Juliette Gréco

Juliette Gréco
Background information
Born (1927-02-07) 7 February 1927
Montpellier, France
Genres Chanson
Occupation(s) Singer
Years active 1949–present

Juliette Gréco (French: [ʒyljɛt ɡʁeko]; born 7 February 1927) is a French actress and chanson singer.

Early life and family

1963

Juliette Gréco was born in Montpellier to a Corsican father and a mother who became active in the Résistance in the Hérault département of southern France. She was raised by her maternal grandparents. Gréco herself became involved in the Résistance, and was caught by the Gestapo, along with her older sister, when she was 16 years old.[1]

She was imprisoned at Fresnes prison for several months. After her release, she walked the eight miles back to Paris.[1] She moved to Saint-Germain-des-Prés in 1946 after her mother left the country for Indochina.

Bohemian lifestyle

Gréco became a devotee of the bohemian fashion of some intellectuals of post-war France. Jean-Paul Sartre said of Gréco that she had "millions of poems in her voice".[2] She was known to many of the writers and artists working in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Boris Vian, thus gaining the nickname la Muse de l'existentialisme.[3]

Gréco spent the post-liberation years frequenting the Saint Germain cafes, immersing herself in political and philosophical Bohemian culture. As a regular figure at music and poetry venues like Le Tabou on Rue Dauphine, Gréco met and had a relationship with Miles Davis in the early 1950s, and was acquainted with Jean Cocteau, being given a role in Cocteau's film Orphée in 1949.[4] That same year, she began a new singing career with a number of well-known French writers writing lyrics; Raymond Queneau's "Si tu t'imagines" was one of her earliest songs to become popular.

Je Me Souviens De Tout

Juliette Gréco in 1966

In 2009 Je Me Souviens De Tout, her latest album, was released. To mark the occasion, Gréco, accompanied by her husband Gérard Jouannest on the piano and Jean-Louis Matinier on the accordion, gave four concerts at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in early June.[5]

Fiction TV

In the late 1960s, she was in the TV serial Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre. This gloomy character was so strongly connected with Gréco that it accompanied her for the rest of her life, and in 2001, she was included in the cast of the movie remake with the same title Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre.[6]

Personal life

She has married three times:

According to Spanish writer Manuel Vicent, Juliette Gréco was Albert Camus's lover.[7] A recent article in the British Motor Sport magazine (November 2017) stated that Gréco had been the lover of the racing driver Jean-Pierre Wimille in the year leading up to his death in the late 1940s.

Legacy

Juliette Gréco, 2009

Gréco was portrayed by actress Anna Mouglalis in the film Gainsbourg (2010).

The Canadian band Library Voices described Gréco's relationship with Miles Davis in their song "Be My Juliette Gréco, Paris 1949" from their album Summer of Lust.

Gréco is namechecked by Ray Davies in the song "Art School Babe" from his album "Storyteller."

Autobiography

  • 1982: Jujube (published in French), Stock

Songs

  • 1950: Si tu t'imagines, a poem by Raymond Queneau set to music by Joseph Kosma
  • 1950: La Fourmi, a poem by Robert Desnos set to music by Joseph Kosma
  • 1951: Je suis comme je suis, lyrics by Jacques Prévert set to music by Joseph Kosma
  • 1951: Les Feuilles mortes, lyrics and music by Joseph Kosma for the film Les Portes de la nuit by Marcel Carné
  • 1951: Sous le ciel de Paris, lyrics by Jean Dréjac, music by Hubert Giraud for the film Sous le ciel de Paris by Julien Duvivier
  • 1951: Je hais les dimanches, lyrics by Charles Aznavour, music by Florence Véran
  • 1953: La Fiancée du pirate, extract from The Threepenny Opera, French adaptation by André Mauprey from the lyrics of Bertolt Brecht and music of Kurt Weill
  • 1954: Coin de rue, paroles et musique de Charles Trenet
  • 1955: Chanson pour l'Auvergnat, paroles et musique de Georges Brassens
  • 1960: Il n'y a plus d'après, paroles et musique de Guy Béart
  • 1961: Jolie Môme, paroles et musique de Léo Ferré
  • 1961: C'était bien (Le P'tit bal perdu), paroles de Robert Nyel et musique de Gaby Verlor
  • 1962: Accordéon, paroles et musique de Serge Gainsbourg
  • 1962: Paris canaille, paroles et musique de Léo Ferré
  • 1963: La Javanaise, paroles et musique de Serge Gainsbourg
  • 1966: Un petit poisson, un petit oiseau, paroles de Jean-Max Rivière et musique de Gérard Bourgeois
  • 1967: Déshabillez-moi, paroles de Robert Nyel et musique de Gaby Verlor
  • 1970: Les Pingouins, paroles et musique de Frédéric Botton
  • 1971: La Chanson des vieux amants, paroles de Jacques Brel et musique de Gérard Jouannest
  • 1972: Mon fils chante, paroles de Maurice Fanon et musique de Gérard Jouannest
  • 1977: Non monsieur je n'ai pas vingt ans, paroles d'Henri Gougaud et musique de Gérard Jouannest
  • 1983: Le temps des cerises, poème de Jean-Baptiste Clément et musique d'Antoine Renard
  • 1988: Ne me quitte pas, paroles et musique de Jacques Brel
  • 2003: L'Éternel féminin – Intégrale en 21 CD Mercury
  • 2009: Je me Souviens De Tout
  • 2011: Ça se Traverse et C'est Beau
  • 2013: Gréco chante Brel
  • 2015: Merci

Notable songs

  • 1950: "Si tu t'imagines"
  • 1951: "Je suis comme je suis"
  • 1952: "Les Dames de la poste"
  • 1952: "Je hais les dimanches"
  • 1952: "Les feuilles mortes"
  • 1954: "Sous le ciel de Paris"
  • 1959: "Bonjour tristesse"
  • 1961: "On n'oublie rien"
  • 1962: "Paris canaille"
  • 1963: "La javanaise"
  • 1965: "Marions-les"
  • 1966: "Un petit poisson, un petit oiseau"
  • 1967: "Déshabillez-moi"
  • 1970: "J'arrive"
  • 1970: "Les pingouins"
  • 1972: "Mon fils chante"
  • 1972: "L'embellie"
  • 1972: "La lelluia"
  • 1972: "Mes theatres"

Partial filmography

Decorations

References

  1. 1 2 Poirier, Agnès (17 February 2014). "Juliette Gréco: 'We were very naughty'". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  2. ↑ Sylvie-E. Saliceti. "Sartre par Gréco: Rue des Blancs-Manteaux" (in French).
  3. ↑ "Juliette Greco dit pourquoi elle a été surnommée la muse de l'existentialisme" (in French). ina.fr. 13 July 1962.
  4. ↑ Juliette Gréco (25 May 2006). "'Sartre asked Miles why we weren't married. He said he loved me too much to make me unhappy'". The Guardian.
  5. ↑ "Le grand art de Juliette Gréco met K–O le public du Théâtre des Champs-Elysées". Le Monde (in French). 10 June 2009.
  6. ↑ "Belphegor: Phantom of the Louvre (2001)". IMDb. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  7. ↑ "Mitología" - Manuel Vicent. El País (22 April 2007).
  8. ↑ "Nomination dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres janvier 2016" (in French). Ministry of Culture and Communication of France. 31 March 2016.

Sources

  • Anthony Beever and Artemis Cooper. Paris After the Liberation, 1944–1949. London: Penguin, 1994. pp. 315–320.
  • Boggio, Philippe. Boris Vian (pp. 152–154)
  • Davis, Miles, Miles (pp. 126–127)
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