Serge Reggiani

Who was Serge Reggiani?

Serge Reggiani 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 he was discovered by Jean Cocteau and appeared in a wartime production of Les Parents terribles. 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. He later went on to perform in 80 films including Casque d'or, Les Misérables,Tutti a casa, Le Doulos, Il Gattopardo, La terrazza, The Pianist.

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, 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" and although he was in his 40s, his bad-boy rugged image made him popular with both young and older listeners.