Yves Montand
Encyclopedia
Yves Montand was an Italian
-born French
actor and singer.
, Italy, the son of poor peasants Giuseppina (née Simoni) and Giovanni Livi, a broommaker. Montand's mother was a devout Catholic, while his father held strong Communist
beliefs. Because of the Fascist regime in Italy, Montand's family left for France in 1923. He grew up in Marseilles, where, as a young man, he worked in his sister's barber shop, and later on the docks. He began a career in show business as a music-hall singer. In 1944, he was discovered by Édith Piaf
in Paris and she made him part of her act, becoming his mentor and lover.
songs, especially those about Paris, became instant classics.
He was one of the most famous performers at Bruno Coquatrix
's famous Paris Olympia
music hall.
In 1951, he married the actress Simone Signoret
, and they co-starred in several films throughout their careers. The marriage was, by all accounts, fairly harmonious, lasting until her death in 1985, although Montand had a number of well-publicized affairs, notably with Marilyn Monroe
, with whom he starred in one of her last films, Let's Make Love
.
During his career, Montand acted in a number of American motion pictures as well as on Broadway
. He was nominated for a César Award
for "Best Actor" in 1980 for I comme Icare and again in 1984 for Garçon!
In the French dubbings of Looney Tunes
, the character Pepé Le Pew
is an Italian skunk named "Pépé le putois". The voice characterization was often based on Montand's performances.
In 1986, after his international box-office draw power had fallen off considerably, the 65-year-old Montand gave one of his most memorable performances, as the scheming uncle in the two-part film: Jean de Florette
, co-starring Gérard Depardieu
, and Manon des Sources, co-starring Emmanuelle Béart
. The film was a worldwide critical hit and raised Montand's profile in the U.S., where he made an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman
.
sample from him. Montand refused, but the woman persisted after his death. In a court ruling that made international headlines, the woman won the right to have Montand exhumed and a sample taken. It subsequently showed that he was not the girl's father.
Montand embarked on an affair with Marilyn Monroe
during filming of the ill fated film Let's Make Love
. He had been personally recommended by Arthur Miller
(who was married to Monroe) after Miller saw him acting in a foreign movie version of his play The Crucible
called Les Sorcières de Salem
. Montand always expressed regret over the affair as he considered Miller a "good friend". As Shirley MacLaine wrote in her 1995 memoir, My Lucky Stars, she and Montand maintained an affair during the filming of My Geisha.
In his later years he maintained a home in St Paul de Vence
, Provence
until his death.
Montand died from a heart attack. In an interview, Jean-Jacques Beineix
said, "[H]e died on the set [of IP5: The Island of Pachyderms]... On the very last day, after his very last shot. It was the very last night and we were doing retakes. He finished what he was doing and then he just died. And the film tells the story of an old man who dies from a heart attack, which is the same thing that happened!"
He is buried next to Simone Signoret
in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France.
1962 Montand Chante Prévert Versailles Records
1964 En Balade Columbia
1964 Le Paris de Montand Sony Music Distribution
1968 La Bicyclette Polygram
1968 Je Sais Que Vous Etes PolyGram
1974 Montand de Mons Temps TriStar Music
1981 Olympia '81 PolyGram
1988 D'Hier Et D'Aujord'Hui Polygram
1992 Recital Au Theatre de L'Etoile Sony Music Distribution
1994 One Man Show Sony Music Distribution
2008 Best of Yves Montand [Klub] Klub Publishing
2008 Les Débuts de Yves Montand, Vol. 1 (1945-1948) Forlane
2010 10 Chansons Pour l'Été Tsk
2010 Je Soussigné Tsk
2010 A Paris (Original Sound) Tsk
2010 18 Titres Eternels
2011 Le Music-hall à La Française
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
-born French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
actor and singer.
Early life
Montand was born Ivo Livi in Monsummano TermeMonsummano Terme
Monsummano Terme is an comune located in the Province of Pistoia, Tuscany, central Italy. It is located in the Valdinievole, and is a popular spa resort....
, Italy, the son of poor peasants Giuseppina (née Simoni) and Giovanni Livi, a broommaker. Montand's mother was a devout Catholic, while his father held strong Communist
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
beliefs. Because of the Fascist regime in Italy, Montand's family left for France in 1923. He grew up in Marseilles, where, as a young man, he worked in his sister's barber shop, and later on the docks. He began a career in show business as a music-hall singer. In 1944, he was discovered by Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf
Édith Piaf , born Édith Giovanna Gassion, was a French singer and cultural icon who became widely regarded as France's greatest popular singer. Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads...
in Paris and she made him part of her act, becoming his mentor and lover.
Career
Montand went on to international recognition as a singer and actor, starring in numerous films. His recognizably croonerCrooner
Crooner is an American epithet given to male singers of pop standards, mostly from the Great American Songbook, either backed by a full orchestra, a big band or by a piano. Originally it was an ironic term denoting an emphatically sentimental, often emotional singing style made possible by the use...
songs, especially those about Paris, became instant classics.
He was one of the most famous performers at Bruno Coquatrix
Bruno Coquatrix
Bruno Coquatrix, was born in Ronchin, Nord on 5 August 1910 and died in Paris on 1 April 1979, buried in the famous Père Lachaise Cemetery . He is mainly known as the owner and manager of the music hall Paris Olympia...
's famous Paris Olympia
Paris Olympia
The Olympia is a music hall in the 9th arrondissement of Paris. Located at No. 28, Boulevard des Capucines, its closest métro/RER stations are Madeleine, Opéra, Havre – Caumartin and Auber....
music hall.
In 1951, he married the actress Simone Signoret
Simone Signoret
Simone Signoret was a French cinema actress often hailed as one of France's greatest movie stars. She became the first French person to win an Academy Award, for her role in Room at the Top...
, and they co-starred in several films throughout their careers. The marriage was, by all accounts, fairly harmonious, lasting until her death in 1985, although Montand had a number of well-publicized affairs, notably with Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
, with whom he starred in one of her last films, Let's Make Love
Let's Make Love
Let's Make Love is a 1960 musical comedy film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by George Cukor and produced by Jerry Wald from a screenplay by Norman Krasna, Hal Kanter and Arthur Miller...
.
During his career, Montand acted in a number of American motion pictures as well as on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. He was nominated for a César Award
César Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
for "Best Actor" in 1980 for I comme Icare and again in 1984 for Garçon!
In the French dubbings of Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
, the character Pepé Le Pew
Pepé Le Pew
Pepé Le Pew is a fictional character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, first introduced in 1945. A French skunk that always strolls around in Paris in the springtime, when everyone's thoughts are of "love", Pepé is constantly seeking "l'amour" of his own...
is an Italian skunk named "Pépé le putois". The voice characterization was often based on Montand's performances.
In 1986, after his international box-office draw power had fallen off considerably, the 65-year-old Montand gave one of his most memorable performances, as the scheming uncle in the two-part film: Jean de Florette
Jean de Florette
Jean de Florette is a 1986 French historical drama film directed by Claude Berri, based on a novel by Marcel Pagnol. It is part of a duology, and is followed by Manon des Sources. The film takes place in rural Provence, where two local farmers scheme to trick a newcomer out of his newly inherited...
, co-starring Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Depardieu
Gérard Xavier Marcel Depardieu is a French actor and filmmaker. He is a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and has twice won the César Award for Best Actor...
, and Manon des Sources, co-starring Emmanuelle Béart
Emmanuelle Béart
Emmanuelle Béart is a French film actress, who has appeared in over 50 film and television productions since 1972. Béart won a César Award for Best Supporting Actress in the film Manon des Sources . She has been nominated a further seven times for Most Promising Actress and Best Actress.- Early...
. The film was a worldwide critical hit and raised Montand's profile in the U.S., where he made an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
.
Personal life
Montand's only child, Valentin, his son by his second wife Carole Amiel, was born in 1988. In a paternity suit that rocked France, another woman accused Montand of being the father of her daughter and went to court to obtain a DNADNA
Deoxyribonucleic acid is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms . The DNA segments that carry this genetic information are called genes, but other DNA sequences have structural purposes, or are involved in...
sample from him. Montand refused, but the woman persisted after his death. In a court ruling that made international headlines, the woman won the right to have Montand exhumed and a sample taken. It subsequently showed that he was not the girl's father.
Montand embarked on an affair with Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
during filming of the ill fated film Let's Make Love
Let's Make Love
Let's Make Love is a 1960 musical comedy film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by George Cukor and produced by Jerry Wald from a screenplay by Norman Krasna, Hal Kanter and Arthur Miller...
. He had been personally recommended by Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
(who was married to Monroe) after Miller saw him acting in a foreign movie version of his play The Crucible
The Crucible
The Crucible is a 1952 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatization of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay during 1692 and 1693. Miller wrote the play as an allegory of McCarthyism, when the US government blacklisted accused communists...
called Les Sorcières de Salem
Les Sorcières de Salem
This article is about the 1957 film. For the film by Nicholas Hytner, see The Crucible .The Crucible is a 1957 joint Franco-East German film production directed by Raymond Rouleau with a screenplay adapted by Jean-Paul Sartre from the 1953 play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller.-Plot:1692, Salem,...
. Montand always expressed regret over the affair as he considered Miller a "good friend". As Shirley MacLaine wrote in her 1995 memoir, My Lucky Stars, she and Montand maintained an affair during the filming of My Geisha.
In his later years he maintained a home in St Paul de Vence
Saint-Paul, Alpes-Maritimes
Saint-Paul or Saint-Paul-de-Vence is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France. One of the oldest medieval towns on the French Riviera, it is well-known for its modern and contemporary art museums and galleries such as Fondation Maeght which is located nearby.The property...
, Provence
Provence
Provence ; Provençal: Provença in classical norm or Prouvènço in Mistralian norm) is a region of south eastern France on the Mediterranean adjacent to Italy. It is part of the administrative région of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur...
until his death.
Montand died from a heart attack. In an interview, Jean-Jacques Beineix
Jean-Jacques Beineix
-Biography:In 1964, Jean-Jacques Beineix started his career as Jean Becker's assistant director on the famous French TV series, Les saintes chéries until the end of 1967. Then, in 1970 he worked for Claude Berri and in 1971 for Claude Zidi. In 1977, he directed his first short movie Le Chien de M....
said, "[H]e died on the set [of IP5: The Island of Pachyderms]... On the very last day, after his very last shot. It was the very last night and we were doing retakes. He finished what he was doing and then he just died. And the film tells the story of an old man who dies from a heart attack, which is the same thing that happened!"
He is buried next to Simone Signoret
Simone Signoret
Simone Signoret was a French cinema actress often hailed as one of France's greatest movie stars. She became the first French person to win an Academy Award, for her role in Room at the Top...
in the Père Lachaise Cemetery, Paris, France.
Filmography
- Les portes de la nuit (1946)
- L'idole (1948)
- Paris Is Always ParisParis Is Always ParisParis Is Always Paris is a 1951 Italian-French comedy film directed by Luciano Emmer.-Cast:* Aldo Fabrizi - Andrea De Angelis* Henri Guisol - M...
(1951) - Le salaire de la peur (1953)
- Quelques pas dans la vie (1954)
- A Slice of LifeA Slice of Life (1954 film)A Slice of Life is a 1954 Italian comedy film directed by Alessandro Blasetti and Paul Paviot.-Cast:* Vittorio De Sica - Count Ferdinando * Elisa Cegani - Mrs...
(1954) - Les heros sont fatigues (1955)
- NapoléonNapoléon (1955 film)Napoléon is a 1955 French historical epic film directed by Sacha Guitry that depicts major events in the life of Napoleon I of France.The film is notable for its use of location shooting for numerous scenes, especially at the French estates of Malmaison and Fontainebleau, the Palace of Versailles,...
(1955) - Marguerite de la nuitMarguerite de la nuitMarguerite de la nuit is a 1955 French language motion picture fantasy drama directed by Claude Autant-Lara, and written by Ghislaine Autant-Lara and Gabriel Arout , based on novel by Pierre Dumarchais...
(1955) - Hommes et loups (1956)
- Les Sorcières de SalemLes Sorcières de SalemThis article is about the 1957 film. For the film by Nicholas Hytner, see The Crucible .The Crucible is a 1957 joint Franco-East German film production directed by Raymond Rouleau with a screenplay adapted by Jean-Paul Sartre from the 1953 play The Crucible, by Arthur Miller.-Plot:1692, Salem,...
(19561956 in filmThe year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
) - La Grande Strada AzzurraLa grande strada azzurraLa grande strada azzurra is a 1957 Italian romance drama film directed by Gillo Pontecorvo and Maleno Malenotti.-Plot:...
(1957) - Premier mai (1958)
- Legge, LaThe Law (1959 film)The Law is a 1959 Italian film directed by Jules Dassin.-Cast:* Gina Lollobrigida - Marietta* Pierre Brasseur - Don Cesare* Marcello Mastroianni - Enrico Tosso, the Engineer* Melina Mercouri - Donna Lucrezia* Yves Montand - Matteo Brigante...
(19591959 in filmThe year 1959 in film involved some significant events, with Ben-Hur winning a record 11 Academy Awards.-Events:* The Three Stooges make their 190th and last short film, Sappy Bull Fighters....
) - Let's Make LoveLet's Make LoveLet's Make Love is a 1960 musical comedy film made by 20th Century Fox. It was directed by George Cukor and produced by Jerry Wald from a screenplay by Norman Krasna, Hal Kanter and Arthur Miller...
(1960) - Sanctuary (1961)
- Goodbye AgainGoodbye Again (1961 film)Goodbye Again, also known as Aimez-vous Brahms?, is a 1961 Franco-American romantic drama film directed by Anatole Litvak It was produced and from a screenplay by Samuel A. Taylor, based on the novel Aimez-Vous Brahms? by Françoise Sagan. The music score was by Georges Auric with additional music...
(1961) - My GeishaMy GeishaMy Geisha is a 1962 American comedy film directed by Jack Cardiff, starring Yves Montand, Shirley MacLaine, and Edward G. Robinson, and released by Paramount Pictures...
(1962) - Le Joli Mai de Chris Marker - Uniquement la narration (1963)
- Compartiment tueursThe Sleeping Car MurdersThe Sleeping Car Murders is a 1965 French film directed by Costa Gavras from the novel by Sébastien Japrisot. It stars Simone Signoret, Michel Piccoli, Yves Montand, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Catherine Allégret, Jacques Perrin, Charles Denner and Pascale Roberts.- Plot :Six people travel by train...
(1965) - La guerre est finie (1966)
- Is Paris Burning?Is Paris Burning?Is Paris Burning? is a 1966 film dealing with the 1944 liberation of Paris by rival branches of the French Resistance and the Free French Forces.-Plot:...
(1966) - Grand Prix (19661966 in filmThe year 1966 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Animation legend Walter Disney, well known for his creation of Mickey Mouse, died in 15 December 1966 of acute circulatory collapse following a diagnosis of, and surgery for, lung cancer...
) - Vivre pour vivre (1967)
- Un soir, un train (1968)
- Le Diable par le Queue (1969) (The Devil by the Tail)
- ZZ (film)Z is a 1969 French language political thriller directed by Costa Gavras, with a screenplay by Gavras and Jorge Semprún, based on the 1966 novel of the same name by Vassilis Vassilikos. The film presents a thinly fictionalized account of the events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek...
(1969) - On a Clear Day You Can See ForeverOn a Clear Day You Can See Forever (film)On a Clear Day You Can See Forever is a 1970 American musical/romantic fantasy film directed by Vincente Minnelli. The screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner is adapted from his book for the 1965 stage production of the same name...
(1970) - Le Cercle RougeLe Cercle rougeLe Cercle rouge is a 1970 crime film set in Paris, France. It was directed by Jean-Pierre Melville and stars Alain Delon, Bourvil, Gian Maria Volonté and Yves Montand...
(1970) - L'Aveu (1970)
- La folie des grandeurs (1971)
- Tout va bienTout va bienTout va bien is a 1972 film directed by Jean-Luc Godard and collaborator Jean-Pierre Gorin and starring Jane Fonda and Yves Montand.-Overview:...
(1972) - César et Rosalie (1972)
- État de SiègeState of SiegeState of Siege is a 1972 French film directed by Costa Gavras starring Yves Montand and Renato Salvatori.-Summary:...
(1973) - Vincent, François, Paul...et les autres (1974)
- Le SauvageLe SauvageLe Sauvage is a 1975 French film starring Yves Montand and Catherine Deneuve. The film was a commercial success with a total of 2,373,738 admissions in France and was the 12th highest grossing film of the year....
(1975) - Police Python 357 (1976)
- The Big OperatorThe Big OperatorThe Big Operator is a 1976 comedy film directed by Claude Pinoteau and starring Yves Montand.-Cast:* Yves Montand - Morland* Agostina Belli - Amandine* Claude Brasseur - Ari* Aldo Maccione - Tony* Adolfo Celi - Rifai* Valentina Cortese - The Widow...
(1976) - Le fond de l'air est rouge (1977)
- Roads to the SouthRoads to the SouthRoads to the South is a 1978 film directed by Joseph Losey. It stars Yves Montand and Miou-Miou.-Cast:*Yves Montand as Jean Larrea*Miou-Miou as Julia*Laurent Malet as Laurent Larrea*France Lambiotte as Eva Larrea*José Luis Gómez as Miguel...
(1978) - La MenaceLa MenaceLa Menace is a 1977 French-Canadian film directed by Alain Corneau and starring Yves Montand, Carole Laure and Marie Dubois.- Plot :Henri Savin has managed a trucking company for his lover, Dominique Montlaur, for many years. Now he is planning to leave her for Julie Manet, the woman he has...
(1977) - I as in IcarusI as in IcarusI as in Icarus is a 1979 French thriller film directed by Henri Verneuil.-Selected cast:*Yves Montand as Henri Volney*Michel Etcheverry as Frédéric Heiniger*Roger Planchon as Prof...
(1979) - Choix des Armes (1981)
- Garçon!Garçon!Garçon! is a 1983 French film directed by Claude Sautet and starring Yves Montand, Nicole Garcia, Jacques Villeret, Marie Dubois, Dominique Laffin, and Bernard Fresson. It received 4 César nominations, for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Sound.- Plot :Alex is an aging waiter who dreams...
(1983) - Jean de FloretteJean de FloretteJean de Florette is a 1986 French historical drama film directed by Claude Berri, based on a novel by Marcel Pagnol. It is part of a duology, and is followed by Manon des Sources. The film takes place in rural Provence, where two local farmers scheme to trick a newcomer out of his newly inherited...
(1986) - Manon des Sources (1986)
- Trois places pour le 26 (1988)
- Netchaïev est de retour (1991)
- IP5: L'île aux pachydermes (1992)
Discography
1960 Let's Make Love [Bonus Tracks] Sony Music Distribution1962 Montand Chante Prévert Versailles Records
1964 En Balade Columbia
1964 Le Paris de Montand Sony Music Distribution
1968 La Bicyclette Polygram
1968 Je Sais Que Vous Etes PolyGram
1974 Montand de Mons Temps TriStar Music
1981 Olympia '81 PolyGram
1988 D'Hier Et D'Aujord'Hui Polygram
1992 Recital Au Theatre de L'Etoile Sony Music Distribution
1994 One Man Show Sony Music Distribution
2008 Best of Yves Montand [Klub] Klub Publishing
2008 Les Débuts de Yves Montand, Vol. 1 (1945-1948) Forlane
2010 10 Chansons Pour l'Été Tsk
2010 Je Soussigné Tsk
2010 A Paris (Original Sound) Tsk
2010 18 Titres Eternels
2011 Le Music-hall à La Française