Montand, Yves

Montand, Yves

(ēv môNtäN`), 1921–1991, French singer and actor, b. Italy as Ivo Livi. His family settled in Marseille when he was an infant. He quit school at 11, held various manual-labor jobs, and was singing in local music halls by the time he was a teenager. He soon moved to Paris, where he caught they eye of Edith PiafPiaf, Edith
, 1915–63, French cabaret singer, born as Edith Giovanna Gassion. She began to sing at 15 in cafés and on the streets of Paris and was soon engaged to sing in a cabaret. Fame quickly followed her appearances in nightclubs all over Europe and America.
..... Click the link for more information.
, who got him his first movie role in her film Étoile sans lumiére [star without light] (1946) and aided him in his singing and recording career. The epitome of Gallic charm and savoir faire, Montand was particularly admired for his songs about Paris and his sophisticated one-man shows. From the 1940s to the 90s he made 59 films, mostly French, some in English. Among the best-known are The Wages of Fear (1953), Let's Make Love (1960), costarring Marilyn MonroeMonroe, Marilyn,
1926–62, American movie actress, b. Los Angeles as Norma Jean Baker or Norma Jeane Mortenson. Raised in orphanages after 1935 and first married at 14, Monroe, who began her career as a pin-up model, became a world-famous sex symbol and, after her death, a
..... Click the link for more information.
, Vivre pour vivre [live for life] (1967), Costa-Gravas's Z (1969), Tout va bien [all's well] (1972), State of Siege (1973), and Jean de Florette (1986). He was married (1951–85) to the French actress Simone SignoretSignoret, Simone,
1921–85, French actress, b. Wiesbaden, Germany, as Simone Henriette Charlotte Kaminker. The sultry blonde actress began as a movie extra; she became well known after she starred in Macadam (1946) and Dédee d'Anvers
..... Click the link for more information.
.