Serge Reggiani

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. For many years, he struggled with alcoholism, caused in part by the 1980 suicide of his son Stephan.

After acting school (Conservatoire des arts cinématographiques) he was discovered by Jean Cocteau and appeared in a wartime production of Les Parents terribles ("The Terrible Parents"). During World War II, he left Paris to join the French resistance.

His first feature film came in 1946 with his role in Les portes de la nuit ("The Doors of the Night"). He later went on to perform in 80 films including Casque d'or, Les Misérables (1958),Tutti a casa, Le Doulos, Il Gattopardo, La terrazza, The Pianist (1998).

In spite of never quite reaching the peak with his acting career, he did triumph in the theatre in 1959 with his performance in Jean-Paul Sartre’s play Les Séquestrés d'Altona. In the meantime, though, in 1965 he began a second career, that of a singer (at the age of 43), with the help of Simone Signoret and her husband Yves Montand and later with great assistance of the French diva Barbara. Reggiani became one of the most acclaimed performers of French "Chanson" ("song") and although he was in his 40s, his bad-boy rugged image made him popular with both young 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. However, one of his regular songwriters throughout his career was 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 antimilitarism, most notably during the 1968 student revolts in France. With age he became more and more acclaimed as one of the best interpreters of the French chanson also bringing the poetry of Rimbaud, Apollinaire and Prévert closer to his audience. In 1995, he made a comeback to the singing stage, giving a few concerts despite his deteriorated health and personal distress, the last one being held as late as in the year of his death, in spring of 2004.

In later life he became a painter and gave a number of exhibitions of his artwork.

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 interred in Montparnasse Cemetery.

The Leopard

7.7

Army of Shadows

7.9

Le Doulos

7.4

Mauvais Sang

7.1

I Hired a Contract Killer

6.9

Casque d'Or

7.3

The Terrace

7.2

Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others

7.0

La Ronde

7.3

The Last Adventure

6.9

Everybody Go Home!

7.6

The Day of the Owl

7.0

Les Misérables

7.1

Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno

7.3

Marie-Octobre

7.3

Paris Blues

6.5

The Beekeeper

7.0

The 25th Hour

7.8

Boys' School

7.3

Manon

6.9

Don't Touch the White Woman!

5.6

Gates of the Night

7.1

The Good and the Bad

5.5

Let Sleeping Cops Lie

5.5

Cat and Mouse

5.7

There Were Days... and Moons

6.3

Heroines

5.0

The Blue Panther

4.8

Napoleon

6.3

Secret People

6.3

The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird

7.1

The Seven Cervi Brothers

6.9

Return to Life

6.2

The Lovers of Verona

5.0

The Sinners

6.1

Not Delivered

6.0

Violette & Francois

6.2

Countdown to Vengeance

6.1

The Wicked Go to Hell

6.2

The Elders of Saint-Loup

5.9

The Seine Meets Paris

6.9

Act of Love

6.7

Fantastica

5.9

Le Voyageur de la Toussaint

7.1

The Big Shots

6.1

Le Dessous des cartes

5.5

3000 Million Without an Elevator

5.1

Solemn Communion

4.5

Storms

5.2

Vivement dimanche

3.2

Star Without Light

5.4

Champs-Elysées

6.2

Children of Chaos

5.0

Une fille cousue de fil blanc

6.3

La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président

7.2

The Pianist

7.0

The Little Boy

7.0

Les Enfoirés - Les Enfoirés en chœur de 1985 à aujourd'hui

8.0

Plein fer

3.2

The Doll that Took the Town

4.0

Le Grand Échiquier

8.0

Cinépanorama

8.0

Une enquête du commissaire Prévôt

9.0

30 millions d'amis

5.8

De force avec d'autres

5.0

Night in December

5.0

Good Enough to Eat

6.5

Rosen-Emil

6.0

The Perfume of the Lady in Black

5.0

The Stowaway

1.0

Red Shirts - Anita Garibaldi

6.0

The World Condemns Them

1.0

Mad Years

6.0

Les Enfoirés 1995 - Les Enfoirés à l'Opéra-Comique

6.0

Victoires de la musique

2.0

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

6.0

À bout portant

8.0

Numéro un

6.0

Midi trente

6.0

La Chance aux chansons

4.0

Samedi soir

6.0

Saturnin de Marseille

0.0

Coïncidences

0.0

Il était une fois... Vincent, François, Paul et les autres

0.0

36, le grand tournant

0.0

The Mystery of the Yellow Room

0.0

Warriors Five

0.0

Élisa

0.0

Pueblo en armas

0.0

L'écho

0.0

Serge Reggiani - Palais des congrès

0.0

The Imprint of Giants

0.0

François Villon

0.0

The Threatening Sky

0.0

They Saw Inferno

0.0

Bestiary of Love

0.0

Le monde est à vous

0.0

Discorama

0.0