LEGENDS
Tribute to Edith Piaf, By J.M. Smethurst
The
stele of the tom of Edith Piaf.
Edith Piaf was born on 19th December 1915 under a gas light on the night streets of Paris. Her real name was Edith Giovanna Gassion. Her Father was an acrobat, performing the streets of Paris, her Mother a street singer with no care for her new born child. For years she struggled making a living entertaining passers-by, for some time she worked with her Father, until she was spotted by an impresario who offered her a contract. With many problems throughout her career, Edith eventually became the most highly paid star in the world. She made many recordings dating from 1936 until her last recorded song, L'homme de Berlin, which she taped in early 1963. Edith did not die a rich woman. In fact she left many debts to her second husband, Theo Sarapo, a man many years her junior, but she lived her short life to the full, living only to entertain her public in the only way she knew how. I can only appreciate this woman through her recording and biographies of her life, I wish she could have hung on a little longer !
Edith Piaf spent most of her life living in the suburbs of Paris. She entertained her audiences in many European cities but never officially in the UK ! Her greatest success abroad was most definitely in the USA.The first two years of her life were spent in the Menilmontant area of the city; allegedly she was born under a street lamp outside number 72 rue de Belleville on a policeman's cloak Her father went off to the war shortly after her birth and returned two years later to find a dirty, ill child who had been in the 'care' of her alcoholic maternal grandparents for most of that time. He took Edith to stay with his own mother - a cook in a Normandy brothel, where she remained until the age of six. They then spent several years travelling around France entertaining people with their acrobatic side-show until they returned to Paris, renting a room at a hotel on the Rue de Belleville not far from her birthplace. 115, Rue de Belleville At the age of fifteen, Edith met Simone Berteaut; possibly her half-sister, definitely a companion for most of her life, and between them toured the streets singing and earning money for themselves for the first time. With the money Edith also earned as part of an acrobatic trio Edith and Simone (Mômone) were able to rent a room at the Hôtel de l'Avenir on Rue Orfila.
In 1932 she
met and fell in love with Louis Dupont - within a very short time he
moved into their small room; the three of them lived together despite
Louis and Mômone's dislike for each other. Louis was never happy with
the idea of Edith roaming the streets and continually persuaded her to
take jobs he found for her. She resisted whenever possible however until
she became pregnant and worked for a short while making wreaths in a
factory. Baby Marcelle was born in the Hôpital Tenon in February 1933.
Edith had little maternal instinct nor domestic ability and rapidly
returned to street singing until the Summer of 1933 when she opened at
Juan -les-Pins, Rue Pigalle. Louis was incensed - they quarrelled and
Edith left taking Mômone and Marcelle. The three of them stayed at the
Hôtel Au Clair de Lune, Rue André-Antoine. Marcelle was often left alone
in the room whilst Edith and Mômone were out on the streets or at the
club singing.During this time Edith encountered a young man by the name
of Albert who was a pimp for several prostitutes and even tried to
persuade Edith to work for him. She refused, so he demanded large
proportions of her money earned by singing and this continued until one
of her friends, a girl named Nadia, forced into working for Albert,
killed herself. On learning the relationship was over Albert attempted
to shoot Edith; luckily without success. In August 1935 Louis Dupont
surprisingly contacted Edith. Marcelle; who at some point Louis had
collected to care for himself, was gravely ill in hospital suffering
from meningitis. Edith rushed to the Hôpital Tenon - Marcelle died just
over a week later.
New Friends - New Discoveries: A month or so after daughter Marcelle's death - September 1935, Edith and Mômone made their way to the Champs-Elysées in the hope of a more lucrative day's singing. Standing on the corner of Rue Troyon and Avenue Macmahon Edith was singing 'Les deux ménétriers' when she was approached by a man who was to change her life - Louis Leplée. Handing her a scrap of paper containing his name, address and ten francs he asked her to meet him to audition at his club - Gerny's, Rue Pierre Charron. There was little that Louis wanted to change when it came to her singing voice, but her name, Edith Gassion was considered totally unsuitable. After considering - and rejecting - several names, he hit upon the idea of using the Parisian argot name for sparrow; Edith Piaf was created !Her opening night was a nerve wracking affair for young Edith. In a black, hand knitted dress, a borrowed scarf hiding a missing sleeve, she faced an initially cold, indifferent audience, but left the stage to riotous applause and cheering. Her new -found popularity brought with it new friends; Maurice Chevalier, Mistinguett - a contemporary of hers and Jacques Borgeat the poet with whom she maintained life long contact.Things were going from strength to strength until the 6th April 1936. Louis 'Papa' Leplée was murdered in his apartment at 83 Avenue de la Grande Armée and Edith, by her long association with the more dubious characters of Paris, was a prime suspect in the organisation of his death, if not the act itself. Continues next