Early life and family

Juliette Gréco was born in Montpellier to a Corsican father and a mother who became active in the Résistance, in the Hérault département of southern France. She was raised by her maternal grandparents. Gréco also became involved in the Résistance, and was caught by the Gestapo, along with her older sister, when she was only 16 years old. She was released from Fresnes prison a few months later, and walked the 8 miles back to Paris. She moved to Saint-Germain-des-Prés in 1946 after her mother left the country for Indochina.

Bohemian lifestyle

Gréco became a devotee of the bohemian fashion of some intellectuals of post-war France. Jean-Paul Sartre said of Gréco that she had "millions of poems in her voice". She was known to many of the writers and artists working in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Boris Vian, thus gaining the nickname la Muse de l'existentialisme.

Gréco spent the post liberation years frequenting the Saint Germain cafes, immersing herself in political and philosophical Bohemian culture. As a regular figure at music and poetry venues like Le Tabou on Rue Dauphine, Gréco became acquainted with Miles Davis and Jean Cocteau, even being given a role in Cocteau’s film Orphée in 1949. That same year, she began a new singing career with a number of well-known French writers writing lyrics; Raymond Queneau's "Si tu t’imagines" was one of her earliest songs to become popular.

Je Me Souviens De Tout

In 2009 her latest album, Je Me Souviens De Tout, was released. To mark the occasion, Gréco, accompanied by her husband Gérard Jouannest on the piano and Jean-Louis Matinier on the accordion, gave four concerts at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in early June.

Fiction TV

In the late 1960s she featured in the TV serial Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre. This gloomy character was so strongly connected with Gréco, that it accompanied her for the rest of her life and, in 2001, she was included in the cast of the movie remake with the same title Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre.

Personal life

She married three times: to actor Philippe Lemaire (1953-1956; one daughter, Laurence-Marie Lemaire, b. 1954), actor Michel Piccoli (1966-1977), and pianist Gérard Jouannest (since 1988).

Legacy

Gréco was portrayed by actress Anna Mouglalis in the film Gainsbourg (Vie héroïque) (2010).

The Canadian band Library Voices described Gréco's relationship with Miles Davis in their song "Be My Juliette Gréco, Paris 1949" from their album Summer of Lust.

Autobiography

• 1982: Jujube (published in French), Stock.

Albums

• 1950: Si tu t'imagines, a poem by Raymond Queneau set to music by Joseph Kosma.
• 1950: La Fourmi, a poem by Robert Desnos set to music by Joseph Kosma.
• 1951: Je suis comme je suis, lyrics by Jacques Prévert set to music by Joseph Kosma.
• 1951: Les Feuilles mortes, lyrics and music by Joseph Kosma for the film Les Portes de la nuit by Marcel Carné.
• 1951: Sous le ciel de Paris, lyrics by Jean Dréjac music by Hubert Giraud for the film Sous le ciel de Paris by Julien Duvivier.
• 1951: Je hais les dimanches, lyrics by Charles Aznavour music by Florence Véran.
• 1953: La Fiancée du pirate, extract from The Threepenny Opera, French adaptation by André Mauprey from the lyrics of Bertolt Brecht, and music of Kurt Weill.
• 1954: Coin de rue, paroles et musique de Charles Trenet
• 1955: Chanson pour l'Auvergnat, paroles et musique de Georges Brassens
• 1960: Il n'y a plus d'après, paroles et musique de Guy Béart
• 1961: Jolie Môme, paroles et musique de Léo Ferré
• 1961: C'était bien (Le P’tit bal perdu), paroles de Robert Nyel et musique de Gaby Verlor
• 1962: Accordéon, paroles et musique de Serge Gainsbourg
• 1962: Paris canaille, paroles et musique de Léo Ferré
• 1963: La Javanaise, paroles et musique de Serge Gainsbourg
• 1966: Un petit poisson, un petit oiseau, paroles de Jean-Max Rivière et musique de Gérard Bourgeois
• 1967: Déshabillez-moi, paroles de Robert Nyel et musique de Gaby Verlor
• 1970: Les Pingouins, paroles et musique de Frédéric Botton
• 1971: La Chanson des vieux amants, paroles de Jacques Brel et musique de Gérard Jouannest
• 1971: J'arrive, paroles de Jacques Brel et musique de Gérard Jouannest
• 1972: Mon fils chante, paroles de Maurice Fanon et musique de Gérard Jouannest
• 1977: Non monsieur je n'ai pas vingt ans, paroles d’Henri Gougaud et musique de Gérard Jouannest
• 1983: Le temps des cerises, poème de Jean-Baptiste Clément et musique d’Antoine Renard
• 1988: Ne me quitte pas, paroles et musique de Jacques Brel
• 2003: L'Éternel féminin - Intégrale en 21 CD Mercury
• 2009: Je me Souviens De Tout
• 2011: Ça se Traverse et C'est Beau
• 2013: Gréco chante Brel
• 2015: Merci

Notable songs

• 1950: "Si tu t'imagines"
• 1951: "Je suis comme je suis"
• 1952: "Les Dames de la poste"
• 1952: "Je hais les dimanches"
• 1952: "Les feuilles mortes"
• 1954: "Sous le ciel de Paris"
• 1959: "Bonjour tristesse"
• 1961: "On n'oublie rien"
• 1962: "Paris canaille"
• 1963: "La javanaise"
• 1965: "Marions-les"
• 1966: "Un petit poisson, un petit oiseau"
• 1967: "Déshabillez-moi"
• 1970: "J'arrive"
• 1970: "Les pingouins"
• 1972: "Mon fils chante"
• 1972: "L'embellie"
• 1972: "La lelluia"
• 1972: "Mes theatres"

Partial filmography

• 1950: Orpheus (directed by Jean Cocteau) … Aglaonice
• 1951: Without Leaving an Address (directed by Jean-Paul Le Chanois) … singer
• 1953: Quand tu liras cette lettre (fr) (directed by Jean-Pierre Melville) … Thérèse Voise
• 1953: Boum sur Paris (directed by Maurice de Canonge) … Herself
• 1956: Elena and Her Men (directed by Jean Renoir) … Miarka, a gypsy singer
• 1956: The Lebanese Mission (directed by Richard Pottier) … Maroussia
• 1956: L'Homme et l'Enfant (fr) (directed by Raoul André) … Nicky Nistakos
• 1957: The Sun Also Rises (directed by Henry King) … Georgette Aubin
• 1958: The Naked Earth (fr) (directed by Vincent Sherman) … Maria Boyle
• 1958: The Roots of Heaven (directed by John Huston) … Minna
• 1958: Bonjour Tristesse (directed by Otto Preminger) … as herself
• 1959: Whirlpool (fr) (directed by Lewis Allen) … Lora
• 1960: Crack in the Mirror (directed by Richard Fleischer) … Eponine and Florence
• 1961: The Big Gamble (directed by Richard Fleischer) … Marie
• 1962: Maléfices (directed by Henri Decoin) … Myriam Heller
• 1965: Belphégor ou le Fantôme du Louvre (fr) (TV miniseries, directed by Claude Barma) … Laurence/Stéphanie
• 1965: Uncle Tom's Cabin (directed by Géza von Radványi) … Dinah
• 1967: The Night of the Generals (directed by Anatole Litvak) … singer
• 1975: Lily, aime-moi (directed by Maurice Dugowson) … Flo
• 2001: Belphegor, Phantom of the Louvre (directed by Jean-Paul Salomé) … woman in the cemetery
• 2002: Everyman's Feast (directed by Fritz Lehner (de)) … Yvonne Becker
• 2009: An Education (directed by Lone Scherfig) … "Special thanks to Juliette Gréco"

Decorations

• Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters (2016)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]