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Life Of Edith
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Edith Giovannq Gassion
Edith was born, Abandoned by her mother,then was placed by her traveling-showman father in the care of the madam of a cheap Normandy brothel. *Legend has it that Edith Piaf was born on a Parisian street corner, with two policemen attending. In reality, Edith Giovanna Gassion was born in the Hospital Tenon in the rue de Chine. -
Rejoining her Father
When Edith was school-aged, her father reclaimed her and made her part of his act, performing in circuses and nightclubs. Although her father's life was not a stable one, he truly loved Edith and did his best to care for her. -
On Her Own
Now free of paternal authority, Edith becomes the singing partner and friend of Simone Berteaut, a woman destined to be her alter ego and misquided troublemaker. together they worked the streets and the camps. -
Becomes Pregnant
At sixteen, she became pregnant by a young delivery boy and gave birth to a daughter, Marcelle, who died in infancy from meningitis. Like her own mother, however, she seemed to have little maternal feeling–only one photograph was ever taken of the child—and Edith quickly got on with her life. -
Louis Leplee
in the autumn Piaf had come to the attention of Louis Leplee, a Paris night-life figure who convinced Edith to sing at Gerny's, despite her extreme nervousness, and gave her the nickname that would stay with her for the rest of her life: La Mo me Piaf ("the little sparrow," as she is often "La mome" Piaf proved such a success that Polydor signed her up, and before the year was out she had recorded "L'Etranger" and "Les Momes de la Cloche". Marguerite Monnot started writing songs for her. -
Leplee Murdered
in the spring of 1936 Leplee was murdered, an affair that ended up soiling her image. She nevertheless played late-spring engagements.Records and Paris stages, strange though it may seem today, were insufficient to keep a young beginner in food, so Edith set out to conquer France's provinces. -
Death of Mother
During the war, both of Edith's parents reentered her life. She was happy to see her father and supported him until he died. Her mother, however, was another story. Edith would often be called to bars or the police station to pick up the inebriated woman. "My poor lamentable mother," she said. "I tried four times to make her take a cure, but each time she slipped back into her vice again." Anetta's death in August 1945 was as depraved as her life: alone and the victim of a morphine overdose. -
Ginou Richer
As her fame grew, so did her entourage. It included many friends. One was Ginou Richer. Richer was a teenager when she met her idol Piaf in 1946. She and Piaf hit it off right away, and remained the best of friends for more than 15 years. *Richer says the film "la Vie en Rose" is an insightful and accurate portrait of Piaf. She likes the film so much that she has seen it eight times. When it comes to the actress, Marion Cotillard, who plays Piaf, Richer says she was stunned by the resemblance. -
Marcel Cerdan
Edith Piaf soon traveled to New York for the first time and meeets Marcel Cerdan, the love of her life.He was a Moroccan-born French middleweight boxer. Even though Cerdan was married at the time and had a family in Morocco, the singer and the boxer became inseparable. Edith Piaf wrote one of her greatest songs "hymne a l'amour" for Cerdan. -
Marcel's Death
In October that year, Marcel Cerdan died in a plane crash on his way to New York where Piaf was waiting for him. On the day she learned of his death, Piaf performed her concert as planned. Overwhelmed by grief, she could barely stand. Piaf started using morphine, whether to dull the pain of grief, or from injuries she suffered in a car accident sometime later. -
Jacques Pills
In 1952, she settled down a bit when she married songwriter and entertainer Jacques Pills. Pills was also an alcoholic and did nothing to discourage her drinking. The two would often spur one another on in drinking binges that lasted for days. He did love her, however, and provided her with the most stable relationship she'd ever known. But again she proved faithless, divorcing him after several years. -
Theo Lamboukas
Edith was 47 when she met her last husband, Theo Lamboukas, who was 27.Lamboukas had little talent, but he wanted to be a singer and saw Edith as his ticket to the world of show business. Though by this time she was in very bad health, she worked hard to make Lamboukas a presentable entertainer, introducing him to the press and writing several songs for him. They shocked all of France by marrying (in a civil service, needless to say) less than a year after they met. -
Last Recording
in early 1963, Edith recorded her last song, "L'homme de Berlin." Not long after, Lamboukas took his ailing wife to the Cote d' Azur, hoping to restore her health. Old friends like Raymond Asso and Jean Cocteau, sensing the end was near, came to visit for the last time. Edith asked them to pray to St. Rita, the patron saint of lost causes. -
Edith Piaf's Death
Edith Piaf died in October 1963 at the age of 47, her health ruined by alcohol and drugs. But as Ginou Richer said, "She died at 47 but she lived 4 times faster than anybody else. So she died a very old lady." Her funeral procession in Paris drew hundreds of thousands of people.
Several years after her death, in a highly publicized ceremony, Maurice Chevalier unveiled a plaque outside no. 115 on the rue de Belleville in Paris commemorating the spot where Edith Piaf had been born.
