Serge Gainsbourg
Known for: Acting
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
Series
Ciné regards
Self
1978
Series
Vivement dimanche
Self (archive footage)
1998
Series
Champs-Elysées
Self
1982
Series
Sacrée soirée
Self
1987
Series
Sacrée soirée
Self (archive footage)
1987
Series
Apostrophes
Self
1975
Series
Midi Première
Self
1975
Film '72
Self
1971
Series
Spécial cinéma
Self
1974
Die Drehscheibe
Self
1964
Series
La semaine des 4 Julie
Self - Guest (archive footage)
2020
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
Victoires de la musique
Self
1985
Series
Discorama
Self
1959
Series
Nulle part ailleurs
Self
1987
Samedi soir
Self
1971
Series
30 millions d'amis
Self
1976
Series
À bout portant
Self
1968
Series
Samedi Sébastien
Self - Guest
2021
40° à l'ombre
Self
1987
Series
Dim Dam Dom
Joseph
1965
Series
Dim Dam Dom
Self
1965
Series
Il était une fois Champs-Élysées
Self (archive footage)
2022
Please Turn the Page
Self
1977
Series
Fréquenstar
Self
1988
Series
Cadet Rousselle
Self
1971
Series
Vidocq
Un fou
1967
Series
Les Dossiers de l'Agence O
Dassonville
1968
Series
Seize millions de jeunes
Self
1964
Film
Bardot
archive footage
2025
Film
The Beaches of Agnès
Self (archive footage)
2008
Film
Pasha
Serge Gainsbourg (uncredited)
1968
Teuf-teuf
Self
1963
Film
Erotissimo
l'individu dragueur au cinéma
1969
Film
Jane B. by Agnès V.
Self
1988
Film
Charlotte for Ever
Stan
1986
Film
Cannabis
Serge Morgan
1970
Series
Archives secrètes
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
Sweet Skin
Le pianiste (uncredited)
1963
Film
La TV des 70's : Quand Giscard était président
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
L'Âge d'or de la pub
Self (archive footage)
2023
Film
Slogan
Serge Fabergé
1969
Film
Jane by Charlotte
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2022
Film
Melody
L'homme
1971
Film
The Unknown Man of Shandigor
le chef des Chauves
1967
Film
Reporters
Self
1981
Film
I Love You All
Simon
1980
Film
Whitney: Can I Be Me
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2017
Film
The Gardener of Argenteuil
Patrick Gérard
1966
Film
Bardot Amoureuse
2017
Film
Oh Les Filles!
2019
Le Trésor des treize maisons
Le chanteur
1961
Film
Brigitte Bardot: The Icon of France
2009
Film
Serious as Pleasure
L'inconnu du lac
1975
Film
The Discreet Françoise Hardy
Self (archive footage)
2016
Film
Come Dance with Me!
Léon
1959
Film
L'affaire Matzneff
Self (archive footage)
2020
Film
Love in the Night
Mathieu
1968
Film
Alain Delon, l'ombre au tableau
Self (archive footage)
2019
Film
Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eye
Police Inspector
1973
Film
Public Speaking
Self (archive footage)
2011
Film
Droit de Réponse
Self
1981
Film
The Revolt of the Slaves
Corvino
1960
Film
Mr. Freedom
Mr. Drugstore
1969
Film
Deneuve, la reine Catherine
Self (archive footage)
2022
Film
Gainsbourg and His Girls
Self (archive footage)
2010
Film
The Big Pardon
Self (uncredited)
1982
Film
Bardot, The Misunderstanding
2013
Film
Stan the Flasher
Un ami de David (uncredited)
1990
Film
Brigitte Bardot confidentiel
2022
Film
Katmandu
Ted
1969
Film
The truth about Brigitte Bardot
2014
Film
Egon Schiele: Excess and Punishment
Self
1980
Film
The Fury of Hercules
Menistus
1962
Film
All Mad About Him
Self
1967
Film
Seduction Squad
Albert
1972
Film
Samson
Warkalla
1961
Film
The Marriage Came Tumbling Down
Rémy
1968
Film
Souvenirs of Serge
Self (archive footage)
2011
Film
Catherine Deneuve, belle et bien là
Self (archive footage)
2010
Film
Spécial Bardot
Self
1968
Film
Romance of a Horsethief
Sigmund
1971
Film
Christmas at Vaugirard
Joseph
1966
Film
Jane Birkin... Mother of All Babes
Self (archive footage)
2003
Film
Serge Gainsbourg, les meilleures chansons
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
Les Enfants de la Pop 80's
Self (archive footage)
2012
Film
The Looters
Clyde
1967
Film
Paris Does Not Exist
Laurent
1969
Film
Jane Birkin: Simply an Icon
Self - Singer (archive footage)
2019
Film
Serge Gainsbourg – D'autres nouvelles des étoiles
Self (archive footage)
2005
Film
Anna
L'ami de Serge
1968
Film
The Rage of War
Mornar
1971
Film
Anna Karina, Remember
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
2020
Film
L'inconnue de Hong Kong
Jean le pianiste
1963
Film
Gainsbourg, toute une vie
2021
Gainsbourg, art(s) et essai(s)
Self (archive footage)
2018
Film
Jane Birkin - Alcaline le Concert
Self
2017
Film
Four Queens for an Ace
Man Asking for a Lighter (uncredited)
1966
Film
Brigitte Bardot : Divine B.B.
self
2004
Film
Le Zenith de Gainsbourg
Self
1989
Film
De Serge Gainsbourg à Gainsbarre 1958-1991
Self (archive footage)
2000
Film
The World of Gaston Rébuffat
Self (archive footage)
2009
Film
Serge Gainsbourg, entre les murs
Self (archive footage)
2018
Film
Gainsbourg... Casino de Paris 1986
Self
1986
Film
Gainsbourg by Gainsbourg: An Intimate Self Portrait
Self (archive footage)
2012
Film
La Story de Serge Gainsbourg : Le Punchliner
Self (archive footage)
2021