Serge Gainsbourg
Acting • Born 1928-04-02 – Died 1991-03-02
Biography
Serge Gainsbourg (born Lucien Ginsburg; 2 April 1928 – 2 March 1991) was a French singer-songwriter, actor, composer, and director. Regarded as one of the most important figures in French pop, he was renowned for often provocative releases which caused uproar in France, dividing public opinion. His artistic output ranged from his early work in jazz, chanson, and yé-yé to later efforts in rock, zouk, funk, reggae, and electronica. Gainsbourg's varied musical style and individuality make him difficult to categorise, although his legacy has been firmly established and he is often regarded as one of the world's most influential popular musicians. Gainsbourg wrote over 550 songs, which have been covered more than 1,000 times by diverse artists. His lyrical works incorporated wordplay, with humorous, bizarre, provocative, sexual, satirical or subversive overtones. Since his death from a second heart attack in 1991, Gainsbourg's music has reached legendary stature in France. While controversial in his lifetime, he has become one of France's best-loved public figures. He has also gained a cult following across the world with chart success in the United Kingdom and Belgium with "Je t'aime... moi non plus" and "Bonnie and Clyde", respectively. Serge Gainsbourg was born in Paris on 2 April 1928, in the maternity ward of the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris on the Île de la Cité. He was the son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Joseph and Olga Ginsburg. Born Brucha Goda Besman (nicknamed Olia/Olga) in Feodosiya in 1894, Serge's mother was a mezzo-soprano singer. Serge's father Joseph was born in Constantinople in the Ottoman Empire of Ukrainian Jewish heritage in 1896. Originally interested in painting, he entered the Petrograd Conservatory and then the Moscow Conservatory to study music, becoming a classically trained pianist. He came to Crimea, where he met and married Olga in 1918. The couple fled Odessa for Paris via Georgia and then Istanbul in the years following the Russian Revolution. The couple arrived in Marseille in 1921, settling in Paris near Olga's brother, who worked for the Louis Dreyfus Bank. Joseph became a piano performer at bars, casinos, and cabarets, while Olga sang at the Conservatoire Rachmaninoff. Serge and his twin sister Liliane had an elder brother Marcel, born in 1922, who died at sixteen months of pneumonia. They also had an older sister Jacqueline, born in 1926. The family lived in the working-class districts of Paris, first at 35 Rue de la Chine in the 20th arrondissement, and then at 11 Rue Chaptal in the 9th arrondissement. They obtained French nationality in 1932. Joseph taught Serge and Liliane to play the piano. At age 12, Serge enrolled at the École Normale de Musique de Paris. Gainsbourg's childhood was profoundly affected by the occupation of France by Germany during World War II. The identifying yellow star that Jews were required to wear haunted Gainsbourg; in later years he was able to transmute this memory into creative inspiration. Early in the summer of 1941, the family temporarily sought refuge in the commune of Courgenard in the Sarthe department, at a place called "La Bassetière," with Baptiste and Irma Dumur. ... Source: Article "Serge Gainsbourg" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA.
Filmography
106 credits
The Gardener of Argenteuil
Movie • 1966
Patrick Gérard
Mr. Freedom
Movie • 1969
Mr. Drugstore
Les Enfants de la Pop 80's
Movie • 2012
Self (archive footage)
Serge Gainsbourg – D'autres nouvelles des étoiles
Movie • 2005
Self (archive footage)
I Love You All
Movie • 1980
Simon
Anna
Movie • 1998
L'ami de Serge
Cannabis
Movie • 1970
Serge Morgan
Charlotte for Ever
Movie • 1986
Stan
Paris Does Not Exist
Movie • 1969
Laurent
Come Dance with Me!
Movie • 1959
Léon
Katmandu
Movie • 1969
Ted
Droit de Réponse
Movie • 1981
Self
Gainsbourg... Casino de Paris 1986
Movie • 1986
Self
Slogan
Movie • 1969
Serge Fabergé
The Rage of War
Movie • 1971
Mornar
Sweet Skin
Movie • 1963
Le pianiste (uncredited)
Le Zenith de Gainsbourg
Movie • 1989
Self
Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye
Movie • 1973
Police Inspector
Stan the Flasher
Movie • 1990
Un ami de David (uncredited)
Serge Gainsbourg, entre les murs
Movie • 2018
Self (archive footage)
Romance of a Horsethief
Movie • 1971
Sigmund
Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau
Movie • 2019
Self (archive footage)
The Revolt of the Slaves
Movie • 1960
Corvino
The Fury of Hercules
Movie • 1962
Menistus
Jane Birkin... Mother of All Babes
Movie • 2003
Self (archive footage)
Erotissimo
Movie • 1969
l'individu dragueur au cinéma
Serious as Pleasure
Movie • 1975
L'inconnu du lac
L'Âge d'or de la pub
Movie • 2023
Self (archive footage)
The Big Pardon
Movie • 1982
Self (uncredited)
Four Queens for an Ace
Movie • 1966
Man Asking for a Lighter (uncredited)
Jane by Charlotte
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Looters
Movie • 1967
Clyde
The World of Gaston Rébuffat
Movie • 2009
Self (archive footage)
Melody
Movie • 1971
L'homme
Gainsbourg, art(s) et essai(s)
Movie • 2018
Self (archive footage)
Gainsbourg by Gainsbourg: An Intimate Self Portrait
Movie • 2012
Self (archive footage)
Pasha
Movie • 1968
Serge Gainsbourg (uncredited)
Public Speaking
Movie • 2011
Self (archive footage)
La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Love in the Night
Movie • 1968
Mathieu
Jane B. by Agnès V.
Movie • 1988
Self
Seduction Squad
Movie • 1972
Albert
The Discreet Françoise Hardy
Movie • 2016
Self (archive footage)
Reporters
Movie • 1981
Self
Samson
Movie • 1961
Warkalla
De Serge Gainsbourg à Gainsbarre 1958-1991
Movie • 2000
Self (archive footage)
Gainsbourg... Le Zénith - Live
Movie • 1990
Self
The Beaches of Agnès
Movie • 2008
Self (archive footage)
The Unknown Man of Shandigor
Movie • 1967
le chef des Chauves
L'inconnue de Hong Kong
Movie • 1963
Jean le pianiste
Whitney: Can I Be Me
Movie • 2017
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Spécial Bardot
Movie • 1968
Self
The Marriage Came Tumbling Down
Movie • 1968
Rémy
Jane Birkin - Alcaline le Concert
Movie • 2017
Self
Egon Schiele: Excess and Punishment
Movie • 1980
Self
All Mad About Him
Movie • 1967
Self
L'affaire Matzneff
Movie • 2020
Self (archive footage)
Jane Birkin: Simply an Icon
Movie • 2019
Self - Singer (archive footage)
Anna Karina, Remember
Movie • 2020
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Teuf-teuf
Movie • 1963
Self
La Story de Serge Gainsbourg : Le Punchliner
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
Souvenirs of Serge
Movie • 2011
Self (archive footage)
Serge Gainsbourg, les meilleures chansons
Movie • 2021
Self (archive footage)
Catherine Deneuve, belle et bien là
Movie • 2010
Self (archive footage)
Christmas at Vaugirard
Movie • 1966
Joseph
Gainsbourg and His Girls
Movie • 2010
Self (archive footage)
Deneuve, la reine Catherine
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Gainsbourg, toute une vie
Movie • 2021
Oh Les Filles!
Movie • 2019
Brigitte Bardot : Divine B.B.
Movie • 2004
self
The truth about Brigitte Bardot
Movie • 2014
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
Movie • 2009
Bardot, The Misunderstanding
Movie • 2013
Brigitte Bardot confidentiel
Movie • 2022
Numéro un
TV • 1975
Self
La semaine des 4 Julie
TV • 2020
Self - Guest (archive footage)
Les Dossiers de l'Agence O
TV • 1968
Dassonville
Victoires de la musique
TV • 1985
Self
Nulle part ailleurs
TV • 1987
Self
Samedi Sébastien
TV • 2021
Self - Guest
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
TV • 1975
Self
À bout portant
TV • 1968
Self
Archives secrètes
TV • 2021
Self (archive footage)
Spécial cinéma
TV • 1974
Self
Le Grand Échiquier
TV • 1972
Self
Cadet Rousselle
TV • 1971
Self
Dim Dam Dom
TV • 1965
Joseph
Dim Dam Dom
TV • 1965
Self
Midi trente
TV • 1972
Self
Midi Première
TV • 1975
Self
Champs-Elysées
TV • 1982
Self
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
TV • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Apostrophes
TV • 1975
Self
Please Turn the Page
TV • 1977
Self
Die Drehscheibe
TV • 1964
Self
Discorama
TV • 1959
Self
40° à l'ombre
TV • 1987
Self
Vivement dimanche
TV • 1998
Self (archive footage)
30 millions d'amis
TV • 1976
Self
Samedi soir
TV • 1971
Self
Sacrée Soirée
TV • 1987
Self
Vidocq
TV • 1967
Un fou
Sacrée Soirée
TV • 1987
Self (archive footage)
Film '72
TV • 1971
Self
Fréquenstar
TV • 1988
Self
Le Trésor des treize maisons
TV • 1961
Le chanteur