Yves Montand

Acting · 1.2 popularity

Age

104

Movies

103

Born: October 13, 1921 – November 9, 1991
From: Monsummano Terme, Pistoia, Tuscany, Italy
Website: Visit site

Biography

Ivo Livi (13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), better known as Yves Montand, was an Italian-born French actor and singer. He is said to be one of France's greatest 20th-century artists. Montand was born Ivo Livi in Stignano, a small village in the hills of Monsummano Terme, Italy, to Giovanni Livi, a broom manufacturer. Montand's mother Giuseppina Simoni was a devout Catholic. The family left Italy for France in 1923 following fascist Benito Mussolini's rise to power. He grew up in Marseille, where, as a young man, he worked in his sister's beauty salon (Salon de Coiffure), as well as later on the docks. He began a career in show business as a music-hall 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 Coquatrix's Paris Olympia music hall, and toured with musicians including Didi Duprat. In October 1947, he sang "Mais qu'est-ce que j'ai?" (music by Henri Betti and lyrics by Édith Piaf) at the Théâtre de l'Étoile. Betti also asked him to sing "C'est 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 1956-57. 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 box-office draw power had fallen off considerably, the 65-year-old Montand gave one of his best remembered performances, as the scheming uncle in Jean de Florette, co-starring Gérard Depardieu, and Manon des Sources (both 1986), co-starring Emmanuelle Béart. The film was a worldwide critical hit and revived Montand's profile in the United States, where he made an appearance on Late Night with David Letterman. In 1951, he married Simone Signoret, and they co-starred 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 well-publicised affairs, notably with American actress Marilyn Monroe, with whom he starred in one of her final films, Let's Make Love. He was the stepfather to Signoret's daughter from her previous marriage, Catherine Allégret. Montand's 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 girl's biological father. He supported left-wing causes during the 1950s and 1960s, and attended Communist festivals and meetings. ... Source: Article "Yves Montand" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.

Works

103 films

J'ai tout donné

19729.3

The Wages of Fear

19538.0

Django Reinhardt

19576.5

Let's Make Love

19606.4

Grand Prix

19667.3

Is Paris Burning?

19667.2

Le Cercle Rouge

19707.6

Lovers Like Us

19756.6

Manon of the Spring

19867.6

Jean de Florette

19867.7

La Menace

19775.9

Delusions of Grandeur

19717.4

Napoleon

19556.3

Les Deux mémoires

19746.0

19697.8

Cesar and Rosalie

19727.2

On a Clear Day You Can See Forever

19706.7

Men and Wolves

19576.6

Goodbye Again

19617.1

State of Siege

19727.2

The Confession

19707.3

My Geisha

19626.5

Hollywood Invasion

20116.0

Morceaux de Cannes

20212.0

I... for Icarus

19797.6

Choice of Arms

19816.6

The Witches of Salem

19576.9

Trintignant by Trintignant

20216.8

The Lovely Month of May

19638.0

Womanlight

19795.8

All Fired Up

19825.9

Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others

19747.0

The Incredible Mr. Piccoli

20176.9

Romy, A Free Woman

20226.0

The Red Inn

19516.8

Nostalgia for the Future

2026

The Sleeping Car Murders

19656.9

Yves Montand is Singing

1957

The Wind Rose

19576.0

Mr. Freedom

19695.2

Police Python 357

19766.7

Vive la crise !

1984

Waiter!

19835.6

Paris Still Sings!

19518.0

Marilyn, dernières séances

20087.0

Tout Va Bien

19726.6

The Devil by the Tail

19696.1

Gates of the Night

19467.0

Star Without Light

19466.1

Les Rois de la comédie

20236.3

A Grin Without a Cat

19777.9

Rotterdam-Europoort

19667.5

Live for Life

19676.4

The Law

19595.9

The End of a Beautiful Epoch

20156.3

Marguerite of the Night

19554.8

Marilyn, a woman of today

20227.0

Special Section

19757.1

Jean-Louis Trintignant - Mystérieux et insaisissable

20226.0

Deneuve, la reine Catherine

20227.8

Letter to Jane: An Investigation About a Still

19747.2

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

20148.0

IP5: The Island of Pachyderms

19926.2

The War Is Over

19666.5

Roads to the South

19784.0

The Anatomy of Love

19546.4

Premier mai

19585.8

The Loneliness of the Long Distance Singer

19746.4

Three Seats for the 26th

19885.8

Making 'The Misfits'

20027.0

The Son

19735.5

One Night... a Train

19686.0

Marilyn Monroe: In The Movies

20127.0

Good Morning, Mr. Orwell

19848.1

T'es fou Marcel

19747.0

Comiques de toujours (Vol. 1 à 4)

20096.0

Paris Is Always Paris

19515.2

Sanctuary

19615.4

The Wide Blue Road

19576.3

The Big Operator

19764.6

Mitterrand, président culturel

2021

Heroes and Sinners

19558.1

Fascination: Unauthorized Story of Marilyn Monroe

20127.2

A Butterfly in the Night

19765.3

Netchayev is Back

19915.1

Rush - Voyage à Moscou

1990

Montand

19949.0

Rendez-vous de l'espérance

1950

Chance and Violence

19744.5

Claude Sautet, Romy, Yves, Michel et les autres

2017

Lost Souvenirs

19505.5

Signoret and Montand, Monroe and Miller: Two couples in Hollywood

20207.9

Le Parti du cinéma

20217.7

The Idol

19486.3

Pushing the Limit: The Making of Grand Prix

2006

Grand Prix: Challenge of the Champions

19668.0

One Minute for One Image

19835.8

1958: Those Who Said No

20188.0

Dans les coulisses: le tournage de 'Trois Places pour le 26'

2013

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

2011

Un matin comme les autres

19567.0

You Speak of Prague: The Second Trial of Artur London

19716.6

The Force of Destiny

2017