Serge Reggiani
Known for: Acting
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
Series
Ciné regards
Self
1978
Series
Vivement dimanche
Self
1998
Series
Sacrée soirée
Self
1987
Series
Champs-Elysées
Self
1982
Series
Le monde est à vous
Self
1987
Series
Midi trente
Self
1972
Series
Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
Self
1975
Series
Le Grand Échiquier
Self
1972
Series
Numéro un
Self
1975
Series
Numéro un
Self - Host
1975
Series
Discorama
Self
1959
Series
La Chance aux chansons
Self
1984
Series
Victoires de la musique
Self
1985
Series
30 millions d'amis
Self
1976
Series
Cinépanorama
Self
1956
Samedi soir
Self
1971
Series
À bout portant
Self
1968
Film
The Leopard
Ciccio Tumeo
1963
Film
Army of Shadows
Le barbier
1969
Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!
Sgt. Jean Renaud
1957
Film
Les Misérables
Enjolras
1958
Series
Cinecittà Cinecittà
Serge Reggiani
1985
Film
Good Enough to Eat
Jean-Loup aka 'Loup'
1951
Film
Paris Blues
Michel 'Gypsy' Devigne
1961
Film
I Hired a Contract Killer
Vic
1990
Film
Napoleon
Lucien Bonaparte
1955
Film
Mauvais Sang
Charlie
1986
Film
Casque d'Or
Georges
1952
Film
Warriors Five
Libero
1962
Film
The 25th Hour
Trajan Koruga
1967
Film
Le Doulos
Maurice Faugel
1962
Film
Manon
Léon Lescaut
1949
Film
The Beekeeper
Sick Man
1986
Film
The Last Adventure
the pilot
1967
Film
Marie-Octobre
Antoine Rougier
1959
Film
The Day of the Owl
Parrinieddu
1968
Film
La Ronde
Franz, le soldat
1950
Film
La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
Élisa
Bernard Voisin
1957
Film
Vincent, Francois, Paul and the Others
Paul, écrivain, journaliste
1974
Film
The Threatening Sky
Narrator
1966
Film
Secret People
Louis Balan
1952
Film
France, Song
Himself
1969
Film
Cat and Mouse
Lechat
1975
Film
Les Enfoirés - Les Enfoirés en chœur de 1985 à aujourd'hui
2014
Film
Don't Touch the White Woman!
The Mad Indian
1974
Film
Henri-Georges Clouzot's Inferno
Marcel (archive footage)
2009
Film
Everybody Go Home!
Geniere Assunto Ceccarelli
1960
Film
Act of Love
Claude Lacaud
1953
Film
The Terrace
Sergio Stifler
1980
Film
Plein fer
Emilio
1990
Film
François Villon
François Villon
1945
Film
Gates of the Night
Guy Sénéchal
1946
Film
Let Sleeping Cops Lie
Le Stéphanois
1988
Film
Coupe franche
Mathieu
1989
Film
The Curious Adventures of Mr. Wonderbird
Chimney Sweep (voice)
1953
Film
Boys' School
Un élève
1938
Film
Cuba, a People Armed
Narrator
1961
Film
The Blue Panther
Ivanov
1965
Series
Une enquête du commissaire Prévôt
Le commissaire Prévôt
1956
Film
Children of Chaos
Joris
1944
Film
Countdown to Vengeance
François Nolan
1970
Film
The Lovers of Verona
Angelo (Romeo)
1949
Film
Return to Life
Louis (segment "Le retour de Louis")
1949
Film
Not Delivered
Bastien Sassey
1958
Film
Red Shirts - Anita Garibaldi
Lantini
1952
Film
The Wicked Go to Hell
Rudel
1955
Film
There Were Days... and Moons
Le père de Sophie
1990
Film
The Mystery of the Yellow Room
Joseph Rouletabille
1949
Film
3000 Million Without an Elevator
Pierrot
1972
Film
Heroines
monsieur Montgolfier
1997
Film
Star Without Light
Gaston Lansac
1946
Film
Night in December
(uncredited)
1941
Film
Violette & Francois
M. Levene
1977
Film
The Little Boy
Germain
1995
Film
Les Enfoirés 1995 - Les Enfoirés à l'Opéra-Comique
1995
Film
The Good and the Bad
le chef de la résistance
1976
Film
Fantastica
Euclide Brown
1980
Film
The Pianist
Rossell mayor
1998
Film
The Seine Meets Paris
Speaker
1957
Film
Bestiary of Love
Narrator (voice)
1965
Film
Mad Years
Récitant / Narrator (voice)
1960
Film
The Doll that Took the Town
Mario Grimaldi
1957
Film
The Seven Cervi Brothers
Ferrari, antifascista in carcere
1968
Film
The Sinners
Pierre
1949
Film
Il était une fois... Vincent, François, Paul et les autres
Self (archive footage)
2011
Film
The Perfume of the Lady in Black
Joseph "Rouletabille"
1949
Film
The Big Shots
Thia
1972
Film
Le Voyageur de la Toussaint
Bob Éloi
1943
Film
Solemn Communion
Le récitant chanteur (voice)
1977
Film
Le Dessous des cartes
Manu
1948
Film
Storms
Sergio Parnell
1953
Film
Une fille cousue de fil blanc
Jérôme
1977
Film
The Elders of Saint-Loup
Abbot Paul Forestier
1950
Film
The World Condemns Them
André
1953
Film
The Stowaway
Alfred Mougins
1958
Film
The Imprint of Giants
Fouldroule
1980
Film
Coïncidences
Jean Ménétrier
1947
L'écho
Marius
1988
Film
Saturnin de Marseille
1941
De force avec d'autres
Sergio
1993
Film
They Saw Inferno
Self
2010
Film
La Plaie et le Couteau, Charles Baudelaire
Un récitant
1967
Film
On the Set of 'Casque D'Or'
Self (Archive Footage)
1951
Rosen-Emil
Dr. Levy
1993
Film
36, le grand tournant
Narrator (voice)
1970
Pueblo en armas
Narrator (voice)
1961
Film
Serge Reggiani - Palais des congrès
Self
1993