LEGENDS
Tribute to Edith Piaf, By J.M. Smethurst. Cont'd.
Louis Papa.
Why he decided to fly when both he and Edith were mistrustful and afraid of it, we will never know, but one possibility suggested was that Edith may have persuaded him to do so to avoid a long wait for him to arrive by boat; another, that he wanted to surprise her. Whatever the reason, when wakened by Louis Barrier to be told he was gone, her grief was completely overwhelming but she insisted on singing that evening as planned, on her opening night at the Versailles. It was a tragic sight. Edith announced she was dedicating the night's performance to Marcel; she was so distraught that she even fainted during the show, but nothing would stop her - this was her farewell to the man she loved.
Michel
Elmer.
Encore une fois: 1950/51 saw Edith taking tours of France, Canada and America; along with her went not only Charles Aznavour, but a new lover, Eddie Constantine. His initial meeting with her had been in Paris at the Bacarra where he showed her an English translation of Hymne a l'Amour. Their romance only lasted until the latter end of a comedy play they were jointly appearing in - "La P'tite Lili". "La P'tite Lili" was dogged with production problems virtually up to the opening night. Arguments between producer, director, actors and songwriters over salaries,set design and personality clashes, plus the discovery that the play hadn't even been written when rehearsals were due to start meant that it was a miracle it opened at all, let alone be the resounding success it was! Edith was - in no small way - responsible for holding it all together. However, during the seven months of the play's run she found another interest in the form of sportsman Andre Pousse, a racing cyclist. They originally met in 1948/49 when Edith was involved with Marcel Cerdan - she had no romantic interest in anyone else at that time - but they had a mutual friend in Louis Barrier, and in 1951 she began to invite him to her newly-acquired farm at Hallier, Dreux. It wasn't long before she had asked him to move into the house at the Bois de Boulogne. Things seemed to be looking up for her despite her continuing sorrow for the loss of Cerdan, but once again this was to change.
Marguerite
Monnot.
In mid-August 1951, Edith sustained broken ribs and a fracture to her left arm in an automobile accident. The car had skidded off the road. Andre Pousse was driving at the time, Edith and Charles Aznavour were in the back. Three weeks previously she had been involved in an accident whilst being driven by Aznavour, but both had escaped unharmed. Her injuries were treated and she was prescribed painkillers - morphine - to enable her to continue singing, although the accident effectively closed the play. This was the start of a long-running battle with drug dependence, and the the end for Andre Pousse. It wasn't long before she was betraying him with a friend of his, another cyclist named Louis Gerardin. Gerardin had a wife however, who was less than happy at his abandonment of her. When he moved into Pousse's newly vacated spot at the Bois de Boulogne, taking with him a number of items from the marital home (all valuable), Mme Gerardin had a private detective follow him and; much to the delight of the press, charges of being an accessory to theft and a receiver of stolen goods were laid at Edith's door. Edith threw him out.
Piaf
with Les Compagnons de La Chanson.
Marriage and Drugs: By the end of 1951 Edith had sold 5 rue Gambetta, Bois de Boulogne, moved into an apartment on Boulevard Pereire and was was without a romantic interest or protégé to cultivate. She was lonely, depressed and quickly took to cruising the bars of Paris for company and stimulation. In addition to the alcohol, she was injecting cocktails of morphine and cortisone - allegedly to combat the pain of recurrent bouts of rheumatism. Those around her; Momone, Aznavour, Michel Emer, were initially taken in by her rationalisation and reassurances that she was "in control" of it and wasn't addicted. The next man she became involved with married her. Jacques Pills was an old friend and associate who approached her with a song - Je t'ai dans la Peau. He wrote the lyrics,the music was by Francois Silly, later known as Gilbert Becaud. Edith went on to write a couple of songs with Becaud, namely "Elle a dit" and Ça guele-ça madame. Within a few months she and Pills were married at the Mairie, 16th arrondissement, Paris. It was the 29th July 1952. It was followed by a church ceremony on 20th September at the Church of Saint Vincent-de-Paul in New York. Both of them had engagements in the U.S.A. - Edith was not the only well-known French artist working there. On returning to Paris, they moved into an apartment on Boulevard Lannes - No. 67 Edith instantly filled it with her usual life, clutter, activity and music, and, despite her good intentions, was succumbing to the temptation of the drugs more frequently. She used the same rationalisation with Jacques as everyone else. Finding excuses to drink to excess was easier - Jacques was only too happy to accompany her - and soon their antics became legendary!