Serge Gainsbourg
Date of birth: 1928-04-02
Place of birth: Paris, France
Known for: Acting
Also known as: Lucien Ginsburg
Biography
Serge Gainsbourg (born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative releases which caused uproar in France, dividing public opinion. His artistic output ranged from his early work in jazz, chanson, and yé-yé to later efforts in rock, zouk, funk, reggae, and electronica. Gainsbourg's varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorise, although his legacy has been firmly established and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians. Gainsbourg wrote over 550 songs, which have been covered more than 1,000 times by diverse artists. His lyrical works incorporated wordplay, with humorous, bizarre, provocative, sexual, satirical or subversive overtones. Since his death from a second heart attack in 1991, Gainsbourg's music has reached legendary stature in France. While controversial in his lifetime, he has become one of France's best-loved public figures. He has also gained a cult following across the world with chart success in the United Kingdom and Belgium with "Je t'aime... moi non plus" and "Bonnie and Clyde", respectively. Serge Gainsbourg was born in Paris on 2 April 1928, in the maternity ward of the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris on the Île de la Cité. He was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Joseph and Olga Ginsburg. Born Brucha Goda Besman (nicknamed Olia/Olga) in Feodosiya in 1894, Serge's mother was a mezzo-soprano singer. Serge's father Joseph was born in Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire of Ukrainian Jewish heritage in 1896. Originally interested in painting, he entered the Petrograd Conservatory and then the Moscow Conservatory to study music, becoming a classically trained pianist. He came to Crimea, where he met and married Olga in 1918. The couple fled Odessa for Paris via Georgia and then Istanbul in the years following the Russian Revolution. The couple arrived in Marseille in 1921, settling in Paris near Olga's brother, who worked for the Louis Dreyfus Bank. Joseph became a piano performer at bars, casinos, and cabarets, while Olga sang at the Conservatoire Rachmaninoff. Serge and his twin sister Liliane had an elder brother Marcel, born in 1922, who died at sixteen months of pneumonia. They also had an older sister Jacqueline, born in 1926. The family lived in the working-class districts of Paris, first at 35 Rue de la Chine in the 20th arrondissement, and then at 11 Rue Chaptal in the 9th arrondissement. They obtained French nationality in 1932. Joseph taught Serge and Liliane to play the piano. At age 12, Serge enrolled at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. Gainsbourg's childhood was profoundly affected by the occupation of France by Germany during World War II. The identifying yellow star that Jews were required to wear haunted Gainsbourg; in later years he was able to transmute this memory into creative inspiration. Early in the summer of 1941, the family temporarily sought refuge in the commune of Courgenard in the Sarthe department, at a place called "La Bassetière," with Baptiste and Irma Dumur. ... Source: Article "Serge Gainsbourg" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Movie Credits
The Gardener of Argenteuil
1966-10-07
Tulipe, is an old man who lives alone in an old railway carriage in the Argentueil region of Paris.
Mr. Freedom
1969-01-08
Mr. Freedom, a bellowing good-ol'-boy superhero decked out in copious football padding, jets to Fran
Les Enfants de la Pop 80's
2012-10-22
Serge Gainsbourg – D'autres nouvelles des étoiles
2005-04-25
Serge Gainsbourg: Some Other News from the Stars] Directed by Serge Gainsbourg, Jean-Christophe Ave
I Love You All
1980-12-17
Alice invites her past two lovers and her current to Christmas dinner uniting them all in her house.
Anna
1998-08-29
Anna is working at a Parisian advertising agency. The director has fallen in love with a young woman
Cannabis
1970-09-02
Serge Morgan is a killer working for the American Mafia. After performing a contract in New York for
Charlotte for Ever
1986-12-10
Once a successful Hollywood screenwriter, Stan is now a depressive alcoholic who spends most of his
Paris Does Not Exist
1969-10-22
In this film, an artist attending a party smokes some dope and develops the ability to see into the
Come Dance with Me!
1959-12-18
The wife of an accused murderer embarks on a dangerous masquerade to find the real culprit behind a
Katmandu
1969-09-26
A rebellious socially-conscious man travels to Nepal to find his dead-beat dad. There, he meets Jane
Droit de Réponse
1981-12-12
"Droit de Réponse" (Right of Reply) is a French debate program broadcast between December 12, 1981 a
Gainsbourg... Casino de Paris 1986
1986-10-03
Slogan
1969-07-27
Commercial director Serge Faberge is having an affair with Evelyne, the 18 year old fiancee of frien
The Rage of War
1971-07-08
A group of 19 young women, led by a partizan man, are the only people available to escort a number o
Sweet Skin
1963-05-16
Strip-tease has a pleasing Paris setting and a convincing strip club atmosphere, where a roster of e
Le Zenith de Gainsbourg
1989-11-07
Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eyes
1973-04-12
In a small Scottish village, horribly murdered bodies keep turning up. Suspicion falls upon the resi
Stan the Flasher
1990-03-07
Claude Berri, who usually participates in films by directing them, here returns to the screen as Sta
Serge Gainsbourg, entre les murs
2018-09-23
Romance of a Horsethief
1971-08-11
Since time immemorial, the simple-minded boisterous people of Malava, a small Polish town near the b
Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau
2019-05-07
A childhood in boarding school, volunteered at 17 for the war and dismissed for indiscipline, thug i
The Revolt of the Slaves
1960-12-30
A rich man's daughter (Rhonda Fleming) sides with a Christian rebel during the fall of the Roman Emp
The Fury of Hercules
1962-05-21
In a tyrannical kingdom there is an evil ruler and a queen who lusts after Hercules who is attracted
Jane Birkin... Mother of All Babes
2003-01-01
A documentary directed by Birkin's friend, who produced the Birkin's Arabesque concert at the Odeon
Erotissimo
1969-06-07
Annie is a middle-age wife, still sexy and pampered by her husband, Phillippe, who is the owner and
Serious as Pleasure
1975-01-15
Two men and a woman live quite happily together in a romantic liaison. The woman is probably wealthy
L'Âge d'or de la pub
2023-06-02
55 years ago, on October 1 1968, the first brand advertising spot appeared on the French television
The Big Pardon
1982-01-27
The Bettoun clan: Raymond (the patriarch), Maurice (the son), Jacky (the nephew), Roland (the nephew
Four Queens for an Ace
1966-10-05
Hakim Gregory escapes from prison by killing a number of guards, and returns to his hide-out abroad,
Jane by Charlotte
2022-01-12
Charlotte Gainsbourg looks at her mother Jane Birkin in a way she never did, overcoming a sense of r
The Looters
1967-08-08
Morgan, a lapsed burglar, is drugged and shanghaied on board a yacht by beautiful Colleen. When he c
The World of Gaston Rébuffat
2009-01-01
The World of Gaston Rébuffat is a documentary on mountaineering which takes place at Gendarme Du Pic
Melody
1971-12-22
Although Gainsbourg and Birkin had appeared in a string of films since their magnetic collision in P
Gainsbourg, art(s) et essai(s)
2018-04-01
Gainsbourg by Gainsbourg: An Intimate Self Portrait
2012-02-15
Hailed in France as a national treasure, Serge Gainsbourg was beloved both for his music and for bei
Pasha
1968-03-14
Six months before his retirement from the criminal police, inspector Joss finds his colleague Gouvio
Public Speaking
2011-02-23
Martin Scorsese’s portrait of writer and social commentator Fran Lebowitz, celebrated for her sharp
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
Love in the Night
1968-06-10
Bourgoin uses Philippe to attract customers from another establishment to the nightclub he wants to
Jane B. by Agnès V.
1988-03-02
The interests, obsessions, and fantasies of two singular artists converge in this inspired collabora
Seduction Squad
1972-11-29
After witnessing and accidentally helping several thugs get away with a heist, the women rooming tog
The Discreet Françoise Hardy
2016-09-23
Sensitive lookback on Françoise Hardy's career and life.
Reporters
1981-06-10
The co-founder of the Gamma press agency, Raymond Depardon, created this documentary of press photog
Samson
1961-12-23
While traveling through the kingdom of Sulom, Samson is arrested and finds that the queen no longer
De Serge Gainsbourg à Gainsbarre 1958-1991
2000-11-07
Extensive compilation of clips, interviews, TV appearances and other media excerpts that feature Ser
Gainsbourg... Le Zénith - Live
1990-01-01
The Beaches of Agnès
2008-12-17
Filmmaking icon Agnès Varda, the award-winning director regarded by many as the grandmother of the F
The Unknown Man of Shandigor
1967-05-01
Crazed scientist Herbert Von Krantz has invented a device to sterilize all nuclear weapons -- and a
L'inconnue de Hong Kong
1963-08-02
Jean the piano player introduces Georgia, a new, promising singer, to a handsome young-man in a Pari
Whitney: Can I Be Me
2017-04-24
The life and tragic death of Whitney Houston.
Spécial Bardot
1968-06-08
And the image created the myth... Bardot as a brunette, blonde or redhead. Bardot in thigh-high boot
The Marriage Came Tumbling Down
1968-06-07
Jacques spends his summer vacation with his grandfather, Jericho, in the company of his wife Marie.
Jane Birkin - Alcaline le Concert
2017-11-03
Jane Birkin Alcaline le Concert
Egon Schiele: Excess and Punishment
1980-10-28
In 1912, in Austria, the painter Egon Schiele is sent to jail accused of pornography with the nymphe
All Mad About Him
1967-05-24
Mathieu is a mild-mannered man engaged to a woman whose father is involved in running a house of pro
L'affaire Matzneff
2020-01-05
About the Gabriel Matzneff affair and pedophilia in French culture and society from the 1950s to the
Jane Birkin: Simply an Icon
2019-11-01
A kaleidoscopic portrait of the English actress and singer Jane Birkin, heroine of pop culture.
Anna Karina, Remember
2020-06-13
Major actress of the New Wave, Anna Karina is bound to the great renewal of cinema in the 1960s. Her
Teuf-teuf
1963-10-05
An automobile tribute
La Story de Serge Gainsbourg : Le Punchliner
2021-02-28
Souvenirs of Serge
2011-02-27
Thirty years after their separation, Jane Birkin goes back, dipping into the memories of the family
Serge Gainsbourg, les meilleures chansons
2021-05-06
Catherine Deneuve, belle et bien là
2010-04-11
Catherine Deneuve couldn’t care less about being a celebrity, but fame made her an icon long ago and
Christmas at Vaugirard
1966-12-23
The Nativity revisited by Chantal Goya and Serge Gainsbourg as biblical lovers! On New Year's Eve, M
Gainsbourg and His Girls
2010-01-18
Provocative, misunderstood, unloved, cynical poet... Serge Gainsbourg as seen by the women in his li
Deneuve, la reine Catherine
2022-01-19
She is said to be cold, secretive and mysterious. She has the reputation of not letting anything of
Gainsbourg, toute une vie
2021-02-20
Serge Gainsbourg died on March 2, 1991, at the age of 62. If the general public has remained on his
Oh Les Filles!
2019-07-03
What if French Rock were born with Edith Piaf? From sweet sixties pop to today's gender-indifferent
Brigitte Bardot: Divine B.B.
2004-03-14
While Brigitte Bardot is best known in North America as one of the sexiest women to ever appear on a
The truth about Brigitte Bardot
2014-09-23
The metamorphosis Of Brigitte Bardot from 50s to the 60s. Portrait of an Icon
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
2009-10-21
The life and career of screen siren, Brigitte Bardot.