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.

Cast

The Leopard

(Don Francisco Ciccio Tumeo)

Les Misérables

(Enjolras)

The Good and the Bad

(le chef de la résistance)

Le Doulos

(Maurice Faugel)

The Last Adventure

(the pilot)

Paris Blues

(Michel 'Gypsy' Devigne)

Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno

(Marcel (archive footage))

Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others

(Paul, écrivain, journaliste)

Gates of the Night

(Guy Sénéchal)

Army of Shadows

(Hairdresser)

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

Solemn Communion

(Le récitant chanteur (voice))

Return to Life

(Louis (segment "Le retour de Louis"))

De force avec d'autres

(Sergio)

Mauvais Sang

(Charlie)

Everybody Go Home!

(Geniere Assunto Ceccarelli)

The Beekeeper

(Sick Man)

The 25th Hour

(Trajan Koruga)

The Lovers of Verona

(Angelo (Romeo))

Casque d'Or

(Georges)

La Ronde

(Franz, le soldat)

There Were Days... and Moons

(le père de Sophie)

Don't Touch the White Woman!

(The Mad Indian)

Saturnin de Marseille

The Blue Panther

(Ivanov)

Night in December

((uncredited))

Marie-Octobre

(Antoine Rougier)

Cat and Mouse

(Lechat)

Coïncidences

The Terrace

(Sergio)

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

Good Enough to Eat

(Jean-Loup aka 'Loup')

36, le grand tournant

Secret People

(Louis Balan)

Storms

(Sergio Parnell)

Star Without Light

(Gaston Lansac)

Manon

(Léon Lescaut)

The Sinners

(Pierre)

Rosen-Emil

(Dr. Levy)

Plein fer

(Emilio)

Act of Love

(Claude Lacaud)

The Mystery of the Yellow Room

(Joseph Rouletabille)

The Perfume of the Lady in Black

(Joseph "Rouletabille")

The Wicked Go to Hell

(Rudel)

Fantastica

(Euclide Brown)

The Elders of Saint-Loup

(abbé Paul Forestier)

Not Delivered

(Bastien Sassey)

Children of Chaos

(Joris)

Le Voyageur de la Toussaint

(Bob Éloi)

The Stowaway

(Alfred Mougins)

The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird

(Chimney Sweep (voice))

Violette & Francois

(Père de François)

Red Shirts - Anita Garibaldi

(Lantini)

Heroines

(monsieur Montgolfier)

The World Condemns Them

(André)

Warriors Five

(Libero)

Élisa

(Bernard Voisin)

Une fille cousue de fil blanc

(Jérôme)

Pueblo en armas

La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président

(Self (archive footage))

L'écho

The Seine Meets Paris

(Speaker)

The Big Shots

(Thia)

I Hired a Contract Killer

(Vic)

Boys' School

(Un élève)

Le Dessous des cartes

(Manu)

Let Sleeping Cops Lie

(Le Stéphanois)

Serge Reggiani - Palais des congrès

Mad Years

(Récitant / Narrator (voice))

The Doll that Took the Town

(Mario Grimaldi)

3000 Million Without an Elevator

(Pierrot)

Napoleon

(Lucien Bonaparte)

The Pianist

(Rossell mayor)

The Day of the Owl

(Parrinieddu)

The Imprint of Giants

(Fouldroule)

Countdown to Vengeance

(François Nolan)

The Seven Cervi Brothers

(Ferrari, antifascista in carcere)

François Villon

(François Villon)

The Threatening Sky

(Narrator)

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

They Saw Inferno

(Self)

The Little Boy

(Germain)

Bestiary of Love

Victoires de la musique

(Self)

Le Grand Échiquier

(Self)

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

(Self)

À bout portant

(Self)

Numéro un

(Self)

Numéro un

(Self - Host)

Midi trente

(Self)

Champs-Elysées

(Self)

Cinépanorama

(Self)

La Chance aux chansons

(Self)

Le monde est à vous

(Self)

Vivement dimanche

(Self)

Discorama

(Self)

Une enquête du commissaire Prévôt

(Le commissaire Prévôt)

30 millions d'amis

(Self)

Samedi soir

(Self)