Marie Laforêt | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Marie Laforêt in 1985 | |
| Born | Maïtena Marie Brigitte Doumenach (1939-10-05)5 October 1939 Soulac-sur-Mer, France |
| Died | 2 November 2019(2019-11-02) (aged 80) Genolier, Switzerland |
| Occupation |
|
| Spouse(s) | Jean-Gabriel Albicocco (div.) |
| Partner | Judas Azuelos |
| Children | 3, includingLisa Azuelos |
Marie Laforêt (bornMaïtena Marie Brigitte Douménach; 5 October 1939 – 2 November 2019[1]) was a French singer and actress, particularly well known for her work during the 1960s and 1970s.[2] In 1978, she moved toGeneva, and acquired Swiss citizenship.
Her first name Maïtena, which is ofBasque origin, means "beloved" and is sometimes used by the inhabitants ofLanguedoc, especially in thePyrénées.[3]
Douménach, her last name, isCatalan in origin – Domènec in Catalan.[4] Her birth name and her repertoire, which included pieces inspired from worldfolklore, have led to speculation of anArmenian origin of her parents.[citation needed] The singer herself used to define herself sometimes as "ariégeoise", i.e. from the region ofAriège in the south of France.[5]
Marie Laforêt was born on 5 October 1939 atSoulac-sur-Mer, in theMédoc region ofFrance, to Jean Doumenach and Marie-Louise (née Saint Guily). Her father's family were originally fromOlette, a village in thePyrénées Orientales on the border ofTêt. Her father was an industrialist and served in the military in World War II.[6] Her paternal great-grandfather, Louis Doumenach, headed a textile factory atLavelanet in Ariège and her uncle, Charles-Joseph Doumenach, was a colonel and municipal counsellor. During theSecond World War, Laforêt's father was a prisoner of war inGermany until the end of the war. At the age of three, Laforêt suffered asexual trauma which affected her for a long time.[7] During the war, the Doumenachs found shelter atCahors and in Lavelanet. After the war, the family moved toValenciennes where the father led a factory for railway utensils. Later they settled inParis.[5][8] After becoming more religious and having considered becoming a nun, Laforêt continued her secondary studies at theLycee La Fontaine and Cours Raymond Rouleau in Paris. There she began to show interest for the dramatic arts and her first experiences in this domain proved to be therapeutically useful for her through theircathartic effect.
Her career began accidentally in 1959 when she replaced her sister at the last minute in the French radio talent contestNaissance d'une étoile (Birth of A Star) and won.[9] Noticed then byRaymond Rouleau, she attended his theater classes as DirectorLouis Malle cast the young starlet inLiberté, the film he was shooting at the time but which he finally abandoned. Therefore, Laforêt first notably appeared onscreen opposite actorAlain Delon inRené Clément's 1960 dramaPlein Soleil (Purple Noon).
After this opportunities came to her rapidly. The original soundtrack of her second film, 1961'sSaint Tropez Blues, where she sang the title song accompanied by her childhood friendJacques Higelin at the guitar was released in 1960. Her first musical hit was 1963'sLes Vendanges de l'Amour.[10]
In 1961 her new husband, directorJean-Gabriel Albicocco, cast her inLa Fille aux Yeux d'Or (The Girl with the Golden Eyes) based on theBalzac story, the source of her nickname,[9] and in 1963 cast herLe Rat d'Amérique, based on theJacques Lanzmann 1956novel of the same name. She gained hit "Manchester Et Liverpool" in 1966.[11]
By the end of the 1960s Laforêt had become a rather distinctive figure in the French pop scene. Her songs offered a more mature, poetic, tender alternative to the light, teenageyé-yé tunes charting in France at the time. Her melodies borrowed more from exoticfolk music, especiallySouth American andEastern European, than from contemporary American and British pop acts. Her music stood out, perhaps too much for her new labelCBS Records, which favored upbeat, simple songs. She was interested in making more personal records but finally gave in. Although her most financially successful singles ("Viens, Viens", a cover of the German hit ″RainRainRain″, and "Il a neigé sur Yesterday", a ballad about the break-up of theBeatles) were released in the 1970s,[10] Laforêt progressively lost interest in her singing career, moving toGeneva,Switzerland in 1978 where she opened an art gallery and abandoned music for the time being. Laforêt had worked with many important French composers, musicians and lyricists, such asAndré Popp and Pierre Cour, who provided her with a panoply of colorful, sophisticated orchestral arrangements, featuring dozens of musical instruments and creating a variety of sounds, sometimes almostMedieval,Renaissance orBaroque, other times quite modern and innovative.
In the 1980s, Laforêt concentrated on her acting career, appearing in a few French andItalian films. Some music singles were eventually released, but were not popular. She made a comeback however in 1993 with her final album, for which she wrote the lyrics. In the 1990s she again continued to work as an actress both on screen and on stage. She performed in a number of plays in Paris over the years, acclaimed by audiences and critics alike. In September 2005, she sang once again, touring in France for the first time since 1972. Every concert sold out. Laforêt resided in Geneva and obtained Swiss citizenship.[12]
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Laforêt married director Jean-Gabriel Albicoco on 9 November 1961, and the couple divorced, childless, in 1963. She next was romantically linked with Judas Azuelos beginning in 1965, the same year their daughter Élise (Lisa) was born.Lisa Azuelos would later become a French director, writer, and producer who made afilm about another famous French singer,Dalida, in 2016. Lisa's brother Jean-Mehdi was born in 1967, the year their parents parted ways. LaForêt next married Alain Kahn-Sriber in 1971 and her third child, Eve-Marie-Deborah, was born in 1974. The couple divorced two years later. After being disillusioned by the music industry at the time, Laforêt moved to Switzerland where she was married to Swiss doctor Pierre Meyer in 1981 for a year. On 7 September 1990, she married Eric de Lavandeyra, a stockbroker, for two years.[citation needed] This last marriage ended in a publicly contentious divorce.[13]
Marie Laforêt died on 2 November 2019 inGenolier, Switzerland, a small town in theNyon district near Geneva, from the consequences of a primarybone cancer.[14] She was 80 years old. Her funeral took place in Paris, at the church onSaint-Eustache, on 24 November; followed by the burial in the family crypt at thePère-Lachaise Cemetery.[1]
Laforêt helped popularize theBob Dylan song "Blowin' in the Wind in France with her 1963 interpretation. TheB-side of the sameEP covered the 1964Animals version of thefolk balladHouseof the Rising Sun. Her other folk recordings include:Viens sur la montagne,[10] a 1964 French adaptation of the African-AmericanspiritualGoTell It on the Mountain recorded by American folk trioPeter, Paul and Mary the previous year;Coule doux (Hush-a-Bye), another Peter, Paul and Mary song; 1966'sSur les chemins des Andes, a French version of the traditional PeruvianElCóndor Pasa; andLa voix du silence, a 1966 cover of American duoSimon and Garfunkel's "TheSound of Silence".
She also recorded some rock songs in the 1960s, her most famous beingMarie-douceur, Marie-colère, a 1966 cover of theRolling Stones hitPaintIt Black. Another popular recording was 1965'sgirl group-styleA demain, my darling, known by English-speakers asTheSha La La Song written byMarianne Faithfull on her debut eponymous album.
Some of her most memorable pop songs are those written or arranged by French composerAndré Popp, such asEntre toi et moi,L'amour en fleurs,Les noces de campagne,Monamour, mon ami, andManchester et Liverpool. The melody of the latter song gained fame in the former Soviet Union as the background music to theVremya television news programme'sweather forecast in the 1970s.[15]
The quiet, bittersweet and minimally arranged balladJe voudrais tant que tu comprennes (1966), composed byFrancis Lai, is Laforêt's favorite. Homage was paid to the song in the 1980s, when French pop superstarMylène Farmer added it to her own concert repertoire.
The 1973 hit "Viens,viens" was a cover version of a German song "Rain,Rain, Rain" performed by Simon Butterfly.
Laforêt's 1977 hit "Il a neigé sur Yesterday", perhaps her most well-known recording, was penned by musicianJean-Claude Petit, and lyricistMichel Jourdan, (famous for his work withDalida,Nana Mouskouri,Michel Fugain andMike Brant) and who had written the words for earlier Laforêt songs, such as "Lesvendanges de l'amour" and "L'orage".
| Year | Title | Author | Director | Venue | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | La Hobereaute | Jacques Audiberti | Georges Vitaly | Hôtel de Béthune-Sully | Performed as part of the Festival du Marais |
| 1973 | Partage de midi | Paul Claudel | G. H. Régnier | Bourges theater | Role: Isé |
| 1992 | L'Écorce bleue | Marguerite Yourcenar | None | Open Air theater | A reading done as part of the Carpentras Festival |
| 1997 | Vietnam | Marguerite Duras | None | Saint-Florent-le-Vieil festival | A reading accompanied by the Ca Tru Thai Ha ensemble fromHanoi |
| Master Class | Terrence McNally | Roman Polanski | Théâtre de la Porte-Saint-Martin | Role:Maria Callas | |
| 1999 | Master Class | Terrence McNally | Didier Long | Antoine theater | Role: Maria Callas |
| 2000 | Master Class | Terrence McNally | Opéra-Comique | command performances, 18 and 30 April 2000 | |
| 2003 | La presse est unanime | Laurent Ruquier | Agnès Boury | Théâtre des Variétés | |
| 2004 | Jésus-la-Caille | Francis Carco | Jacques Darcy | Espace Cardin | |
| 2008 | Master Class | Terrence McNally | Didier Long | Théâtre de Paris | Role: Marie Callas |
| 2009 | L'Hirondelle inattendue | Simon Laks | Théâtre Toursky, Forbidden Music Festival, Marseille | Role: Reciter |
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Genre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Le Rouge et le Noir | Mathile De La Mole | Pierre Cardinal | Television movie |
| 1965 | La redevance du fantôme | Miss Diamond | Robert Enrico | Television movie |
| 1972 | Kean: Un roi de théâtre | Comtesse Elena de Kloefeld | Marcel Moussy | Television movie |
| 1984 | Emmenez-moi au théâtre | Pauline | André Flédérick | Television series |
| 1987 | La Mafia 3 (La Piovra 3) | Anna Antinari | Luigi Perelli | Television series |
| 1988 | Le loufiat | la star | Michel Boisrond | Television miniseries |
| 1989 | Isabella la ladra (original title: La Bugiarda) | Elvira | Franco Giraldi | Television miniseries |
| 1990 | L'affaire Rodani (Quattro piccole donne) | la mère des quatre filles | Gianfranco Albano | Television series |
| 1992 | Un cane sciolto 3 | Hélène | Giorgio Capitani | Television movie |
| 1994 | A che punto è la notte? | Chantal Guidi | Nanni Loy | Television movie |
| 1995 | Adrien Le Sage: Ma fille est impossible | Comtesse de Pontigny | Jacques Monnet | Television movie |
| 1996 | L'histoire du Samedi | Françoise | Bernard Uzan | Television series |
| 1997 | Le Désert de feu (Desierte di fuoco) | Rahma | Enzo G. Castellari | Television movie |
| 1998 | Jeudi 12 | Françoise Gamelin | Patrick Vidal | Television series |
| 1998 | Villa Vanille | Pronia | Jean Sagols | Television movie |
Studio Albums
Live Albums
Spanish Albums
Italian Albums
Portuguese Albums
1960s singles and EPs
1960s LPs
