Yves Montand

Ivo Livi 13 October 1921 9 November 1991 better known as Yves Montand was an Italianborn French actor and singer He is said to be one of Frances greatest 20thcentury artists Montand was born Ivo Livi in Stignano a small village in the hills of Monsummano Terme Italy to Giovanni Livi a broom manufacturer Montands mother Giuseppina Simoni was a devout Catholic The family left Italy for France in 1923 following fascist Benito Mussolinis rise to power He grew up in Marseille where as a young man he worked in his sisters beauty salon Salon de Coiffure as well as later on the docks He began a career in show business as a musichall 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 Coquatrixs Paris Olympia music hall and toured with musicians including Didi Duprat In October 1947 he sang Mais questce que jai music by Henri Betti and lyrics by Édith Piaf at the Théâtre de lÉtoile Betti also asked him to sing Cest 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 195657 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 boxoffice draw power had fallen off considerably the 65yearold Montand gave one of his best remembered performances as the scheming uncle in Jean de Florette costarring Gérard Depardieu and Manon des Sources both 1986 costarring Emmanuelle Béart The film was a worldwide critical hit and revived Montands profile in the United States where he made an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman In 1951 he married Simone Signoret and they costarred 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 wellpublicised affairs notably with American actress Marilyn Monroe with whom he starred in one of her final films Lets Make Love He was the stepfather to Signorets daughter from her previous marriage Catherine Allégret Montands 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 girls biological father He supported leftwing causes during the 1950s and 1960s and attended Communist festivals and meetings Source Article Yves Montand from Wikipedia in English licensed under CCBYSA