EDITH PIAF

Ooh, I fell in love / Mmm, I was a fool / Yes, Paris can be so beautifully cruel / Paris can be a gay coquette who wants to love and then forget / Stranger beware, there's love in the air ('Under Paris Skies')

Edith Piaf was born on 19th December 1915 as legend tells it "under a gas light on the night streets of Paris." In reality she was born in a local hospital. Her real name was Edith Giovanna Gassion. Her Father was an acrobat, performing the streets of Paris, her Mother a street singer with no care for her new born child.

For years she struggled making a living entertaining passers-by, for some time she worked with her Father, until she was spotted by an impresario who offered her a contract.

With many problems throughout her career, Edith eventually became the most highly paid star in the world. She made many recordings dating from 1936 until her last recorded song, L'homme de Berlin, which she taped in early 1963.

Edith did not die a rich woman. In fact she left many debts to her second husband, Theo Sarapo, a man many years her junior, but she lived her short life to the full, living only to entertain her public in the only way she knew how. 

Edith Piaf spent most of her life living in the suburbs of Paris. She entertained her audiences in many European cities but never officially in the UK ! Her greatest success abroad was most definitely in the USA.

The first two years of her life were spent in the Menilmontant area of the city; allegedly she was born under a street lamp outside number 72 rue de Belleville on a policeman's cloak.

Her father went off to the war shortly after her birth and returned two years later to find a dirty, ill child who had been in the 'care' of her alcoholic maternal grandparents for most of that time. He took Edith to stay with his own mother - a cook in a Normandy brothel, where she remained until the age of six.

They then spent several years travelling around France entertaining people with their acrobatic side-show until they returned to Paris, renting a room at a hotel on the Rue de Belleville not far from her birthplace.

At the age of fifteen, Edith met Simone Berteaut; possibly her half-sister, definitely a companion for most of her life, and between them toured the streets singing and earning money for themselves for the first time. With the money Edith also earned as part of an acrobatic trio Edith and Simone were able to rent a room at the Hotel de l'Avenir on Rue Orfila.

In 1932 she met and fell in love with Louis Dupont - within a very short time he moved into their small room; the three of them lived together despite Louis and Mômone's dislike for each other. Louis was never happy with the idea of Edith roaming the streets and continually persuaded her to take jobs he found for her. She resisted whenever possible however until she became pregnant and worked for a short while making wreaths in a factory.

Baby Marcelle was born in the Hôpital Tenon in February 1933. Edith had little maternal instinct nor domestic ability and rapidly returned to street singing until the Summer of 1933 when she opened at Juan -les-Pins, Rue Pigalle. Louis was incensed - they quarrelled and Edith left taking Mômone and Marcelle. The three of them stayed at the Hôtel Au Clair de Lune, Rue André-Antoine. Marcelle was often left alone in the room whilst Edith and Mômone were out on the streets or at the club singing.

During this time Edith encountered a young man by the name of Alert who was a pimp for several prostitutes and even tried to persuade Edith to work for him. She refused, so he demanded large proportions of her money earned by singing and this continued until one of her friends, a girl named Nadia, forced into working for Albert, killed herself. One learning the relationship was over Albert attempted to shoot Edith; luckily without success.

In August 1935 Louis Dupont surprisingly contacted Edith. Marcelle; who at some point Louis had collected to care for himself, was gravely ill in hospital suffering from meningitis. Edith rushed to the Hopital Tenon - Marcelle died over a week later.

A month or so after daughter Marcelle's death - September 1935, Edith and Mômone made their way to the Champs-Elysées in the hope of a more lucrative day's singing. Standing on the corner of Rue Troyon and Avenue Macmahon Edith was singing 'Les deux ménétriers' when she was approached by a man who was to change her life - Louis Leplée. Handing her a scrap of paper containing his name, address and ten francs he asked her to meet him to audition at his club - Gerny's, Rue Pierre Charron.

There was little that Louis wanted to change when it came to her singing voice, but her name, Edith Gassion was considered totally unsuitable. After considering - and rejecting - several names, he hit upon the idea of using the Parisian argot name for sparrow; Edith Piaf was created !
Her opening night was a nerve wracking affair for young Edith. In a black, hand knitted dress, a borrowed scarf hiding a missing sleeve, she faced an initially cold, indifferent audience, but left the stage to riotous applause and cheering.

Her new -found popularity brought with it new friends; Maurice Chevalier, Mistinguett - a contemporary of hers and Jacques Borgeat the poet with whom she maintained life long contact.

hings were going from strength to strength until the 6th April 1936. Louis 'Papa' Leplée was murdered in his apartment at 83 Avenue de la Grande Armée and Edith, by her long association with the more dubious characters of Paris, was a prime suspect in the organisation of his death, if not the act itself.

Louis Leplée, Edith's mentor, was dead. Gerny's had closed, many of her friends had deserted her as had the radio contracts and other promises of work offered in abundance prior to the scandal. She found herself working a series of 'fill-in' slots at local cinemas, provincial tours and engagements in Belgium. She sought the protection of a song writer named Raymond Asso; their relationship developed into a very tempestuous affair. He was living with a woman by the name of Madeleine at the Hôtel Piccadilly, Pigalle; Mômone still Edith's constant companion. Somehow Mômone ended up living back with her mother - Raymond left Madeleine, he and Edith moved to the Hôtel Alsina on Avenue Junot where he set about trying to mould Edith to his ideas.

Raymond and Edith's relationship lasted for three years during which time her fortunes began to improve. By the middle of 1939 she was commanding sell out performances and sharing star billing with established stars such as Marie Dubas. Raymond received his call-up papers in the August of that year - Edith met and moved in with a young singer, Paul Meurisse very shortly afterwards. They rented an apartment on Rue Anatole-de-la-Forge, a far more salubrious area than Edith's usual haunts, however, despite Meurisse's apparent classiness their relationship was decidedly tempestuous and violent arguments were commonplace.

During this time she also met a new friend who was to have a special place in her life: Jean Cocteau. As a result, she regularly began visiting a private club in the cellar of the Palais Royal, Rue de Beaujolais, where he lived. There she met many artists and intellectuals of the day and Cocteau himself wrote the play "Le Bel Indifferent" especially for her from her tales of her relationship with Meurisse. With great difficulty she was persuaded to accept the lead role - the play was a huge success.

Le Bel Indifferent", Cocteau's play written for and starring Edith, opened at the Bouffes Parisians in the Spring of 1940. Her first performance in support of the war effort was on the 9th May 1940 at the Bobino for the Red Cross in the company of other stars such as Maurice Chevalier and Johnny Hess. By the time "Le Bel Indifferent" had closed Meurisse had been called up and then rejected on medical grounds, Edith discovered that Mômone's husband had been killed fighting so moved her back to their apartment, and German troops were advancing towards France through Belgium. Edith left Paris for Toulouse for a tour of the unoccupied areas with Meurisse.

German occupied Paris was a very different place to Edith's previous home. All artists were forced to register at the Propagandastaffel and have their songs vetted in order to be able to work. Edith fared better than most - she may have hated them but they liked her, and her use of Parisian argot enabled her to voice her opinions without reprisal. She was in great demand not only to perform benefit concerts for prisoners of war but also for the Germans themselves. Her association with the French Resistance is now well known and many owed their lives to her as a result.

Professionally, the period 1940 - 1945 was a very successful one for Edith; privately however it was one containing many changes...

Michel Emer, a young Jewish man, arrived at her door one Spring evening in 1940. She was rehearsing for her new season at the Bobino at the time - the last thing she wanted was to be bothered by a struggling composer pestering to be heard ! His insistence, however, paid off and Edith eventually found herself listening to an inspirational piece of music - L'Accordéoniste. Unfortunately, Edith had to part with her new-found friend; she paid his way into the unoccupied zone of France in order to "wait out" the war. He was unable to return until after the Liberation.

Edith and Meurisse, although still together, were no longer the lovers they once were. The film Montmartre-sur-Seine was offered to them in 1941 and it was probably this alone that kept them together a few more months. Edith threw herself into learning her lines for her leading role and writing the lyrics for the music provided by Marguerite Monnot.

Edith met Henri Contet when filming started on Montmartre-sur-Seine. He was employed as the film's Publicity Manager and Edith fell for him immediately. By the time the film was finished Meurisse had moved out of their apartment on rue Anatole-de-la-Forge and shortly after Edith herself moved to a place near the Bidou Bar, a favoured drinking establishment. Henri did not follow her as expected however; he was already involved with someone else and Edith resorted to flirting with other men in order to make him jealous. Her tactics were partly successful; they became lovers and Contet introduced her to a brothel proprietress named Madame Billy; Edith, running short of money, had to leave her apartment near the Bidou so rented the third floor above the brothel on the now rue Paul-Valéry, accompanied by Mômone. Contet visited regularly but still did not move in. Friends old and new were noisily entertained regularly; as were also the Gestapo, much to the annoyance of her neighbours. Her father also reappeared and started visiting weekly to Edith's delight, but her mother's demands were less welcome. There was at least one occasion when she turned up at Edith's apartment; there were several where Edith was called to the police station because of her mother's drunken behaviour, the last time being on her death. Edith did not mourn her passing.

rofessionally, Edith was going from strength to strength. Contracts for revues, concerts and recitals were being offered constantly, sometimes more than she could cope with. Henri Contet wrote some of his best songs for her at this time, often based on her colourful life.

Edith and Mômone lived at Madame Billy's until the beginning of 1944 when the brothel was finally closed by the Gestapo. They decided to return to the Hôtel Alsina.

Louis Gassion, Edith's father died on the 3rd March 1944. He had lived in a shabby old hotel for a number of years, by choice, but Edith had provided him with a manservant once she became successful - fulfilling an old promise to him. It was he who informed Edith and Mômone of their father's passing. The funeral took place on the 8th March at the church of St Jean-Baptiste and was attended by family members from Normandy and the prostitutes from his mother's place of work in Bernay. Edith arranged for Marcelle's body to be exhumed and buried in a family grave with him in Père Lachaise.

That Spring, she met the man who became her manager for the remainder of her life - Louis Barrier. He was the only agent she ever had and within only a few days of his appointment had obtained a two week contract for her at the Moulin Rouge. Her supporting act turned out to be a young singer named Yves Montand. Initially they did not see eye to eye; Edith thought he was uncultured and his songs uncouth. She took it upon herself to nurture him professionally, sometimes to his annoyance, and she even asked Henri Contet to write songs for him - by this time she was falling out of love with him and in love with Montand. After the Moulin engagement she and Montand toured Orléans, Lyons and Marseille (Montand's home town), but Montand was not a great hit. They returned to Paris and gradually Montand began to blossom into a performer of high demand. Their relationship however, began to suffer by the time Etoile sans lumière started filming ;things limped along between them until it's completion , then shortly after,Edith left him to tour Alsace. Along with her went another newly discovered talent - this time in the form of nine singers who were known as "Les Compagnons de la Chanson". Their leader, Jean-Louis Jaubert soon became her lover and in typical Edith style she moved them all in to a new home - 26 rue de Berri, just off the Champs Elysee. After Alsace came another film, this time with Les Compagnons - Neuf Garcons et un Coeur. Unlike Etoile sans Lumiere it only enjoyed minimal success,but one song from it was to achieve greatness: La Vie en Rose. Written by Edith herself, it was initially "Les Choses en Rose" but for a friend of hers, Marianne Michel. She suggested the substitution and the rest, as we say, is history. Jaubert was not destined to rule Edith's attention for long .In 1946 they embarked on a none too successful tour of Greece where she met an actor named Takis Menelas. His adoration was such that he offered to divorce his wife and marry her; his suggestion however, that she gave up her career in order to stay in Greece was too big a sacrifice - she refused .She left Greece; and Menelas, behind after hearing that her next tour had just been accepted - America.

Edith very nearly didn't complete her tour of the United States. After a long ocean voyage to get there she discovered that their expectations of her were quite different to what she was in reality. On the opening night at The Playhouse, 48th St New York, she performed to a stunned audience who expected the Parisien sophistication they were familiar with, not this tiny, black-clad creature singing songs they couldn't understand. Les Compagnons however, were able to charm them with their simple songs and wonderful harmonies. Another misinterpretation was almost the final straw - the closing song, Les Trois Cloches, in which Edith joined Les Compagnons was given riotous applause, cheering, foot-stamping and whistling: the latter two were abject insults in Edith's experience in France! It was only her dogged determination - and one optimistic newspaper critic who attempted to "explain" Edith Piaf to the American population - that stopped her from taking the sail-passage booking she had asked her U.S. agent Clifford Fischer to make. She started by taking English lessons and made more effort to sing translated songs. Initially her songs were introduced by a Master of Ceremonies who gave a synopsis of what the audience was about to hear. As soon as she could, she removed him. Gradually, she began to warm to her task as the Americans did to her. The jewel in her crown was a short booking at The Versailles, East 50th St. She,and Les Compagnons, were so popular that they extended it to five months! Her social life soared, she associated with major celebrities including Orson Welles, Judy Garland and her to-become good friend, Marlene Dietrich. She met Albert Einstein, and a previous acquaintance named Marcel Cerdan, the "Moroccan Bomber", a boxer.

Marcel Cerdan was already an acquaintance of Edith's before they met up in New York. She had been introduced at the Club des Cinq, Paris in 1946. He was a boxer. Born in Algeria, he was remarkable in his talent and had rarely lost a fight. His fame equalled Edith's but they belonged to different worlds. She went her own way, never imagining they would meet up again.

Shortly after she opened at the Versailles, she received a phone call from Marcel Cerdan,inviting her to dinner. It was not quite what she had been expecting - pastrami, salt beef and beer at a corner drugstore, but it heralded the start of a romance lasting almost two years;and a grief which haunted her for most of the remainder of her life. His situation did not make life easy for either of them. He was married; his wife and three children lived in Casablanca where he visited them regularly,and his work commitments were such that she was forbidden to see him whilst he was in training; rumour has it that she resorted to being smuggled into the training camp to be with him, risking his disqualification if caught.America was not France - their relationship was frowned upon by the boxing fraternity, press and public alike.Even Momone, Edith's alleged half-sister tried to sabotage the romance by offering Cerdan's wife a bundle of letters she had purloined - but only at a price, then threatened to tell the press the truth behind the facade of the "just good friends" image they tried to project. Edith adored him.In mid 1948 she bought a house, 5 rue Gambetta, Bois de Boulogne, so they could spend more time together and ensured it had a room big enough to fit a gymnasium. She attempted to bring him into her world - introducing him to serious literature, and decking him out in expensive clothes and jewellery,but was also eager to involve herself in his. 

Whenever possible; her own bookings aside, she would go to his fights - cheering him on, terrified he would lose and praying for miracles.She described her experience of praying to St Therese before Cerdan's fight against the American Tony Zale for the World Championship in September 1948. She said she knew her prayer had been heard when the briefly overwhelming perfume of roses filled her room - a sign she recognised from her childhood in Normandy. In March 1949 Cerdan fought at Earl's Court. Edith came with him. They stayed at the Mayfair Hotel, but sadly she never sang in the United Kingdom. Despite Edith being considered to be bad luck for him, Cerdan's career seemed to be flying higher and higher - so was her's. One memorable experience for her was singing for the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Phillip at Carrere's, Champs Elysees. She was performing at the A.B.C. during the time of their visit to Paris in 1948,and was specially invited to sing for them. It was memorable to her more as an ordeal than a pleasure - she was petrified of making a blunder! Booking after booking followed. She was working almost constantly between Paris and New York, yet still had the time and energy to promote new talent such as Charles Aznavour who was responsible for the songs Il Pleut and "Il y Avait",amongst others. Little did she realise that, once again, at the height of her fame, more tragedy was around the corner.

On the 27th October 1949, Marcel Cerdan died in an aeroplane crash in the Azores - on the way from Paris to join Edith in New York - along with the other passengers; one of whom was Ginette Neveu, the violinist and friend of Edith.Why he decided to fly when both he and Edith were mistrustful and afraid of it, we will never know,but one possibility suggested was that Edith may have persuaded him to do so to avoid a long wait for him to arrive by boat; another, that he wanted to surprise her. Whatever the reason, when wakened by Louis Barrier to be told he was gone, her grief was completely overwhelming but she insisted on singing that evening as planned, on her opening night at the Versailles. It was a tragic sight. Edith announced she was dedicating the night's performance to Marcel; she was so distraught that she even fainted during the show, but nothing would stop her - this was her farewell to the man she loved.

1950/51 saw Edith taking tours of France, Canada and America; along with her went not only Charles Aznavour, but a new lover, Eddie Constantine. His initial meeting with her had been in Paris at the Bacarra where he showed her an English translation of Hymne a l'Amour. Their romance only lasted until the latter end of a comedy play they were jointly appearing in - "La P'tite Lili". "La P'tite Lili" was dogged with production problems virtually up to the opening night. Arguments between producer, director, actors and songwriters over salaries,set design and personality clashes, plus the discovery that the play hadn't even been written when rehearsals were due to start meant that it was a miracle it opened at all, let alone be the resounding success it was! Edith was - in no small way - responsible for holding it all together. However, during the seven months of the play's run she found another interest in the form of sportsman Andre Pousse, a racing cyclist. They originally met in 1948/49 when Edith was involved with Marcel Cerdan - she had no romantic interest in anyone else at that time - but they had a mutual friend in Louis Barrier, and in 1951 she began to invite him to her newly-acquired farm at Hallier, Dreux. It wasn't long before she had asked him to move into the house at the Bois de Boulogne. Things seemed to be looking up for her despite her continuing sorrow for the loss of Cerdan, but once again this was to change.

In mid-August 1951, Edith sustained broken ribs and a fracture to her left arm in an automobile accident. The car had skidded off the road. Andre Pousse was driving at the time, Edith and Charles Aznavour were in the back. Three weeks previously she had been involved in an accident whilst being driven by Aznavour, but both had escaped unharmed. Her injuries were treated and she was prescribed painkillers - morphine - to enable her to continue singing, although the accident effectively closed the play. This was the start of a long-running battle with drug dependence, and the end for Andre Pousse. It wasn't long before she was betraying him with a friend of his, another cyclist named Louis Gerardin. Gerardin had a wife however, who was less than happy at his abandonment of her. When he moved into Pousse's newly vacated spot at the Bois de Boulogne, taking with him a number of items from the marital home (all valuable), Mme Gerardin had a private detective follow him and; much to the delight of the press, charges of being an accessory to theft and a receiver of stolen goods were laid at Edith's door. Edith threw him out.

By the end of 1951 Edith had sold 5 rue Gambetta, Bois de Boulogne, moved into an apartment on Boulevard Pereire and was without a romantic interest or protege to cultivate. She was lonely, depressed and quickly took to cruising the bars of Paris for company and stimulation. In addition to the alcohol,she was injecting cocktails of morphine and cortisone - allegedly to combat the pain of recurrent bouts of rheumatism. Those around her; Momone, Aznavour, Michel Emer, were initially taken in by her rationalisation and reassurances that she was "in control" of it and wasn't addicted.

The next man she became involved with married her. Jacques Pills  was an old friend and associate who approached her with a song - Je t'ai dans la Peau. He wrote the lyrics,the music was by Francois Silly, later known as Gilbert Becaud. Edith went on to write a couple of songs with Becaud, namely "Elle a dit" and Ça guele-ça madame. Within a few months she and Pills were married at the Mairie, 16th arrondissement, Paris. It was the 29th July 1952. It was followed by a church ceremony on 20th September at the Church of Saint Vincent-de-Paul in New York. Both of them had engagements in the U.S.A. - Edith was not the only well-known French artist working there. On returning to Paris, they moved into an apartment on Boulevard Lannes - No. 67

Edith instantly filled it with her usual life, clutter, activity and music, and, despite her good intentions, was succumbing to the temptation of the drugs more frequently. She used the same rationalisation with Jacques as everyone else. Finding excuses to drink to excess was easier - Jacques was only too happy to accompany her - and soon their antics became legendary!

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