2. La vie d‘Édith Piaf Weiter per Mausklick

3.  Édith Piaf was born Édith Giovanna Gassion in Paris on 19 December 1915.  Her mother, Anetta Maillard, an Italian café singer, abandoned her at the age of two months.  Her father, a travelling acrobat, placed her in the care of her grandmother. EARLY LIFE  Her grandmother was the owner of a low-class brothel in Normandy.  Édith Piaf stayed there until she was seven.  She was completely blind from ages 3-7, and she claimed to have been miraculously  cured when the prostitutes prayed for her on a religious pilgrimage.

4.  At the age of seven she began travelling from town to town with her father, singing as part of his show.  At the age of fifteen, she took a job as a servant, to free herself from her father's authority.  She quickly left this job to return to singing. CHILDHOOD

5.  Initially she was singing as part of a duo with Simone Bertéaut.  The two girls entertained people on the streets and in military camps. EARLY CAREER  In one of these military camps, the sixteen-year-old Édith met a young soldier, Louis Dupont. He fell in love with her.  In 1932 Édith became pregnant.

6.  Louis was transferred before the baby was born.  They had a daughter, Cécelle, but she died of meningitis in 1935 before she was two years old. ÉDITH’S DAUGHTER ÉDITH MOVES ON  While she was performing,  she was spotted by impresario Louis Leplée.  He booked her to sing at Gerny's club.

7.  Leplée became her mentor and presented her as ‘La Môme Piaf' (Parisian slang for ‘The Kid Sparrow‘- she was tiny, as she stood only 4’8”)  She was wearing a plain black dress which was to become her trademark.  In early 1936, however, Leplée was murdered. ÉDITH’S CAREER TAKES OFF THE 1940’S  As the war began, Édith was earning her living singing for a Night Club.  In 1946 Édith met boxer Marcel Cerdan in Paris.  They never married, but she said he was the love of her life.

8.  When she made her first trip to America, she encouraged Cerdan to come and fight in Washington, where she was staying.  He did so and beat George Abrams. He became a national hero. ÉDITH ET MARCEL TRAGEDY STRIKES AGAIN…  Marcel was killed in a plane crash in 1949.

9.  In 1951 Piaf was involved in a car crash along with Charles Aznavour, a famous French singer.  Breaking an arm and two ribs in this accident lead to a lifelong morphine and alcohol addiction. … AND AGAIN

10.  Piaf was world famous, but a wreck. THE AFTERMATH  Piaf married singer Jacques Pills in 1952. They divorced in 1956  In 1962, Piaf married singer/actor Theo Sarapo, who was twenty years her junior. They stayed married until Piaf's death. LOVE LIFE

11.  Piaf died of liver cancer, on the French Riviera, on 10 October 1963. DEATH OF A LEGEND  She is buried in Paris, in Père Lachaise cemetery.

12. LA VIE EN ROSE  In 2007, a biopic about Piaf’s life was released. It was named after her most famous song.  The actress who played Piaf, Marion Cotillard, won the Best Actress Oscar in 2008 for her portrayal of the singer. Beenden mit Esc