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Serge Reggiani
Acting
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'o…
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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.
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BODY OF WORK
Serge Reggiani's Filmography
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La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
as Self (archive footage)
Les Enfoirés - Les Enfoirés en chœur de 1985 à aujourd'hui
Il était une fois... Vincent, François, Paul et les autres
as Self (archive footage)
They Saw Inferno
as Self
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno
as Marcel (archive footage)
The Pianist
as Rossell mayor
Heroines
as monsieur Montgolfier
Les Enfoirés 1995 - Les Enfoirés à l'Opéra-Comique
The Little Boy
as Germain
Serge Reggiani - Palais des congrès
as Self
No Poster
Rosen-Emil
as Dr. Levy
No Poster
De force avec d'autres
as Sergio
I Hired a Contract Killer
as Vic
Plein fer
as Emilio
There Were Days... and Moons
as Le père de Sophie
Coupe franche
as Mathieu
Let Sleeping Cops Lie
as Le Stéphanois
No Poster
L'écho
as Marius
Mauvais Sang
as Charlie
The Beekeeper
as Sick Man
Fantastica
as Euclide Brown
The Imprint of Giants
as Fouldroule
The Terrace
as Sergio Stifler
Solemn Communion
as Le récitant chanteur (voice)
Violette & Francois
as M. Levene
Une fille cousue de fil blanc
as Jérôme
The Good and the Bad
as le chef de la résistance
Cat and Mouse
as Lechat
Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others
as Paul, écrivain, journaliste
Don't Touch the White Woman!
as The Mad Indian
The Big Shots
as Thia
3000 Million Without an Elevator
as Pierrot
36, le grand tournant
as Narrator (voice)
Countdown to Vengeance
as François Nolan
Army of Shadows
as Le barbier
France, Song
as Himself
The Day of the Owl
as Parrinieddu
The Seven Cervi Brothers
as Ferrari, antifascista in carcere
La Plaie et le Couteau, Charles Baudelaire
as Un récitant
The 25th Hour
as Trajan Koruga
The Last Adventure
as the pilot
The Threatening Sky
as Narrator
Bestiary of Love
as Narrator (voice)
The Blue Panther
as Ivanov
The Leopard
as Ciccio Tumeo
Le Doulos
as Maurice Faugel
Warriors Five
as Libero
Cuba, a People Armed
as Narrator
No Poster
Pueblo en armas
as Narrator (voice)
Paris Blues
as Michel 'Gypsy' Devigne
Mad Years
as Récitant / Narrator (voice)
Everybody Go Home!
as Geniere Assunto Ceccarelli
Marie-Octobre
as Antoine Rougier
The Stowaway
as Alfred Mougins
Les Misérables
as Enjolras
Not Delivered
as Bastien Sassey
The Seine Meets Paris
as Speaker
Élisa
as Bernard Voisin
The Doll that Took the Town
as Mario Grimaldi
The Wicked Go to Hell
as Rudel
Napoleon
as Lucien Bonaparte
Act of Love
as Claude Lacaud
The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird
as Chimney Sweep (voice)
Storms
as Sergio Parnell
The World Condemns Them
as André
Red Shirts - Anita Garibaldi
as Lantini
Casque d'Or
as Georges
Secret People
as Louis Balan
Good Enough to Eat
as Jean-Loup aka 'Loup'
On the Set of 'Casque D'Or'
as Self (Archive Footage)
La Ronde
as Franz, le soldat
The Elders of Saint-Loup
as Abbot Paul Forestier
The Perfume of the Lady in Black
as Joseph "Rouletabille"
The Sinners
as Pierre
Return to Life
as Louis (segment "Le retour de Louis")
The Mystery of the Yellow Room
as Joseph Rouletabille
Manon
as Léon Lescaut
The Lovers of Verona
as Angelo (Romeo)
Le Dessous des cartes
as Manu
Coïncidences
as Jean Ménétrier
Gates of the Night
as Guy Sénéchal
Star Without Light
as Gaston Lansac
François Villon
as François Villon
Children of Chaos
as Joris
Le Voyageur de la Toussaint
as Bob Éloi
Night in December
as (uncredited)
Saturnin de Marseille
Boys' School
as Un élève