Piaf, Édith

(1915-1963)

   singer

   Born on a sidewalk in Paris, Édith Giovanna Gas-sion, or Édith Piaf as she is known, was the daughter of an acrobat and an Italian café singer. Her childhood was difficult and unhappy, and she spent a period of time with her grandmother, who ran a brothel in Bernay, Normandy. Poor diet and meningitis left her blind until age seven, her sight being restored, she claimed, after a visit to the shrine of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. For years she made a living entertaining as a street singer. In 1935, she was noticed by impresario Louis Leplée, who offered her a contract and changed her name to "Piaf" (Parisian slang for sparrow). It was the beginning of a brilliant career (she soon became known through radio, the music hall, and recordings) that led eventually to her becoming a celebrated star in both Europe and the United States. Her powerful, inflected voice, interpretation, and instinct for music make her a great figure in the history of song. Her recordings date from 1936 up to her last recorded song, "L'Homme de Berlin," in 1963. "La Vie en Rose," a song from the film Neuf Garçons et un Coeur, is one of her most famous, along with "Les Amants de Paris," "Hymne à l'amour," "Non, je ne regrette rien," "Mon Dieu," and "Milord," several of which she composed. In 1940, she starred in the play Le Bel Indifférent, written for her by jean cocteau. Piaf, who served in the resistance during World War II, and later inspired such talents as yves montand, charles aznavour, and others, had a period of happiness in her marriage to the boxer marcel cerdan, who unfortunately died in an airplane accident in 1949.