Encyclopedia

Piaf, Edith

Piaf, Edith (pēäf') [key], 1915–63, French cabaret singer, born as Edith Giovanna Gassion. She began to sing at 15 in cafés and in the streets of Paris and was soon engaged to sing in a cabaret. Fame quickly followed her appearances in nightclubs all over Europe and America. Piaf appeared in several movies, starring in Le Bel Indifférent (1940), originally a play written for her by Jean Cocteau. Her highly emotional and powerful voice was enormously expressive. Her performance of the song Milord was especially cherished by international audiences.

See her memoirs, Au bal de la chance (1958, tr. 1965); biography by her half sister Simone Berteaut (1972).

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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