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| Born | Henriette Ragon (1918-06-10)10 June 1918 France |
| Died | 30 April 2015(2015-04-30) (aged 96) |
| Occupation(s) | Singer Actress |
Patachou, real name Henriette Ragon, (10 June 1918 - 30 April 2015) was a French singer and actress. She was an Officier of the Légion d'honneur.
Biography
Early life
Born in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, Henriette Ragon began her working life as a typist, then a factory worker, a shoeseller and an antique dealer.
Patachou
In 1948, with her husband Jean Billon she took over a cabaret-restaurant on the butte of Montmartre, called Patachou. (Their son Pierre Billon had some success as a singer in the 1970s and wrote J'ai oublié de vivre for Johnny Hallyday.) She began to sing in the bistro, and journalists began to call her Patachou after the name of her cabaret (pâte-à-choux means cream puff dough). Georges Brassens sang there, and together they sang the duet Maman, papa. In fact, she was the first to interpret his songs, Le bricoleur, La chasse aux papillons etc. The evening she sang them for the first time, she suggested her audience stay to the end of the show and meet the writer of these songs, and Brassens went up on to the Patachou stage for the first time and sang Le Gorille and P..de toi. In some ways, in the post-World War II age, she was able to both turn back the calendar and yet remain contemporary – most evident in her mode of dress, a plain white shirt with high Dior collar and tight-fitting tailored skirt. Sometimes she would collect half-ties (she would snip the neckties of customers reluctant to join in the singing) – Thomas Dewey and Errol Flynn were among her victims.
First recordings
Her first records were released in 1952. She appeared at the 'Bobino', a Montparnasse music-hall, toured in France and then further afield. From 1953 onwards, she could be seen on-stage at the Palladium, the Waldorf Astoria, and Carnegie Hall, and throughout the United States. From the beginning of the 1970s she toured Japan and Sweden where 'L'eternal Parigot', with her cheeky Parisian register, was popular.
Awards
Patachou was made Officier of the Légion d'honneur on 1 January 2009
Death
Patachou died on April 30th 2015 at the age of 96
Filmography
- 2003 : San-Antonio by Frédéric Auburtin : Ruth Booz
- 2001 : Drôle de Félix by Olivier Ducastel and Jacques Martineau : Mathilde, Grandmother
- 2001 : Belphégor, le fantôme du Louvre by Jean-Paul Salomé: Geneviève
- 1999 : Pola X de Leos Carax : Marguerite
- 1999 : Les Acteurs by Bertrand Blier : Blind old lady
- 1993 : Les Grandes Marées by Jean Sagols : Sophie Leclerc
- 1993 : fr [Cible émouvante] by Pierre Salvadori : Madame Meynard
- 1990 : "Night Of The Fox"
- 1986 : la Rumba by Roger Hanin
- 1983 : Le disparu du 7 octobre, TV Film by Jacques Ertaud : "Blanche Auroux"
- 1953 : Femmes de Paris by Jean Boyer, Patachou sings Brave Margot by Georges Brassens
References
- Sleeve notes from the Philips release 'Les Grandes Chansons/Patachou
- La Légion d'honneur du Nouvel An, Le Figaro.
- , Le Figaro.
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