
Serge Reggiani
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.
106 acting credits
Acting · 106

Champs-Elysées
1982

Sacrée soirée
1987

Vivement dimanche
1998

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1975

Le Grand Échiquier
1972

Le monde est à vous
1987

Numéro un
1975
Midi trente
1972

Discorama
1959

Cinépanorama
1956
Samedi soir
1971

Victoires de la musique
1985

La Chance aux chansons
1984

30 millions d'amis
1976

À bout portant
1968

The Leopard
1963
Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!
1957

Army of Shadows
1969

Les Misérables
1958

Cinecittà Cinecittà
1985

Mauvais Sang
1986

La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
2022

Les Enfoirés - Les Enfoirés en chœur de 1985 à aujourd'hui
2014

Napoleon
1955

Le Doulos
1962

The Terrace
1980

Paris Blues
1961

La Ronde
1950

Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno
2009

Let Sleeping Cops Lie
1988

The Last Adventure
1967

The Day of the Owl
1968

Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others
1974

The 25th Hour
1967

Everybody Go Home!
1960

Casque d'Or
1952

The Blue Panther
1965

The Beekeeper
1986

I Hired a Contract Killer
1990

Manon
1949

Fantastica
1980

Les Enfoirés 1995 - Les Enfoirés à l'Opéra-Comique
1995

Une enquête du commissaire Prévôt
1956

The Stowaway
1958

Don't Touch the White Woman!
1974

Violette & Francois
1977

The Wicked Go to Hell
1955

There Were Days... and Moons
1990

The Seven Cervi Brothers
1968

The Pianist
1998

The Perfume of the Lady in Black
1949

Marie-Octobre
1959

Red Shirts - Anita Garibaldi
1952

The Big Shots
1972

Children of Chaos
1944

The Elders of Saint-Loup
1950

Act of Love
1953

Secret People
1952

Return to Life
1949

The Lovers of Verona
1949

The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird
1953

Heroines
1997

The Sinners
1949

Cat and Mouse
1975

Boys' School
1938

Élisa
1957

3000 Million Without an Elevator
1972

Une fille cousue de fil blanc
1977

The Good and the Bad
1976

Not Delivered
1958

Countdown to Vengeance
1970

Il était une fois... Vincent, François, Paul et les autres
2011

The World Condemns Them
1953
De force avec d'autres
1993

Coïncidences
1947

Le Voyageur de la Toussaint
1943

Star Without Light
1946

Solemn Communion
1977

The Seine Meets Paris
1957

Gates of the Night
1946
Rosen-Emil
1993

Night in December
1941

The Mystery of the Yellow Room
1949

Warriors Five
1962

Storms
1953

The Doll that Took the Town
1957

Plein fer
1990

Le Dessous des cartes
1948

The Little Boy
1995

They Saw Inferno
2010

Good Enough to Eat
1951

The Imprint of Giants
1980

Mad Years
1960

François Villon
1945

Coupe franche
1989

The Threatening Sky
1966

Bestiary of Love
1965

Cuba, a People Armed
1961

On the Set of 'Casque D'Or'
1951

France, Song
1969

Serge Reggiani - Palais des congrès
1993

La Plaie et le Couteau, Charles Baudelaire
1967

Saturnin de Marseille
1941

36, le grand tournant
1970
Pueblo en armas
1961
L'écho
1988