Ivo Livi (; 13 October 1921 – 9 November 1991), better known as Yves Montand (), was an Italian-born French actor and singer. Montand has been described as one of France's greatest 20th-century artists.
Early life Montand was born Ivo Livi in Stignano, a small village in the hills of Monsummano Terme, Tuscany, 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.
Career
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.
Personal life
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 Catherine Allégret, Signoret's daughter from her previous marriage to director Yves Allégret.
Montand's only child, a son named Valentine 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. By the mid-1980s his views had shifted to the right, and he became a spokesman for many rightist causes.
Signoret and Montand had a home in Autheuil-Authouillet, Normandy, where the main village street is named after him.
In his later years, he maintained a home in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, Provence, until his death from a heart attack in November 1991. In an interview, Jean-Jacques Beineix said, "[H]e died on the set [of IP5: The Island of Pachyderms]... On the very last day, after his very last shot. It was the very last night and we were doing retakes. He finished what he was doing and then he just died. And the film tells the story of an old man who dies from a heart attack, which is the same thing that happened!" Montand is interred next to his first wife, Simone Signoret, in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris.
In 2004, Catherine Allégret alleged in her autobiography Un monde a l'envers (A World Upside Down) that she had been sexually abused by her stepfather from the age of five; his behaviour apparently continued for many years and he had a "more than equivocal attitude to her" as she got older. However, she also claimed to have reconciled with him in the latter years of his life.
Filmography
Year Title Role Director Notes1941La Prière aux étoilesUn gars dans le caféMarcel PagnolUncredited1946Star Without LightPierreMarcel BlistèneGates of the NightJean DiegoMarcel Carné1948 The Idol FontanaAlexander Esway1950Lost SouvenirsRaoulChristian-Jaque(segment "Le violon")1951The Red InnSinging CommentatorClaude Autant-LaraVoiceParis Is Always ParisHimselfLuciano Emmercameo appearanceParis Still SingsHimselfPierre Montazel1953Le salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear)MarioHenri-Georges ClouzotSaluti e baciHimselfMaurice Labro and Giorgio SimonelliUncredited1954Tempi NostriVascoAlessandro Blasetti and Paul Paviot1955NapoléonFrançois Joseph LefebvreSacha GuitryThe Heroes Are Tired Michel RivièreYves CiampiMarguerite de la nuitMonsieur LéonClaude Autant-Lara1957The WolvesRicuccioGiuseppe De SantisLes Sorcières de SalemJohn ProctorRaymond RouleauLa grande strada azzurraGiovanni SquarciòGillo Pontecorvo1958Premier maiJean MeunierLuis Saslavsky1959Legge, LaMatteo BriganteJules Dassin1960Let's Make Love Clement / DumasGeorge Cukor1961SanctuaryCandy ManTony RichardsonGoodbye AgainRoger DemarestAnatole Litvak1962My GeishaPaul RobaixJack Cardiff1963Le Joli MaiNarratorChris Marker1965Compartiment tueursInspector GrazzianiCosta-Gavras1966La guerre est finie Diego MoraAlain ResnaisIs Paris Burning?Sgt. Marcel BizienRené ClémentGrand PrixJean- Pierre SartiJohn Frankenheimer1967Vivre pour vivreRobert ColombClaude Lelouch1968Mr. FreedomCaptain FormidableWilliam Kleincameo appearance, UncreditedUn soir, un trainMathiasAndré Delvaux1969The Devil by the Tail Baron César MaricornePhilippe de BrocaZGrigoris LambrakisCosta-Gavras1970L'AveuGérardCosta-GavrasOn a Clear Day You Can See ForeverMarc ChabotVincente MinnelliLe Cercle RougeJansenJean-Pierre Melville1971La folie des grandeursBlazeGérard Oury1972Tout va bien"The Director"Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre GorinCésar et RosalieCésarClaude SautetÉtat de SiègePhilip Michael SantoreCosta-Gavras1973Ange OrahonaPierre Granier-Deferre1974Chance and ViolenceLaurent BermannPhilippe LabroVincent, François, Paul...et les autresVincentClaude Sautet1975Section spécialeUn milicienCosta-GavrasUncreditedLe SauvageMartinJean-Paul Rappeneau1976Police Python 357Inspecteur Marc FerrotAlain CorneauLe Grand EscogriffeMorlandClaude PinoteauA Butterfly in the NightHimselfArmando BóVoice1977La MenaceHenri SavinAlain CorneauLe fond de l'air est rougeNarratorChris MarkerJacques PrévertHimselfJean Desvilles1978Roads to the SouthJean LarreaJoseph Losey1979Clair de femmeMichel FollinCosta-GavrasI as in IcarusHenri VolneyHenri Verneuil1981Le Choix des armesNoël DurieuxAlain Corneau1982Tout feu, tout flammeVictor ValanceJean-Paul Rappeneau1983Garçon!AlexClaude Sautet1986Jean de FloretteCésar SoubeyranClaude BerriManon des Sources1988Trois places pour le 26HimselfJacques Demy1991Pierre MarrouxJacques Deray1992IP5: L'île aux pachydermes Léon MarcelJean-Jacques Beineix(final film role)
Discography
1951: Yves Montand Sings (Decca) 1952: Chante (Odéon) 1953: Chante ses dernières créations (Odéon) 1953: Chante Paris (Odéon) 1953: Récital au Théâtre de l'Étoile 1953 (Odéon, live) 1954: Chante ses derniers succès (Odéon) 1954: # 54 (Odéon) 1955: Chansons populaires de France (Odéon) 1957: 13 ans déjà ! (Odéon) 1958: Dix chansons pour l'été (Odéon) 1958: Succès du Récital 1958 au Théâtre de L'Étoile (Odéon) 1958: Récital 1 + Récital 2 (Philips) 1958: Étoile 58 (Philips) 1959: One Man Show (Columbia, North America, Philips in UK) 1960: Dansez avec Yves Montand (Philips) 1961: Rengaine ta rengaine (Philips) 1962: Chante Prévert (Philips) 1962: Récital 63 – Intégral du Théâtre de l'Étoile (Philips, live) 1967: 7 (Philips) 1968: La Bicyclette (Philips) 1968: Le Paris de... (Philips) 1968: À l'Olympia (Philips, live) 1970: On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (Columbia, soundtrack with Barbra Streisand) 1972: Dans son dernier "One man show" intégral (CBS, live) 1974: Montand de mon temps (CBS) 1981: D'hier et d'aujourd'hui (Philips) 1981: Le disque de la paix (Philips) 1982: Olympia 81 (Philips) 1983: In English (Philips) 1984: Chante David Mc Neil (Philips) 1988: Trois places pour le 26 (Philips, w/ Mathilda May, soundtrack) 1993: Les années Odéon – 1945–1958 (Columbia, 9-CD boxset) 1997: Plaisirs inédits (Universal) 2000: Et la fête continue – Intégrale 1945–1949 – Vol. 1 (Frémeaux) 2001: Inédits, rares & indispensables (Mercury, 4-CD boxset) 2004: Sensationnel – Intégrale 1949–1953 – Vol. 2 (Frémeaux) 2007: Une étoile à l'Étoile – Intégrale 1953–1954 – Vol. 3 (Frémeaux, live)
See also
References
External links