Belgian singer Annie Cordy, performer of popular hits like "Tata Yoyo" and "La bonne du curé", died Friday, September 4 at the age of 92, in Vallauris, near Cannes, said her niece Michèle Lebon.
"She fainted around 6 pm. The firefighters arrived very quickly, tried everything to revive her," said her niece who had lived with her for years.
"She was gone in a few minutes," she added.
The queen of the French music hall dedicated her life to the stage where she wanted to give "Only happiness", the title of a jazz and swing show that she gave at the Casino de Paris and at the Olympia.
Review leader at the Lido
Léonie Cooreman was born in Laeken, district of Brussels, on June 16, 1928. "France is my country and Belgium, my homeland", she said.
Spicy blonde, Annie Cordy started out in orchestras singing American standards, before being hired as a magazine leader at the Bœuf sur le Toit in Brussels, then in Paris at the Lido in 1950, where she became Annie Cordy.
From operettas to musicals ("La Route fleurie" with Georges Guétary and Bourvil, "Visa pour amour" with Luis Mariano, "Hello Dolly"), through laughter, song, theater, cinema and the telefilms, the indefatigable fantasist shows an almost maniacal perfectionism.
She connects rehearsals, tours, recording songs and film sets, at an impressive rate.
From Chabrol to Jean-Paul Rouve
And the professional entertainer was also an excellent actress.
After making her debut with Sacha Guitry ("Si Versailles m'ait conté", 1953), she broadened and moved her audience with dramatic roles in "Le Passager de la forêt" by René Clément, "Le Chat" (Pierre Granier- Deferre) or "La Rupture" (Claude Chabrol).
In 2015, it rings just as true in its role of runaway grandmother in "The memories" of Jean-Paul Rouve.
On the occasion of its 90th anniversary in 2018, Brussels named a park in his name.
"It has an incredible effect to be recognized in this way by your own people," the artist told AFP, very moved by this tribute in her native country.
With AFP
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