Yves Montand

Known for ActingBorn 1921-10-13Died 1991-11-09Monsummano Terme, Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy

Ivo Livi (13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), better known as Yves Montand, was an Italian-born French actor and singer. He is said to be one of France's greatest 20th-century artists. Montand was born Ivo Livi in Stignano, a small village in the hills of Monsummano Terme, Italy, to Giovanni Livi, a broom manufacturer. Montand's mother Giuseppina Simoni was a devout Catholic. The family left Italy for France in 1923 following fascist Benito Mussolini's rise to power. He grew up in Marseille, where, as a young man, he worked in his sister's beauty salon (Salon de Coiffure), as well as 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; she made him part of her act. Montand achieved international recognition as a singer and actor, starring in many films. He is recognised for crooner style songs, with those about Paris becoming instant classics. He was one of the best known performers at Bruno Coquatrix's Paris Olympia music hall, and toured with musicians including Didi Duprat. In October 1947, he sang "Mais qu'est-ce que j'ai?" (music by Henri Betti and lyrics by Édith Piaf) at the Théâtre de l'Étoile. Betti also asked him to sing "C'est si bon" but Montand refused. Following the success of the recording of this song by the Sœurs Étienne in 1948, he decided to record it. Montand was also very popular in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, where he did a concert tour in 1956-57. During his career, Montand acted in 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 1986, after his international box-office draw power had fallen off considerably, the 65-year-old Montand gave one of his best remembered performances, as the scheming uncle in Jean de Florette, co-starring Gérard Depardieu, and Manon des Sources (both 1986), co-starring Emmanuelle Béart. The film was a worldwide critical hit and revived Montand's profile in the United States, where he made an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. In 1951, he married 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-publicised affairs, notably with American actress Marilyn Monroe, with whom he starred in one of her final films, Let's Make Love. He was the stepfather to Signoret's daughter from her previous marriage, Catherine Allégret. Montand's only child, a son named Valentin, by his second wife, Carole Amiel (b. 1960), was born in 1988. In a paternity suit that caused commotion across France, another woman accused Montand of being the father of her daughter and went to court to obtain a DNA sample from him. Montand refused, but the woman persisted even after his death. In a court ruling that made international headlines, the woman won the right to have Montand exhumed and a sample taken. The results indicated that he was not the girl's biological father. He supported left-wing causes during the 1950s and 1960s, and attended Communist festivals and meetings. ... Source: Article "Yves Montand" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.Read more

Movies & web series

Spécial cinéma

J'ai tout donné

Montand

Bambi

Apostrophes

Cinépanorama

1958: Those Who Said No

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

Signoret and Montand, Monroe and Miller: Two couples in Hollywood

Deneuve, la reine Catherine

Good Morning, Mr. Orwell

Le Parti du cinéma

Le Grand Échiquier

A Grin Without a Cat

Heroes and Sinners

À bout portant

Grand Prix: Challenge of the Champions

The Lovely Month of May

Discorama

Jean de Florette

The Wages of Fear

Paris Still Sings!

Z

I... for Icarus

Manon of the Spring

Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe

Le Cercle Rouge

Numéro un

Marilyn, a woman of today

Rotterdam-Europoort

Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies

Delusions of Grandeur

Marilyn, dernières séances

The Incredible Mr. Piccoli

The Confession

Making 'The Misfits'

Trintignant by Trintignant

State of Siege

Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still

Grand Prix

Cesar and Rosalie

Special Section

Is Paris Burning?

Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others

T'es fou Marcel

Goodbye Again

Einer wird gewinnen

Champs-Elysées