Juliette Gréco

Juliette Gréco — Biography

Juliette Gréco was born on 7 February 1927 in Montpellier and became one of France's leading chanson performers and film actresses. Rising to fame in postwar Paris around the Saint-Germain-des-Prés scene, she came to embody the era's existentialist milieu. Among her signature recordings are "Paris Canaille," "La Javanaise" — penned for her by Serge Gainsbourg — and "Déshabillez-moi"; her repertoire also drew on words by writers Boris Vian and Jacques Prévert and on material associated with singers Guy Béart, Léo Ferré and Jacques Brel. Her stage career, which stretched across roughly seven decades, closed with a farewell world tour called "Merci" launched in 2015. On screen she took parts in films directed by Jean Cocteau, including Orphée, and by Jean-Pierre Melville. She received several French state honors, reaching the commander grade within the Legion of Honour. She was married to actor Michel Piccoli and later to musician Gérard Jouannest, and had a daughter, Laurence Lemaire. Gréco died on 23 September 2020 in Ramatuelle.