillian, undeterred that Ram prefers her friend, pursues him and the two sleep together while Connie and Eddie spend the night walking around Paris.
Over the following weeks the couples grow closer. However Connie is angry that Eddie has abandoned America for France, insisting that the only way things can improve in the U.S. is if people stay and work together in order to change things, while Eddie is content to stay in Paris where there is less racism and he is able to carve out a career as a talented musician.
As Connie and Lillian's trip nears its end Lillian tries to convince Ram to enter into a more committed relationship and move back with her. Ram, aware that she has two children and lives in a small town, breaks off their relationship telling her he is dedicated to his music.
Meanwhile, Eddie and Connie declare their love for one another, and plan to get married. Shortly after, they argue when Connie asks him to try living in America for a year and he refuses. Their hearts broken by their respective lovers, Connie and Lillian make plans to return home early.
Before the women can leave, Ram attends a meeting with a record producer, Bernard, who dismisses a composition he has been working on as too "light." Bernard encourages Ram to take some time to study music, but Ram's hopes of being a serious musician have been dashed. Heartbroken, he tracks down Lillian, and agrees to move back with her. Connie, in a desperate last attempt to reach out to Eddie, follows him to a party where she tells him she is leaving for good. Unwilling to lose her, Eddie makes up his mind to return to America with her, but will follow in a few weeks.
At the train station, Ram is late and finally appears to tell Lillian that he has to stay in Paris, and is unwilling to give up on his music. Lillian and Connie depart on the train, and the two men head off together. As they leave, workers are re-papering a bill board, covering the advertisement of Louis Armstrong (Wild Man Moore) with an offer for Larousse.
Cast[edit]
Paul Newman as Ram Bowen
Joanne Woodward as Lillian Corning
Sidney Poitier as Eddie Cook
Louis Armstrong as Wild Man Moore
Diahann Carroll as Connie Lampson
Barbara Laage as Marie Séoul
André Luguet as René Bernard
Marie Versini as Nicole
Moustache as Mustachio the drummer
Aaron Bridgers as Pianist
Guy Pederson as Bass Player
Serge Reggiani as Michel "Gypsy" Devigne
Emilien Antille as Man with alto sax in jazz cave when Armstrong enters
Roger Blin as Fausto the moor
Charles Bouillaud as Luggage carrier in train
Michel Dacquin as Guest at Devigne's party
Hélène Dieudonné as The Pusher
Michel Garland as Club 33 customer
René Hell as Man with dog in the park
Jo Labarrère as Club 33 customer
Jack Lenoir as Club 33 waiter
Frank Maurice as Luggage carrier on the platform
Niko as Ricardo
Michel Portal as Musician
Claude Rollet as Club 33 customer
Albert Simono as Guest at Devigne's party
André Tomasi as Club 33 bartender
María Velasco as Pianist
Dominique Zardi
Production[edit]
While the original novel and first draft of the screenplay were primarily about interracial romance, United Artists demanded that aspect be changed, not believing the American public was ready for such a thing. The finished film briefly teases at the idea before abandoning it. Years after the release, Sidney Poitier stated "Cold feet maneuvered to have it twisted around - lining up the colored guy with the colored girl." and that United Artists had "chickened out" and "took the spark out of it."[4]
It is rumored that Poitier and Carroll began their affair during production. The affair would last years ending when Poitier chose not to leave his wife.
Soundtrack[edit]
Paris Blues
Soundtrack album by Duke Ellington
Released 1961
Recorded May 2 & 3, 1961
Genre Jazz
Label United Artists
Duke Ellington chronology
The Great Summit
(1961) Paris Blues
(1961) First Time! The Count Meets the Duke
(1961)
Paris Blues is a soundtrack album by American pianist, composer and bandleader Duke Ellington, recorded and released on the United Artists label in 1961 and reissued on Rykodisc in 1996 with additional dialogue from the film and the film trailer on CD-ROM.[5] It features performances by Ellington's Orchestra with Louis Armstrong guesting on two tracks.
Ellington was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.
Reception[edit]
The Allmusic review by Scott Yanow awarded the album 3 stars and stated: "Although not a classic, Paris Blues (both the film and the soundtrack) is worth owning by jazz collectors".[6] A review in Jazz Times by Stanley Dance, however, was quite critical of the release stating: "both movie and music, in my opinion, were disappointing examples of how too many cooks spoil the broth... for the main NYC sessions, no less than five drummers were brought in, who lamentably failed to swing the big band as the absent Sam Woodyard could have done all by himself. One of the few moments of truth occurs in the finale, "Paris Blues," when Johnny Hodges is briefly heard".[7]
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [6]
Track listing[edit]
All compositions by Duke Ellington except as indicated
"Take the "A" Train' (Billy Strayhorn) - 2:14
"You Know Something?" - 0:24
"Battle Royal" - 4:31
"Bird Jungle" - 1:59
"What's Paris Blues?" - 0:45
"Mood Indigo" (Ellington, Barney Bigard, Irving Mills) - 3:15
"Autumnal Suite" - 3:14
"Nite" - 3:32
"Wild Man Moore" - 1:49
"Paris Stairs" - 3:05
"I Wasn't Shopping" - 0:21
"Guitar Amour" - 2:02
"A Return Reservation" - 0:33
"Paris Blues" - 5:53
Recorded at Reeves Sound Studios, New York on May 2 & 3, 1961.
Personnel[edit]
Duke Ellington – piano
Louis Armstrong - trumpet (tracks 3 & 9)
Cat Anderson, Willie Cook, Ed Mullens, Ray Nance, Clark Terry - trumpet
Louis Blackburn, Lawrence Brown, Murray McEachern, Britt Woodman - trombone
Juan Tizol - valve trombone
Arthur Clark, Jimmy Hamilton - clarinet, tenor saxophone
Johnny Hodges, Oliver Nelson - alto saxophone
Russell Procope - alto saxophone, clarinet
Paul Gonsalves - tenor saxophone
Harry Carney - baritone saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet
Harry Smiles - oboe
Les Spann - guitar, flute
Jimmy Gourley - guitar
Aaron Bell - bass
Sonny Greer, Dave Jackson, Jimmy Johnson, Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach - drums
Sir
Sidney Poitier
KBE
Born February 20, 1927 (age 91)
Miami, Florida, U.S.
Citizenship The Bahamas, United States
Occupation Actor, director, author, diplomat
Years active 1947–present
Office Bahamian Ambassador to Japan
Spouse(s)
Juanita Hardy
(m. 1950–1965)
Joanna Shimkus
(m. 1976)
Children 6, including Sydney Tamiia Poitier
Military career
Allegiance United States
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service 1943–1944
Rank enlisted
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE[1] (/ˈpwɑːtieɪ/; born February 20, 1927) is a Bahamian-American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.
In 1964,[2] Poitier became the first Bahamian and first black actor to win an Academy Award for Best Actor, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor[a] for his role in Lilies of the Field.[3] The significance of these achievements was bolstered in 1967, when he starred in three successful films, all of which dealt with issues involving race and race relations: To Sir, with Love; In the Heat of the Night; and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, making him the top box-office star of that year.[4] In 1999, the American Film Institute named Poitier among the Greatest Male Stars of classic Hollywood cinema, ranking 22nd on the list of 25.
Poitier has directed a number of films, including A Piece of the Action, Uptown Saturday Night, Let's Do It Again, with Bill Cosby; Stir Crazy, starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder; and Ghost Dad, also with Cosby. In 2002, thirty-eight years after receiving the Best Actor Award, Poitier was chosen by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to receive an Academy Honorary Award, in recognition of his "remarkable accomplishments as an artist and as a human being".[5]
Poitier was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1974.[6] From 1997 to 2007, he served as the Bahamian Ambassador to Japan.[7] On August 12, 2009, Poitier was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian honor, by President Barack Obama.[8] In 2016, he was awarded the BAFTA Fellowship for outstanding lifetime achievement in film.[6]
Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, voice actor, film director, producer, race car driver, IndyCar owner, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and activist. He won and was nominated for numerous awards, winning an Academy Award for his performance in the 1986 film The Color of Money,[1] a BAFTA Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, a Cannes Film Festival Award, an Emmy Award, and many others. Newman's other roles include the title characters in The Hustler (1961), Hud (1963), Harper (1966) and Cool Hand Luke (1967), as well as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean (1972), The Sting (1973), and The Verdict (1982). He also voiced Doc Hudson in the first installment of Disney-Pixar's Cars-as his final acting performance, and received a posthumous credit for his voice recordings in Cars 3 (2017).
Newman won several national championships as a driver in Sports Car Club of America road racing, and his race teams won several championships in open-wheel IndyCar racing. He was a co-founder of Newman's Own, a food company from which he donated all post-tax profits and royalties to charity.[2] As of January 2017, these donations have totaled over US$485 million.[3] He was a co-founder of Safe Water Network, a nonprofit that develops sustainable drinking water solutions for those in need.[4]
In 1988, Newman founded the SeriousFun Children's Network, a global family of summer camps and programs for children with serious illness which has served 290,076 children since its inception.[5]
Diahann Carroll (/daɪˈæn/; born Carol Diahann Johnson, July 17, 1935) is an American television and stage actress, singer and model known for her performances in some of the earliest major studio films to feature black casts, including Carmen Jones (1954) and Porgy and Bess (1959) as well as on Broadway. Julia (1968) was one of the first series on American television to star a black woman in a nonstereotypical role and was followed by her portrayal of Dominique Deveraux in the primetime soap opera Dynasty over three seasons. She is the recipient of numerous stage and screen nominations and awards, including the Golden Globe Award for "Best Actress In A Television Series" in 1968. She received an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination for the 1974 film Claudine. A breast cancer survivor and activist, Carroll was scheduled to return to the Broadway stage in the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun as Mama, but withdrew prior to opening citing the demands of the rehearsal and performance schedule.[2]
Joanne Woodward
Woodward in 1960
Born Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward
February 27, 1930 (age 88)
Thomasville, Georgia, U.S.
Residence Westport, Connecticut
Other names
Joanne Newman
Joanne G. T. Woodward
Alma mater Louisiana State University
Occupation Actress, producer, activist, philanthropist
Years active 1955–present
Spouse(s) Paul Newman
(m. 1958; d. 2008)
Children 3, including Nell and Melissa Newman
Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Newman (née Woodward; born February 27, 1930) is an American actress, producer, activist, and philanthropist. She is best known for her Academy Award-winning role in The Three Faces of Eve (1957).
Contents [hide]
1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 Early career
2.2 Films with Paul Newman
3 Later career
4 Personal life
5 Filmography
6 Awards
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links
Early life[edit]
Joanne Gignilliat Trimmier Woodward was born on February 27, 1930, in Thomasville, Georgia, the daughter of Elinor (néeTrimmier) and Wade Woodward, Jr., the vice president of publishing company Charles Scribner's Sons.[1][2] Her middle and maiden names, "Gignilliat Trimmier", are of Huguenot origin.[3] She was influenced to become an actress by her mother's love of movies.[3] Her mother named her after Joan Crawford – "Joanne".[3] Attending the premiere of Gone with the Windin Atlanta, nine-year-old Woodward rushed into the parade of stars and sat on the lap of Laurence Olivier, star Vivien Leigh's partner and future husband. She eventually worked with Olivier in 1977 in a television production of Come Back, Little Sheba. During rehearsals, she mentioned this incident to him, and he told her he remembered.[3]
Woodward lived in Thomasville until she was in the second grade, when her family relocated to Marietta, Georgia, where she attended Marietta High School. She remains a booster of Marietta High and of the city's Strand Theater.[4] They moved once again when she was a junior in high school after her parents divorced.[3] She graduated from Greenville High School in Greenville, South Carolina, in 1947. Woodward won many beauty contests as a teenager. She appeared in theatrical productions at Greenville High and in Greenville's Little Theatre, playing Laura Wingfield in the staging of The Glass Menagerie. She returned to Greenville in 1976 to play Amanda Wingfield in another Little Theatre production of The Glass Menagerie. She also returned in 1955 for the première of Count Three And Pray, her debut movie, at the Paris Theatre on North Main Street. Woodward majored in drama at Louisiana State University, where she was an initiate of Chi Omega sorority, then headed to New York City to perform on the stage.[3]
Career[edit]
Early career[edit]
in The Three Faces of Eve(1957), displaying "Eve Black", the 'bad girl' personality
Woodward's first film was a post-Civil War Western, Count Three and Pray, in 1955. She continued to move between Hollywoodand Broadway, eventually understudying in the New York production of Picnic, which featured her future husband Paul Newman.[3]
Films with Paul Newman[edit]
She appeared with her husband in ten feature films:
The Long, Hot Summer (1958)
Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (1958)
From the Terrace (1960)
Paris Blues (1961)
A New Kind of Love (1963)
Winning (1969)
WUSA (1970)
The Drowning Pool (1975)
Harry & Son (1984)—(directed by Newman)
Mr. and Mrs. Bridge (1990)
Both appeared in the HBO miniseries Empire Falls but had no scenes together.
She starred in five films that Newman directed or produced but in which he did not appear:
Rachel, Rachel (1968)
They Might Be Giants (1971)
The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds—which featured their daughter Nell Potts (1972)
The Shadow Box (1980)—(television movie)
The Glass Menagerie (1987)
Later career[edit]
Publicity photo, 1960s
Woodward acted in films Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973) with Martin Balsam and Philadelphia (1993), in which she played the mother to Tom Hanks' character,[3]. She appeared in the television films Sybil (1976), with Sally Field, and Crisis at Central High (1981). She was the narrator for Martin Scorsese's screen version of The Age of Innocence (1993).
Woodward was a co-producer and starred in a 1993 broadcast of the play Blind Spot, for which she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie. She was executive producer of the 2003 television production of Our Town, featuring Newman as the stage manager (for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award.) She wrote the teleplay and directed a 1982 production of Shirley Jackson's story Come Along with Me, for which husband Newman provided the voice of the character Hughie under the screen name of P.L. Neuman. In 1995, Woodward directed off-Broadway revivals of Clifford Odets' Golden Boy and Waiting for Lefty at the Blue Light Theater Company in New York.[5]
Woodward served as the artistic director of the Westport Country Playhouse from 2001 to 2005.[6]
She recorded a reading of singer John Mellencamp's song "The Real Life" for his box set On the Rural Route 7609. In 2011, she narrated the Scholastic/Weston Woods film All the World.
Louis Armstrong
Armstrong in 1953
Born Louis Daniel Armstrong[1]
August 4, 1901
New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Died July 6, 1971 (aged 69)
Corona, Queens, New York, U.S.
Cause of death Heart attack
Other names
"Satchmo""Satch""Pops""Louie"
Occupation
Musiciancomposersinger
Spouse(s) Daisy Parker
(m. 1918; div. 1923)
Lil Hardin Armstrong
(m. 1924; div. 1938)
Alpha Smith
(m. 1938; div. 1942)
Lucille Wilson
(m. 1942; his death 1971)
Musical career
Genres
Dixielandjazzswingtraditional pop
Instruments
Vocalstrumpet
Years active 1919–1970
Associated acts
King OliverElla FitzgeraldKid OryJack Teagarden
Louis Daniel Armstrong (August 4, 1901 – July 6, 1971), nicknamed Satchmo,[2] Satch, and Pops,[3] was an American trumpeter, composer, singer and occasional actor who was one of the most influential figures in jazz. His career spanned five decades, from the 1920s to the 1960s, and different eras in the history of jazz.[4] In 2017, he was inducted into the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
Armstrong was born and raised in New Orleans. Coming to prominence in the 1920s as an "inventive" trumpet and cornet player, Armstrong was a foundational influence in jazz, shifting the focus of the music from collective improvisation to solo performance.[5] Around 1922, he followed his mentor, Joe "King" Oliver, to Chicago to play in the Creole Jazz Band. In the Windy City, he networked with other jazz musicians, reconnecting with his friend, Bix Biederbecke, and made new contacts, which included Hoagy Carmichael and Lil Hardin. He earned a reputation at "cutting contests", and moved to New York in order to join Fletcher Henderson's band.
With his instantly recognizable gravelly voice, Armstrong was also an influential singer, demonstrating great dexterity as an improviser, bending the lyrics and melody of a song for expressive purposes. He was also very skilled at scat singing. Armstrong is renowned for his charismatic stage presence and voice almost as much as for his trumpet playing. Armstrong's influence extends well beyond jazz, and by the end of his career in the 1960s, he was widely regarded as a profound influence on popular music in general. Armstrong was one of the first truly popular African-Americanentertainers to "cross over", whose skin color was secondary to his music in an America that was extremely racially divided at the time. He rarely publicly politicized his race, often to the dismay of fellow African Americans, but took a well-publicized stand for desegregation in the Little Rock crisis. His artistry and personality allowed him access to the upper echelons of American society, then highly restricted for black men.
Martin Ritt
Born March 2, 1914
New York City, New York, U.S.
Died December 8, 1990 (aged 76)
Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Cause of death Heart disease
Years active 1950-1990
Spouse(s) Adele Ritt (?-1990) (his death)
Children Martina Ritt Werner
Michael Ritt[1]
Martin Ritt (March 2, 1914 – December 8, 1990) was an American director and actor who worked in both film and theater. He was born in New York City.
Some of the movies he directed include The Long, Hot Summer (1958), The Black Orchid (1958), Paris Blues (1961), Hemingway's Adventures of a Young Man (1962), Hud (1963), The Outrage (1964), The Spy Who Came in from the Cold (1965), Hombre (1967), The Great White Hope (1970), Sounder (1972), Conrack (1974), Norma Rae (1979), Cross Creek (1983), Murphy's Romance (1985), Nuts (1987) and Stanley & Iris (1990).
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American composer, pianist, and bandleader of a jazz orchestra, which he led from 1923 until his death in a career spanning over fifty years.[1]
Born in Washington, D.C., Ellington was based in New York City from the mid-1920s onward, and gained a national profile through his orchestra's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. In the 1930s, his orchestra toured in Europe. Though widely considered to have been a pivotal figure in the history of jazz, Ellington embraced the phrase "beyond category" as a liberating principle, and referred to his music as part of the more general category of American Music, rather than to a musical genre such as jazz.[2]
Some of the musicians who were members of Ellington's orchestra, such as saxophonist Johnny Hodges, are considered to be among the best players in jazz. Ellington melded them into the best-known orchestral unit in the history of jazz. Some members stayed with the orchestra for several decades. A master at writing miniatures for the three-minute 78 rpmrecording format, Ellington wrote more than one thousand compositions; his extensive body of work is the largest recorded personal jazz legacy, with many of his works having become standards. Ellington also recorded songs written by his bandsmen, for example Juan Tizol's "Caravan", and "Perdido", which brought a Spanish tinge to big band jazz. After 1941, Ellington collaborated with composer-arranger-pianist Billy Strayhorn, whom he called his writing and arranging companion.[3] With Strayhorn, he composed many extended compositions, or suites, as well as additional short pieces. Following an appearance at the Newport Jazz Festival, in July 1956, Ellington and his orchestra enjoyed a major career revival and embarked on world tours. Ellington recorded for most American record companies of his era, performed in several films, scoring several, and composed stage musicals.
Due to his inventive use of the orchestra, or big band, and thanks to his eloquence and charisma, Ellington is generally considered to have elevated the perception of jazz to an art form on a par with other more traditional musical genres. His reputation continued to rise after he died, and he was awarded a special posthumous Pulitzer Prize for music in 1999.[4]
Serge Reggiani
Born 2 May 1922
Reggio Emilia, Italy
Died 23 July 2004 (aged 82)
Boulogne-Billancourt, France
Genres Chanson française
Occupation(s) Singer, actor, painter
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1940–2004
Serge Reggiani (2 May 1922 – 23 July 2004) was an Italian-born French singer and actor. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight.
After studying acting at the Conservatoire des arts cinématographiques, he was discovered by Jean Cocteau and appeared in the wartime production of Les Parents terribles. He then left Paris to join the French Resistance.
His first feature film was Les portes de la nuit ("Gates of the Night"), released in 1946. He went on to perform in 80 films in total, including Casque d'or, Les Misérables (1958),Tutti a casa, Le Doulos, Il Gattopardo, La terrazza, The Pianist(1998).
Reggiani also triumphed in the theatre in 1959 with his performance in Jean-Paul Sartre’s play Les Séquestrés d'Altona. In 1961, Reggiani co-starred with Paul Newman and Sidney Poitier in the film Paris Blues filmed on location in Paris.
In 1965, at the age of 43, he began a second career as a singer, with the help of Simone Signoret and her husband Yves Montand, and later with the assistance of the French singer Barbara. Reggiani became one of the most acclaimed performers of French chanson and although he was in his 40s, his rugged image made him popular with both younger and older listeners. His best-known songs include Les loups sont entrés dans Paris ("The Wolves Have Entered Paris") and Sarah (La femme qui est dans mon lit) ("The Woman Who Is In My Bed"), the latter written by Georges Moustaki. He regularly sang songs by Boris Vian (Le Déserteur, Arthur où t'as mis le corps, La Java des bombes atomiques). His new young fans identified with his left-wing ideals and anti-militarism, most notably during the student revolts in France in 1968. With age he became more and more acclaimed as one of the best interpreters of the chanson, and also for bringing the poems of Rimbaud, Apollinaire and Prévert to new audiences.
From 1980, when his son died, Reggiani struggled with alcoholism and depression. In 1995, however, he made a comeback to singing, giving a few concerts despite his deteriorated health and personal distress, the last one being held as late as the spring of 2004.
In later life, he became a painter and gave a number of exhibitions of his works.
Serge Reggiani died in Paris of a heart attack at the age of 82, one day after the death of another well-known French singer, Sacha Distel. He is buried in Montparnasse Cemetery. |