{"id":1256,"date":"2017-03-13T17:17:43","date_gmt":"2017-03-13T17:17:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/online.frenchlanguagesalon.com\/?p=1256"},"modified":"2020-01-21T18:06:57","modified_gmt":"2020-01-21T18:06:57","slug":"artist-spotlight-edith-piaf-the-little-sparrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/artist-spotlight-en\/artist-spotlight-edith-piaf-the-little-sparrow\/","title":{"rendered":"Artist Spotlight: \u00c9dith Piaf, The Little Sparrow"},"content":{"rendered":"

Believe it or not, it\u2019s time to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the acclaimed film La Vie en Rose<\/em>.\u00a0 A biographical masterpiece about the life and times of France\u2019s greatest entertainer of the 20th Century, \u00c9dith Piaf.\u00a0 To honor this remarkable woman, and her large body of work we\u2019re dedicating this Artist Spotlight to her.<\/p>\n

Born \u00c9dith Gassion in December 1915, Piaf\u2019s mother abandoned her at birth \u2013 leaving her in the care of her father, an acrobatic street performer.\u00a0 When he enlisted to fight in World War I, the then 1-year-old \u00c9dith was left in the care of her grandmother, who ran a brothel.\u00a0 She eventually contracted keratitis, which left her blind from the ages of 3 to 7.\u00a0 \u00c9dith\u2019s sight was eventually recovered, after the prostitutes at her grandmother\u2019s brothel raised money for a pilgrimage to honor Saint T\u00e9r\u00e8se of Lisieux; and she experienced what she described as a miracle healing.<\/p>\n

After the war, at the age of 14, \u00c9dith began performing on the street alongside her father.\u00a0 She also teamed up with her life-long friend Simone Berteaut, and the two of them would perform as a singing duo on the streets of Paris.\u00a0 Three years later, she fell in love with a man named Luis Dupont, and the two had a daughter named Marcelle; who eventually died of meningitis at the age of 2.\u00a0 Dupont kept insisting that \u00c9dith give up her life of singing on the streets, but she resisted and left not long after Marcelle\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n

In 1935 a prominent nightclub owner, Louis Lepl\u00e9e, discovered \u00c9dith singing on the street and offered her a chance to sing at his club.\u00a0 He trained her in stage presence, told her to wear a black dress (which became her signature apparel) and nicknamed her \u201cThe Little Sparrow.\u201d\u00a0 Her performances were sensational, and led to her release of her first two albums the very same year.\u00a0 Not long after, Lepl\u00e9e was murdered by gangsters who had ties to \u00c9dith, and she was eventually exonerated of any involvement.\u00a0 To save her career, \u00c9dith hired Raymond Asso to change her public reputation.\u00a0 Asso officially changed her name to \u00c9dith Piaf, and instructed her to sing songs which alluded to her early life on the streets.<\/p>\n

During the German occupation in World War II, Piaf\u2019s life came full circle.\u00a0 Many nightclubs and brothels were reserved specifically for German soldiers, who seemed to genuinely enjoy Piaf\u2019s gifts as a singer.\u00a0 By returning to the brothels and nightclubs to perform, Piaf made valuable contacts that catapulted her to international stardom after the war.<\/p>\n

In 1948, scandal erupted when it came out that Piaf was having an affair with married boxer, Marcel Cerdan.\u00a0 Cerdan was the great love of Piaf\u2019s life, and they were very open about their scandalous relationship.\u00a0 However, Piaf was left devastated when Cerdan died suddenly in a plane crash on his way to see her in New York \u2013 having just completed in a fight in Detroit.<\/p>\n

Not long after, in 1951 Piaf was severely injured in a series of car crashes, that compounded with years of alcohol abuse, left her addicted to morphine.\u00a0 During this time, her popularity in America only grew and she appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show eight times, and performed two concerts at Carnegie Hall.\u00a0 Piaf went in and out of rehab a few times at the insistence of her first husband, Jacques Pilles whom she married in 1952; however, the couple later divorced in 1957.\u00a0 Piaf then married Greek singer Th\u00e9o Sarapo in 1962, and the two occasionally performed together in some of Piaf\u2019s last concerts.\u00a0 She eventually died in 1963 at the age of 47, and is buried in P\u00e8re Lachaise Cemetery in Paris next to her daughter Marcelle.\u00a0 Her funeral procession was witnessed by tens of thousands of mourners, and it was remarked by singer Charles Aznavour, that her funeral was the only time since the end of World War II that Parisian traffic came to a complete stop.<\/p>\n

Numerous books and films have been dedicated to the legacy of \u00c9dith Piaf\u2019s work.\u00a0 She remains to this day a prominent feature in popular culture; with many of her songs appearing in movies, commercials, and performances by modern singers.\u00a0 Most notably among these, the 2007 film La Vie en Rose<\/em> starring Marion Cotillard as Piaf.\u00a0 Her performance in this film was so stunning, it won her an Academy Award for Best Actress.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve also been inspired by one of Piaf\u2019s songs, share your stories with us in the comments!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Believe it or not, it\u2019s time to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the acclaimed film La Vie en Rose.\u00a0 A biographical masterpiece about the life and times of France\u2019s greatest entertainer of the 20th Century, \u00c9dith Piaf.\u00a0 To honor this remarkable woman, and her large body of work we\u2019re dedicating this Artist Spotlight to her. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[10,16,37,65,89,108],"tags":[143,150,153,249,295,298,317,461,502,516,519,557,612],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/031317-EdithPiaf-2.jpg?fit=2000%2C1038&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8kt18-kg","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1811,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/education-en\/learn-french-the-best-songs\/","url_meta":{"origin":1256,"position":0},"title":"Learn French: The best Songs","date":"November 4, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Learn French or just practice on the way to work or in the waiting room at the DMV (we all know it can last for hours), it is possible and easy. To do so, all you will need are 2 things: a smartphone and headphones. Then, you just need to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Education"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/110417-frenchsongs.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2495,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/art\/the-alternative-paris\/","url_meta":{"origin":1256,"position":1},"title":"The Alternative Paris","date":"June 6, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"If you ask a tour of Paris with a guide, he will likely suggest to visit le Louvre, l\u2019Arc de Triomphe, la Tour Eiffel and le Jardin des plantes. This is an awesome tour but also so classic ! Paris has many other facets to show you. This article is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "art"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/060618-slternativeparis.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1885,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/arts-media\/top-10-movies-to-learn-french\/","url_meta":{"origin":1256,"position":2},"title":"Top 10: Movies to Help Learn French","date":"November 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"To continue our series on the best ways to practice French, it felt logical to make a list of top movies after already listing the top songs. It might be a bit more complicated to get your hands on these movies, as for the most part, they are not available\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arts & Media"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/111917-top10movies.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1138,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/artist-spotlight-en\/artist-spotlight-dave-nizet-director-photographer-avranches-normandie\/","url_meta":{"origin":1256,"position":3},"title":"Artist Spotlight: Dave NIZET \u2013 Director & Photographer (Avranches – Normandie)","date":"January 19, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Dave is not a French current given name:\u00a0 Back in the 70s, Dave was also the name of a romantic pop-song performer coming from Netherland. May be due to this origin, not only Dave Nizet has a unique first name that everybody loves, but he also is artistically gifted and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Artist Spotlight"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/2016Paris-by-night_1-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1582,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/artist-spotlight\/a-timelapse-of-paris\/","url_meta":{"origin":1256,"position":4},"title":"A Timelapse of Paris","date":"July 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Dave Nizet We have previously featured Dave on our blog as a photographer, but now he can add film maker to his credits! In a way, Dave NIZET is a stranger in Paris. 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