Boyer, Lucienne

SINGER (FRANCE)
BORN 18 Aug 1903, Paris: Montparnasse - DIED 6 Dec 1983, Paris: 10e
BIRTH NAME Boyer, Émilienne-Henriette
GRAVE LOCATION Bagneux, Hauts-de-Seine: Cimetière Parisien de Bagneux, 45 Avenue Marx Dormoy (division 21, 10e ligne, 9e tombe)

Her father died as a soldier during World War I and Émilienne Boyer had to work in a munitions factory at an early age. Her voice was noticed when she was sixteen yeard old. She started working as a model and singing in cabarets in Montparnasse. A few years later she sang as Lucienne Boyer at the larger music halls in Paris.

In 1927 she was noticed by Lee Shubert (1873-1953) when she sang with Félix Mayol. Shubert took her to Broadway where she performed for nine months. During the 1930s she returned to the USA several times and she also performed in South America. She won the first Grand Prix du Disque for "Parlez-moi d'amour".

In 1939 she married the singer Jacques Pills (1906-1970) and in 1941 they had a daughter, Jacqueline, who would win the Eurovision Song Context in 1960. During the Second world War she continued to perform although her husband was Jewish. After the war she continued a successful cabaret career. In 1951 she divorced Pills, who subsequently married Édith Piaf. In 1973 she appeared with Jacqueline at the Olympia in Paris. She died in 1983 in Paris.

Images

The grave of Lucienne Boyer at the Cimetière Parisien, Bagneux.
Picture by Androom (03 Nov 2017)

 

Sources
• Beyern, Bertrand, Guide des tombes d'hommes célèbres, Le Cherche Midi, Paris, 2003
Lucienne Boyer - Wikipedia


Boyer, Pierre François Xavier

Published: 09 Sep 2018
Last update: 21 Nov 2019