Serge Reggiani
Acting • Born 1922-05-02 – Died 2004-07-22
Biography
Serge Reggiani (2 May 1922 – 23 July 2004) was an Italian-born French singer and actor. He was born in Reggio Emilia, Italy and moved to France with his parents at the age of eight. For many years, he struggled with alcoholism, caused in part by the 1980 suicide of his son Stephan. After acting school (Conservatoire des arts cinématographiques) he was discovered by Jean Cocteau and appeared in a wartime production of Les Parents terribles ("The Terrible Parents"). During World War II, he left Paris to join the French resistance. His first feature film came in 1946 with his role in Les portes de la nuit ("The Doors of the Night"). He later went on to perform in 80 films including Casque d'or, Les Misérables (1958),Tutti a casa, Le Doulos, Il Gattopardo, La terrazza, The Pianist (1998). In spite of never quite reaching the peak with his acting career, he did triumph in the theatre in 1959 with his performance in Jean-Paul Sartre’s play Les Séquestrés d'Altona. In the meantime, though, in 1965 he began a second career, that of a singer (at the age of 43), with the help of Simone Signoret and her husband Yves Montand and later with great assistance of the French diva Barbara. Reggiani became one of the most acclaimed performers of French "Chanson" ("song") and although he was in his 40s, his bad-boy rugged image made him popular with both young and older listeners. His best known songs include Les loups sont entrés dans Paris ("The Wolves Have Entered Paris") and Sarah (La femme qui est dans mon lit) ("The Woman Who Is In My Bed"), the latter written by Georges Moustaki. However, one of his regular songwriters throughout his career was Boris Vian (Le Déserteur, Arthur où t'as mis le corps, La Java des bombes atomiques). His new young fans identified with his left-wing ideals and antimilitarism, most notably during the 1968 student revolts in France. With age he became more and more acclaimed as one of the best interpreters of the French chanson also bringing the poetry of Rimbaud, Apollinaire and Prévert closer to his audience. In 1995, he made a comeback to the singing stage, giving a few concerts despite his deteriorated health and personal distress, the last one being held as late as in the year of his death, in spring of 2004. In later life he became a painter and gave a number of exhibitions of his artwork. Serge Reggiani died in Paris of a heart attack at the age of 82, one day after the death of another well known French singer Sacha Distel. He is interred in Montparnasse Cemetery.
Filmography
106 credits
The Leopard
Movie • 1963
Don Francisco Ciccio Tumeo
Les Misérables
Movie • 1958
Enjolras
The Good and the Bad
Movie • 1976
le chef de la résistance
Le Doulos
Movie • 1962
Maurice Faugel
The Last Adventure
Movie • 1967
the pilot
Paris Blues
Movie • 1961
Michel 'Gypsy' Devigne
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno
Movie • 2009
Marcel (archive footage)
Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others
Movie • 1974
Paul, écrivain, journaliste
Gates of the Night
Movie • 1946
Guy Sénéchal
Army of Shadows
Movie • 1969
Hairdresser
Solemn Communion
Movie • 1977
Le récitant chanteur (voice)
Les Enfoirés - Les Enfoirés en chœur de 1985 à aujourd'hui
Movie • 2014
Return to Life
Movie • 1949
Louis (segment "Le retour de Louis")
De force avec d'autres
Movie • 1993
Sergio
Mauvais Sang
Movie • 1986
Charlie
Everybody Go Home!
Movie • 1960
Geniere Assunto Ceccarelli
The Beekeeper
Movie • 1986
Sick Man
The 25th Hour
Movie • 1967
Trajan Koruga
The Lovers of Verona
Movie • 1949
Angelo (Romeo)
Casque d'Or
Movie • 1952
Georges
La Ronde
Movie • 1950
Franz, le soldat
There Were Days... and Moons
Movie • 1990
Le père de Sophie
Don't Touch the White Woman!
Movie • 1974
The Mad Indian
Saturnin de Marseille
Movie • 1941
The Blue Panther
Movie • 1965
Ivanov
Night in December
Movie • 1941
(uncredited)
Marie-Octobre
Movie • 1959
Antoine Rougier
Cat and Mouse
Movie • 1975
Lechat
Coïncidences
Movie • 1947
Jean Ménétrier
The Terrace
Movie • 1980
Sergio Stifler
Il était une fois... Vincent, François, Paul et les autres
Movie • 2011
Self (archive footage)
Good Enough to Eat
Movie • 1951
Jean-Loup aka 'Loup'
36, le grand tournant
Movie • 1970
Narrator (voice)
Secret People
Movie • 1952
Louis Balan
Storms
Movie • 1953
Sergio Parnell
Star Without Light
Movie • 1946
Gaston Lansac
Manon
Movie • 1949
Léon Lescaut
The Sinners
Movie • 1949
Pierre
Plein fer
Movie • 1990
Emilio
Rosen-Emil
Movie • 1993
Dr. Levy
Act of Love
Movie • 1953
Claude Lacaud
The Mystery of the Yellow Room
Movie • 1949
Joseph Rouletabille
The Perfume of the Lady in Black
Movie • 1949
Joseph "Rouletabille"
The Wicked Go to Hell
Movie • 1955
Rudel
Fantastica
Movie • 1980
Euclide Brown
The Elders of Saint-Loup
Movie • 1950
Abbot Paul Forestier
Not Delivered
Movie • 1958
Bastien Sassey
Children of Chaos
Movie • 1944
Joris
Le Voyageur de la Toussaint
Movie • 1943
Bob Éloi
The Stowaway
Movie • 1958
Alfred Mougins
The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird
Movie • 1953
Chimney Sweep (voice)
Violette & Francois
Movie • 1977
M. Levene
Red Shirts - Anita Garibaldi
Movie • 1952
Lantini
Heroines
Movie • 1997
monsieur Montgolfier
The World Condemns Them
Movie • 1953
André
Warriors Five
Movie • 1962
Libero
Élisa
Movie • 1957
Bernard Voisin
Une fille cousue de fil blanc
Movie • 1977
Jérôme
Pueblo en armas
Movie • 1961
Narrator (voice)
La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
L'écho
Movie • 1988
Marius
The Seine Meets Paris
Movie • 1957
Speaker
The Big Shots
Movie • 1972
Thia
I Hired a Contract Killer
Movie • 1990
Vic
Boys' School
Movie • 1938
Un élève
Le Dessous des cartes
Movie • 1948
Manu
Let Sleeping Cops Lie
Movie • 1988
Le Stéphanois
Serge Reggiani - Palais des congrès
Movie • 1993
Self
Mad Years
Movie • 1960
Récitant / Narrator (voice)
The Doll that Took the Town
Movie • 1957
Mario Grimaldi
3000 Million Without an Elevator
Movie • 1972
Pierrot
Napoleon
Movie • 1955
Lucien Bonaparte
The Pianist
Movie • 1998
Rossell mayor
The Day of the Owl
Movie • 1968
Parrinieddu
The Imprint of Giants
Movie • 1980
Fouldroule
Countdown to Vengeance
Movie • 1970
François Nolan
The Seven Cervi Brothers
Movie • 1968
Ferrari, antifascista in carcere
François Villon
Movie • 1945
François Villon
The Threatening Sky
Movie • 1966
Narrator
Les Enfoirés 1995 - Les Enfoirés à l'Opéra-Comique
Movie • 1995
They Saw Inferno
Movie • 2010
Self
The Little Boy
Movie • 1995
Germain
Bestiary of Love
Movie • 1965
Narrator (voice)
On the Set of 'Casque D'Or'
Movie • 1951
Self (Archive Footage)
La Plaie et le Couteau, Charles Baudelaire
Movie • 1967
Coupe franche
Movie • 1989
Mathieu
Cuba, a People Armed
Movie • 1961
Narrator
Victoires de la musique
TV • 1985
Self
Le Grand Échiquier
TV • 1972
Self
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
TV • 1975
Self
À bout portant
TV • 1968
Self
Numéro un
TV • 1975
Self
Numéro un
TV • 1975
Self - Host
Midi trente
TV • 1972
Self
Champs-Elysées
TV • 1982
Self
Cinépanorama
TV • 1956
Self
La Chance aux chansons
TV • 1984
Self
Le monde est à vous
TV • 1987
Self
Vivement dimanche
TV • 1998
Self
Discorama
TV • 1959
Self
30 millions d'amis
TV • 1976
Self
Une enquête du commissaire Prévôt
TV • 1956
Le commissaire Prévôt
Samedi soir
TV • 1971
Self
Sacrée Soirée
TV • 1987
Self
Cinecittà Cinecittà
TV • 1985
Serge Reggiani
Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!
TV • 1957
Sgt. Jean Renaud