Serge Reggiani
Date of birth: 1922-05-02
Place of birth: Reggio Emilia, Italy
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Серж Реджани
Biography
Serge Reggiani (2 May 1922 – 23 July 2004) was an Italian-born French singer and actor. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight. For many years, he struggled with alcoholism, caused in part by the 1980 suicide of his son Stephan. After acting school (Conservatoire des arts cinématographiques) he was discovered by Jean Cocteau and appeared in a wartime production of Les Parents terribles ("The Terrible Parents"). During World War II, he left Paris to join the French resistance. His first feature film came in 1946 with his role in Les portes de la nuit ("The Doors of the Night"). He later went on to perform in 80 films including Casque d'or, Les Misérables (1958),Tutti a casa, Le Doulos, Il Gattopardo, La terrazza, The Pianist (1998). In spite of never quite reaching the peak with his acting career, he did triumph in the theatre in 1959 with his performance in Jean-Paul Sartre’s play Les Séquestrés d'Altona. In the meantime, though, in 1965 he began a second career, that of a singer (at the age of 43), with the help of Simone Signoret and her husband Yves Montand and later with great assistance of the French diva Barbara. Reggiani became one of the most acclaimed performers of French "Chanson" ("song") and although he was in his 40s, his bad-boy rugged image made him popular with both young and older listeners. His best known songs include Les loups sont entrés dans Paris ("The Wolves Have Entered Paris") and Sarah (La femme qui est dans mon lit) ("The Woman Who Is In My Bed"), the latter written by Georges Moustaki. However, one of his regular songwriters throughout his career was Boris Vian (Le Déserteur, Arthur où t'as mis le corps, La Java des bombes atomiques). His new young fans identified with his left-wing ideals and antimilitarism, most notably during the 1968 student revolts in France. With age he became more and more acclaimed as one of the best interpreters of the French chanson also bringing the poetry of Rimbaud, Apollinaire and Prévert closer to his audience. In 1995, he made a comeback to the singing stage, giving a few concerts despite his deteriorated health and personal distress, the last one being held as late as in the year of his death, in spring of 2004. In later life he became a painter and gave a number of exhibitions of his artwork. Serge Reggiani died in Paris of a heart attack at the age of 82, one day after the death of another well known French singer Sacha Distel. He is interred in Montparnasse Cemetery.
Movie Credits
The Leopard
1963-03-27
As Garibaldi's troops begin the unification of Italy in the 1860s, an aristocratic Sicilian family g
Les Misérables
1958-03-12
In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless po
The Good and the Bad
1976-01-19
The film follows the exploits of Jacques, a car-mechanic turned pro-thief, and his Jewish co-conspir
Le Doulos
1962-12-13
Enigmatic gangster Silien may or may not be responsible for informing on Faugel, who was just relea
The Last Adventure
1967-04-12
Two adventurers and best friends, Roland and Manu, are the victims of a practical joke that costs Ma
Paris Blues
1961-09-27
During the 1960s, two American jazz musicians living in Paris meet and fall in love with two America
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno
2009-10-01
In 1964, Henri-Georges Clouzot's production of L'Enfer came to a halt. Despite huge expectations, ma
Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others
1974-10-23
Three friends navigate mid-life crises: a blocked writer, a disillusioned doctor, and a charming man
Gates of the Night
1946-12-03
In post-Liberation Paris, a man reunites with a friend and meets the woman of his dreams, only to di
Army of Shadows
1969-09-10
Betrayed by an informant, Philippe Gerbier finds himself trapped in a torturous Nazi prison camp. Th
Solemn Communion
1977-04-27
In this complex chronicle of the evolution of a provincial family's life, the story follows three ge
Les Enfoirés - Les Enfoirés en chœur de 1985 à aujourd'hui
2014-12-13
Return to Life
1949-09-14
In France in 1946, the difficult return to civilian life of five deportees and prisoners of war afte
De force avec d'autres
1993-04-24
Actor and singer on the decline, Sergio, alcoholic, goes adrift. His son, Simon, undertakes to make
Mauvais Sang
1986-11-26
Two aging crooks are given two weeks to repay a debt to a woman named The American. They recruit the
Everybody Go Home!
1960-10-27
When Italy surrenders to the Allies, part of the Italian army is dispersed and soldiers begin to ret
The Beekeeper
1986-10-23
Following the wedding of his daughter, stone-faced beekeeper Spyros makes an annual journey from the
The 25th Hour
1967-04-26
A Romanian peasant fights to get back to his family after he's imprisoned by the Nazis.The picture i
The Lovers of Verona
1949-03-07
Angelo, a glass-blower from Murano, and Georgia Maglia, the pretty daughter of a fallen fascist magi
Casque d'Or
1952-03-13
At the end of the 19th century, during a ball in Joinville, on the outskirts of Paris, Georges, a fo
La Ronde
1950-09-27
An all-knowing interlocutor guides us through a series of affairs in Vienna, 1900. A soldier meets a
There Were Days... and Moons
1990-04-11
How can moon and time affect human mood and fate? In the manner of a Greek tragedy , this movie show
Don't Touch the White Woman!
1974-01-23
A highly stylized surreal farce about the events leading up to Custer's Last Stand anachronistically
Saturnin de Marseille
1941-01-09
A student, who wishes to become an opera singer, is helped by a good boy, Saturnin, who improvises a
The Blue Panther
1965-08-25
Marie-Chantal travels by train to her cousin's place to spend a winter holiday, when a stranger entr
Night in December
1941-02-27
In 1919, Pierre Darmont, a handsome, much-loved piano virtuoso, falls in love with Anne Morris, a yo
Marie-Octobre
1959-04-24
A group of ex-resistance fighters are brought together by Marie-Octobre, the code name of Marie-Hele
Cat and Mouse
1975-09-03
A jaded and charming police inspector is assigned along with his cheerful partner to a case involvin
Coïncidences
1947-10-15
A rich girl is in love with her father-in-law 's librarian. The wealthy man wants her to marry a mil
The Terrace
1980-02-08
Eight Italian politicians from the communist party gather on a terrace in Rome for a get-together. T
Il était une fois... Vincent, François, Paul et les autres
2011-05-13
Good Enough to Eat
1951-06-08
Rose Chaperon is asked by her confectioner mother Mathilde to bring jewels to her sick grandmother,
36, le grand tournant
1970-02-11
Based on a montage of photographic and cinematographic archives, this documentary evokes, from the d
Secret People
1952-02-05
This tale of intrigue finds Valentina Cortese involved in an assassination plot. She helps the polic
Storms
1953-05-29
A renowned surgeon becomes involved with an attractive circus trapeze artist with the relationship t
Star Without Light
1946-04-03
An aspiring singer tries to break into films during the early talkie era. She is hired to dub the si
Manon
1949-03-09
Port of Marseille, France, recently liberated from the German yoke. Caught as stowaways aboard a shi
The Sinners
1949-09-30
Au Royaume des Cieux takes place in in a dreadful girls' reformatory. A couple of lovers will try to
Plein fer
1990-09-26
The Italians have bocce ball, and the French have a similar game, boules. This is played (generally
Rosen-Emil
1993-08-19
The ex-gymnast and survival artist Emil falls in love with the prostitute Lissy. Through her he meet
Act of Love
1953-12-17
An American soldier romances a beautiful Parisian during the final days of World War II.
The Mystery of the Yellow Room
1949-06-15
A young reporter solves a mystery crime. The fictional reporter is Joseph Rouletabille. He works on
The Perfume of the Lady in Black
1949-10-05
Mathilde Stangerson just married her fiance, when she heard that Larsan, her cruel former husband, w
The Wicked Go to Hell
1955-12-07
Making his directorial debut, Robert Hossein also assumes the leading role, playing an escaped convi
Fantastica
1980-05-07
In this French–Canadian oddity of music and drama, an actress in a traveling musical revue is involv
The Elders of Saint-Loup
1950-09-08
Due to financial problems, the boarding-school of Saint-Loup is on the verge of closing its doors. I
Not Delivered
1958-01-15
After resolving to start a new life with his girlfriend Jacqueline, Bastien Sassey decides to give u
Children of Chaos
1944-04-26
An officer, two of his comrades and a social worker want to create the "Carrefour", a place for lost
Le Voyageur de la Toussaint
1943-04-08
A young man comes back to his hometown to be confronted with a bourgeois obnoxious family who has al
The Stowaway
1958-03-21
A group of adventurers compete with one another to find the missing heir Rene Marechal, thought to b
The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird
1953-05-29
A chimney sweep and his beloved shepherdess are aided by Wonderbird in their escape from a ruthless
Violette & Francois
1977-03-17
Violette and François are a couple with a child. As they cannot lead a good life with odd jobs, Fran
Red Shirts - Anita Garibaldi
1952-08-15
The story of Giuseppe Garibaldi's 1849 campaign to free Italy from Austrian domination.
Heroines
1997-08-27
Two best friends, Johanna and Jeanne, live in the small town of Decazeville, a mining town in France
The World Condemns Them
1953-03-07
Forced by her lover to sell her body, Renata is saved from a suicide attempt by Paolo Martelli, an e
Warriors Five
1962-09-30
World War II Italy...1943. After parachuting behind enemy lines on an espionage mission, an American
Élisa
1957-03-08
Recently released from reform school, Élisa works at Madame Irma's before moving to Paris, where her
Une fille cousue de fil blanc
1977-01-26
A young girl dies in an accident just before her wedding. But when her sister starts to look into it
Pueblo en armas
1961-12-07
Joris Ivens documentary.
La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
2022-01-07
In May 1974, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing became President of the Republic and wanted to bring about a n
L'écho
1988-08-29
An old cowherd from Haute-Savoie who continues to raise his animals, according to the old methods, f
The Seine Meets Paris
1957-11-20
A poetic ode to the River Seine, Ivens' distinguished camera eye surveys its lively banks and step-s
The Big Shots
1972-10-31
Thia and Murelli, who live from car stunt shows, make ends meet by carrying out small burglaries.
I Hired a Contract Killer
1990-10-12
After losing his job and realizing that he is alone in the world, a businessman opts to voluntarily
Boys' School
1938-04-05
In a college, three friends form a secret society. Their objective - going to America. One night, af
Le Dessous des cartes
1948-09-22
Claude Géraudy, a banker responsible for a financial scandal, is forced to flee and hides in the mou
Let Sleeping Cops Lie
1988-11-10
This movie tells the story of a group of right-wing cops have begun carrying out vigilante justice o
Serge Reggiani - Palais des congrès
1993-11-17
Mad Years
1960-12-08
A film that evokes the period between the end of the First World War and the Great Depression of 192
The Doll that Took the Town
1957-02-06
A struggling model concocts a story of being raped and beaten by three strangers and soon becomes a
3000 Million Without an Elevator
1972-08-18
Seven small rogues dream of stealing the beautiful jewels which are in Paris for an exhibition.
Napoleon
1955-03-25
The film follows the life of Napoleon from his early life in Corsica to his death at Saint Helena. T
The Pianist
1998-09-13
Mario Gas directed this music-themed Spanish drama set in Barcelona of the mid-'80s. When famed comp
The Day of the Owl
1968-02-17
Set in Sicily, this violent crime drama tells the tale of an Italian cop who heads to a small island
The Imprint of Giants
1980-03-05
The life of workers and their families in a construction site of a highway in 1965.
Countdown to Vengeance
1970-01-29
10 years ago, François Nolan and his brother have been betrayed by one of their accomplices after a
The Seven Cervi Brothers
1968-02-16
The story of the Cervi family. Rural farmers brought up to be idealogically opposed to fascism durin
François Villon
1945-09-02
An episode in the life of the tumultuous poet who murdered his rival, in love with Catherine de Vaus
The Threatening Sky
1966-09-05
Pro-Vietnamese film created by Dutch filmmaker Joris Ivens. This black and white film begins with an
Les Enfoirés 1995 - Les Enfoirés à l'Opéra-Comique
1995-03-08
Show recorded at the Opéra Comique in Paris on March 6, 1995 for the benefit of the Restos du Coeur.
They Saw Inferno
2010-04-12
A wonderful documentary that sheds additional light on the fascinating project ‘Inferno’ was, as wel
The Little Boy
1995-01-11
Eight-year old Francois has moved from Paris to a quiet chateau with his parents who want to escape
Bestiary of Love
1965-11-03
If love is a universal phenomenon, it is never the same: the animal world experiences brutal and rap
On the Set of 'Casque D'Or'
1951-01-01
Silent footage shot on the set of CASQUE D’OR provides a glimpse of film director Jacques Becker at
La Plaie et le Couteau, Charles Baudelaire
1967-12-04