Lys Gauty
| Lys Gauty | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Alice Bonnefoux Gauthier 2 February 1900 Levallois-Perret |
| Died | 2 January 1994 (aged 93) Monte Carlo |
| Occupation | Singer actress |
| Spouse(s) | Gaston Groeuer |
Lys Gauty (born Alice Bonnefoux Gauthier 2 February 1900 – 2 January 1994) was a French cabaret singer and actress. Her most significant work came in the 1930s and 1940s as Gauty appeared in film, and recorded her best-known song, "Le Chaland Qui Passe", which is an interpretation of an Italian composition.
Born in Levallois-Perret, France, Gauty was the daughter of a mechanic and seamstress. Aspiring to be an opera singer, she worked as a shop-girl at a tailor store called the Galeries Lafayette, saving some of her earnings, and portions donated to her by Gauty's parents to receive a classical music education at Nelson Fyscher in Paris. In 1922, Gauty began her musical career as a cabaret singer at variety shows arranged by operetta composer Georges Van Parys, who accompanied her on piano. She married her booking agent, Swiss music director Gaston Groeuer, who had taken over ownership of the Theatre des Dix Heures in Brussels, Belgium. At the music hall, Gauty commenced her successful stretch in Parisian music halls, intermittently performing at the Theatre des Dix Heures for 12 years.
She became a celebrated figure in music halls such as the Olympia, the Empire, the Alcazar, and the ABC. Gauty began recording in 1927, creating her most popular recorded performance in the same year—a French rendition of the Italian love-song, Parla mi d'amore Mario, re-titled Le Chaland Qui Passe. Beginning in 1930, Gauty started to dabble in cinema soundtracks, singing for Maurice Gleize's Wedding Day. Another notable recording was made into the theme song for René Clair's film Quatorze Juliet in 1933. Le Chaland Qui Passe was also introduced into the 1934 film L'Atalante when it was renamed after the song in an attempt to become more popular among the public.
Gauty was awarded a Grande Prix du Disque for her role in the French adaptation of German composer Kurt Weill's The Threepenny Opera. In addition, Weill supplied her with another of her popular songs, "La Complainte de la Seine". When a period of rampant anti-semitism had spread across France in the mid-1930s, Gauty was one of the few artists to show her support for the Jewish people by singing the composition "Israel-va-ten". In 1940, following a tour in South America, Gauty returned to France, which had been conquered by Nazi Germany. Under threat of deportation and questioned about her Jewish husband, she, like several other French musicians, agreed to perform in Germany throughout the Second World War. Before the war's conclusion, Gauty had escaped to Monaco where she performed with pianist Léo Ferré, who also composed songs for her.
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