January
21: Terry Jones, 77, comedian
He had established his notoriety thanks to the Monty Python, this troupe of comedians with crazy humor entered the cultural heritage of Great Britain.
With his comrades (Eric Idle, John Cleese, Michael Palin, Terry Gilliam and the late Graham Chapman), he participated in the production and writing of the absurd comedies
Sacré Graal
(1975),
La Vie de Brian
(1979) and
Le Meaning of Life
(1983).
Read also: Death of the Monty Python Terry Jones, director of
The Life of Brian
and The
Meaning of Life
26: Michou, 88, cabaret manager
He was recognizable by his suits and blue glasses.
In 1956, he opened his famous cabaret, which welcomed celebrities and strangers every day to dine in front of the spectacle of transformist artists.
For six decades, Chez Michou has been the place of the most dazzling and delirious parties.
Stars of the song, actors, women and politicians parade.
The cabaret will remain open: the “
blue prince
”, who had first announced that his performance hall would not survive him, changed his mind a few months before his death.
Read also: Michou, the blue prince of Montmartre
31: Mary Higgins Clark, 92, writer
She was the "
queen of suspense
".
The American novelist has signed around fifty books, which have sold around one hundred million copies, including more than 80 million in the United States, since her first big success in 1975,
La maison du guet
.
Among his most memorable novels,
La nuit du renard
(1977),
La Clinique du Docteur H
(1980),
We will never go to the woods
(1992) and
A sweet song
(2013)
followed
.
Read also: American novelist Mary Higgins Clark is dead
February
1st: Peter Serkin, 72, pianist
The first person in a long list of famous classical musicians who died in 2020, the son of legendary pianist Rudolf Serkin will remain above all known for his commitment to the music of his contemporaries and that of the twentieth century, from Arnold Schoenberg to Toru Takemitsu .
A repertoire to which he had devoted himself since the 1970s, but which will never have prevented him from defending the masters of the past.
In particular the great names of romanticism, to which his delicate touch, contrasting with his nonconformist character, conferred a magical elegance.
Read also: Death of pianist Peter Serkin, great defender of contemporary music
5: Kirk Douglas, 103, actor
He embodied the image of the American hero, a legend at the height of his character of Spartacus.
This son of a Jewish ragpicker who fled Russia had eyes only for the cinema.
After having chained the small roles, he meets success with a role of fierce boxer in
The Champion
.
Then he followed the films, a hundred in total, including
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
(1954) and
The Paths of Glory
(1957) by Stanley Kubrick, which he found for
Spartacus
(1960).
The Hollywood legend will have to wait until 1996 to win an Oscar.
A statuette of honor rewarding his entire career.
To read also: Kirk Douglas, life at the end of the fists
9: Mirella Freni, 84, singer
The Italian soprano takes with her a whole slice of lyrical history.
"
Sister of milk
" of the great Luciano Pavarotti, with whom she had shared the same nurse, the singer of Modena was one of the last testimonies of the era which had followed Callas and Tebaldi.
Particularly famous for the role of Mimi, in La Bohème, which she had played for the first time in 1957 and which she immortalized in 1963 at La Scala in the staging of Zeffirelli, she was also one of the favorite performers. by Herbert von Karajan, who praised his sense of legato as much as the roundness of his honey tone.
To read also: Mirella Freni, "
la prudentissima
" with the voice of honey and milk
11: Claire Brétécher, 79, comic book author
From
Gnangnan
to
Cellulite
, from
Spirou
to
L'Écho des savanes
, via
Pilote ...
She will have profoundly marked the world of comics.
A pioneer of cartoonists, she has been at the forefront of all ideological, sociological, artistic and humorous battles thanks to her sharp pen steeped in pure irony.
Read also: Claire Bretécher, the insolent pioneer
March
12: Toni Marshall, 68, actress and director
The only daughter of Micheline Presle, an actress in her debut, became in the second part of her career the only woman to receive the César for best director, for
Vénus Beauté (Institute).
She will then play Catherine Deneuve in
Au plus près du Paradis
.
She is also interested in social aspects, as in 2003 in
France Boutique
, or in 2017 in
Number one
with Emmanuelle Devos as a brilliant engineer decided to take the head of a CAC 40 company.
Read also: Tonie Marshall, the pioneer
21: Kenny Rogers, 81, country singer
The career of the country music star has spanned over 60 years.
The Texas-born singer was known for a series of hits including
The Gambler, Lucille
and
Islands in the Stream
.
His sweet ballads and incessant tours had earned him a reputation as a mainstream pop artist, especially through his reinterpretations of Christmas carols.
He had risen to fame through his duets with country singer Dolly Parton, and appearances in film and television films such as “
The Muppet Show
”.
Read also: Death of Kenny Rogers, a big name in country music
24: Uderzo, 92, comic book author
He was the last comic book patriarch.
He bowed out at the age of 92 not without having succeeded during his lifetime in passing the torch of
Asterix and Obelix
to two young authors, Conrad and Ferri.
Uderzo, to all who met and knew him well, seemed immortal.
At first glance, the man was shy.
Even reserved.
But when you got to know him better, he was inexhaustible in his work.
And on René Goscinny, who died in 1977, whom he never stopped talking about with love and kindness.
To read also: Albert Uderzo: by Toutatis, he left!
24: Manu Dibango, 86, saxophonist
The famous saxophonist born in Douala, Cameroon, passed away a few days after being struck down by the coronavirus.
Soul Makossa
, the song that gave birth to it, had an astonishing fate.
It was initially only the B-side of a 45 rpm whose flagship title was an anthem for the Cameroon football team on the occasion of the African Cup of Nations.
Spotted by New York DJs, the title has known a thousand lives.
Read also: Affected by the coronavirus, saxophonist Manu Dibango dies at 86
April
16: Christophe, 74, singer
A slender silhouette, a fragile voice and this weathered face barred by a mustache: until the end, he cultivated that timeless dandy look so unique in the landscape of French song.
A
sought-
after "
Latin lover
" look that hid the perfectionist arranger and the delicate composer behind many hits including
Les Mots Blues
,
Señorita
,
Les Paradis Perdus
and
Aline.
Read also: Death of Christophe: his widow explains why she did not mention the coronavirus
29: Krzysztof Penderecki, 86, composer
The classical world is losing one of its greatest living composers.
The Pole could boast of having marked much more than just the circle of music lovers who love contemporary music, thanks to a multifaceted work, which inspired the new Hollywood (from Kubrick to Friedkin) as well as lovers of sacred music.
This “
cantor of the repentants of the avant-garde
” moreover readily confessed to having found “
salvation
” in a certain return to traditions, after having followed the experiments of Pierre Boulez or Luigi Nono.
His Polish Requiem, created in 1984, will remain as one of the last major oratorios of the 20th century.
Read also: Polish composer and conductor Krzysztof Penderecki dies at 86
16: Kenneth Gilbert, 88, harpsichordist
He was best known in the world of baroque music.
But the Quebec harpsichordist (also organist) left the stage, leaving many performers and lovers of ancient music orphans.
From the University of Laval to the Mozarteum in Salzburg, via the Paris Conservatory (where he taught from 1988 to 1995), he had indeed trained several generations of harpsichordists, and counted among his students such strong personalities as Scott Ross , William Christie or Emmanuelle Haïm!
29: Irrfan Khan, 53, actor
The Indian actor rose to prominence when British filmmaker Asif Kapadia called on him for a role in
The Warrior
(2001).
Praised, the film earned him to be spotted in India by a new generation of directors.
In 2008, his face became world famous thanks to
Danny Boyle's
Slumdog Millionaire
, an eight Oscar-winning film where he played a police inspector.
Irrfan Khan had continued his career in the United States by starring in blockbusters like
The Amazing Spider-Man
(2012).
Also: Irrfan Khan, Bollywood Star and Familiar Hollywood Face, Dies Aged 53
May
9: Little Richard, 87, pianist and singer
He was known for his catchy hymns and frenzied stage presence.
Little Richard sealed with
Tutti Frutti
, planetary tube, the advent of an era.
Coming from R&B, he allowed in the 1950s, like other black artists like Chuck Berry or Fats Domino, the emergence of a new genre, rock.
Read also: Little Richard, great for eternity
12: Michel Piccoli, 94, actor
A monument of French cinema, the actor was famous for his roles in
Le contempt
,
The things of life
or more recently
Habemus papam
.
Remarkably longevity, his career is inseparable from the films of Luis Buñuel and Claude Sautet.
Under the direction of the first, he interpreted troubled characters (
The diary of a chambermaid, Belle de jour, The discreet charm of the bourgeoisie
) before becoming an incarnation of the glorious Thirty, unchanging cigarette in the mouth, at the second , in the 70s (
Max and the scrap dealers, Vincent, François, Paul ... and the others
).
Eclectic in his choices, he has also toured under the direction of Renoir, Resnais, Demy, Melville, Varda and Hitchcock.
Read also: Michel Piccoli, a great lord is dead
13: Gabriel Bacquier, 95, baritone
An extraordinary build and a career to suit him.
A man of voice and faith in his art.
Who had not hesitated to commit, years ago (long before the Covid-19 crisis) for the return of opera troupes to our country.
Moreover, this “
southern ogre
” will be remembered as
much for his overwhelming stage presence and the versatility of his theatrical sense (as breathtaking in Mozart or Offenbach as in Puccini or Bizet), as for the earthiness of his verb.
“
The older I get, the more I analyze.
There is only death that I could not analyze.
Mysterious, I wait for her.
She will take me as she wants, I'm not afraid.
(…) I cannot take it tragically, this comrade (…) And if you want to wish me something, tell me
Shit
, as it is customary in the profession before entering the scene
”, he said on the eve of his 80th birthday, in the interview book Gabriel Bacquier in a few notes (Slatkine editions).
Read also: Death of Gabriel Bacquier, legendary French baritone and stage beast
24: Jean-Loup Dabadie, 81, screenwriter, lyricist, man of letters
He has written many novels, screenplays, sketches but also the words of some of the greatest hits of his last fifty years.
Barbara, Julien Clerc, Reggiani, Sardou but also Jean Gabin were among his greatest performers.
"We will all go to paradise, even me, whether we are blessed or cursed ..."
It is to Dabadie that Michel Polnareff owes one of his greatest successes in 1972. And Romy Schneider and Michel Piccoli, for
The Things of Life
, hummed
The Song of Helena
.
Read also: Academician Jean-Loup Dabadie died at 81
28: Guy Bedos, 85, humorist
Unforgettable actor of a few French comedies, fiercely committed to the left, he had made a solid reputation as a gunslinger.
Guy Bedos, it was this silhouette who paced the stage relentlessly, playing texts often signed by his accomplice Jean-Loup Dabadie.
We remember
The dredge
,
Love you each other
or the
boxer (M'sieur Ramirez)
and
Bonne fête Paulette
.
In the 1970s, his film career marked the minds of millions of French people.
It is directed by Yves Robert
Un éléphant ça trompe enorme
(1976) and its sequel
We will all go to paradise
(1977).
To read also: Guy Bedos, funny with sad
30: Mady Mesplé, 89, singer
The coloratura soprano will have followed the baritone Bacquier by two weeks.
She was seven years his junior, but had also marked the French lyric world over thirty years of a busy career.
Her sunny voice, which the accent of the banks of the Garonne made singing even when she spoke, was silent on May 30.
It was the legendary voice of the Hindu Brahmin Lakmé as much as that of the Olympia of Hoffmann's Tales, but she had also known how to put the grace and agility of her clear breath at the service of today's composers, from Paul Méfano to Betsy Jolas.
To read also: Death of Mady Mesplé, great voice of the South, at 89 years old
31: Christo, 84, contemporary artist
This defector from communist Bulgaria to the West has succeeded, with his modern art, in imposing his XXL vision which mixes landscape, architecture, sculpture and childhood dreams.
The Arc de Triomphe will be packaged in the fall of 2021, without it.
The
Empaquetage du Pont Neuf
, from September 22 to October 7, 1985, the transformation of the oldest bridge in the French capital into a double sculpture with an ocher-yellow polyester drape, will remain the last great action
made in
France during his lifetime.
Read also: Christo dies at 84 and marks the end of a monumental adventure
June
1st: Janine Reiss, 98 years old, pianist and conductor
Cruel irony of fate.
48 hours after Mady Mesplé, French opera mourns another of its figures.
This one is not known for her incarnations on stage, but for having been the shadow woman of some of the greatest French lyrical careers of the 20th century.
Pianist, accompanist, coach, vocalist, vocal coach ... It doesn't matter what nickname you gave her: Maria Callas swore by her.
Natalie Dessay too.
Karajan loved having him by her side just as much.
And it was not uncommon to meet her behind the scenes of the recordings of the big names of the past century, from Domingo to Pavarotti.
To read also: Janine Reiss, the "singing teacher" of the divas, was silent
July
6: Ennio Morricone, 91, conductor
A prolific composer, he has signed the soundtrack of more than 500 feature films during a career of 59 years.
His chivalrous epics for Sergio Leone and his distressing melodies for Dario Argento and Mario Bava, among others, will have played a big role in the popularization of “
spaghetti western
” and giallo.
His best composition remained in his eyes
Once upon a time in America
.
During his career, the Roman won, among others, an Honorary Oscar, four Baftas and two Golden Globes.
To read also: The composer Ennio Morricone, faithful collaborator of Sergio Leone, is dead
17: Zizi Jeanmaire, 96 years old, music hall dancer
The muse of the choreographer Roland Petit was also the cheeky interpreter of songs written by Serge Gainsbourg, Guy Béart, Raymond Queneau and Jean Ferrat ... when she was not giving his famous
Truc en plumes
.
26: Olivia de Havilland, 104, actress
Unforgettable Mélanie of the enormous success
Gone with the Wind
(1939) by Victor Fleming, she was the dean of Hollywood, of which she embodied the golden age of the years 1930-1940.
The two-time Oscar-winning actress for best actress had lived in France since the early 1950s.
Read also: Olivia de Havilland, the Hollywood tigress
31: Alan Parker, 76, director
Creator of an extremely large work, he was consecrated worldwide for what will remain as one of the flagship films of the 1970s:
Midnight Express.
He won the Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 1985 for
Birdy
.
He also shone in musical films like
Fame, Pink Floyd- The Wall
or
Evita
, in which he starred Madonna.
In total, his works have won 19 Baftas, 10 Golden Globes and 10 Oscars.
Read also: Alan Parker, a director of the great melody and the little melody
August
2: Leon Fleischer, 92, pianist
The soloist was in 1952 the first American to win the famous Queen Elisabeth Competition thanks to his interpretation of Brahms' first concerto, and his composure when he himself had to replace the string that had just broken!
But it is for his resilience that he will remain especially famous.
Suffering from focal dystonia at the age of 36 which caused him to lose the use of the right ring and little fingers for three decades, he continued to serve music as a conductor and performer of the repertoire for the left hand left by sponsor Paul Wittgenstein.
After several operations, he finally regained the use of his right hand in the early 2000s.
Read also: Leon Fleisher, the one-handed pianist, died at 92
14: Julian Bream, 87, guitarist
His name was not known only to the inner circle of classical guitarists, but sounded as familiar to lovers of baroque music, as it did to English music of the twentieth century.
The British performer had indeed distinguished himself from the start of his career by being interested in the lute, and in the rehabilitation of the English baroque repertoire, which was still little defended.
Paradoxically, it is this passion for ancient music that allowed him to also become the favorite performer of English composers of the twentieth century, thanks to his meeting with Benjamin Britten, who will in his own way be another champion of the rehabilitation of ancient music in Britain.
Read also: Death of British guitarist Julian Bream at the age of 87
29: Chadwick Boseman, 43, actor
Marvel Studios' global success star
Black Panther
(2018) had become the first black superhero to be entirely devoted to a film in the franchise.
Prior to this role, he played baseball legend Jackie Robinson in
Brian Helgeland's
42
in 2013. He was also praised for his portrayal of singer James Brown in
Tate Taylor's
Get on Up
in 2014. More recently, he appeared in
Da 5 Bloods
by Spike Lee.
Read also: Chadwick Boseman, star of "Black Panther", died at 43, struck down by cancer
September
4: Annie Cordy, 92, singer
With her immaculate "
maid of the priest
"
apron
, her articulated braids of "
Frida Oum Papa
" and her feathered thing of "
Tata Yoyo
", the queen of the French music hall has devoted her life to the stage where she did not want to offer. "
That happiness
", title of a jazz and swing show she gave at the Casino de Paris and at the Olympia.
The professional entertainer was also an excellent actress, who widened and moved her audience by shining in dramatic roles in
The Passenger of the Rain
by René Clément,
Le Chat
(Pierre Granier-Deferre) or
La Rupture
(Claude Chabrol) .
Read also: Singer Annie Cordy died at the age of 92
6: Christiane Eda-Pierre, 88, singer
She was one of the first black singers to make a career in France.
The Martinican soprano leaves behind thirty years of a lyrical career marked as much by her first-class Mozartian incarnations and her love of the French language and melody, as her sense of pedagogy.
It had debuted in 1959 at the Aix-en-Provence festival.
Among his deeds of soul, we will remember both a concert alongside Pavarotti in Central Park in Rigoletto, in front of several hundred thousand people, as his incarnation of the role of the Angel in Saint Francis of Assisi. 'Olivier Messiaen, whom the composer had drawn for her.
Read also: The last flight of the Martinican singer Christiane Eda-Pierre
15: Paul Méfano, 83, composer
Messiaen, whose teaching he had followed, saw in him a "
possible Berlioz of the twentieth century
"!
Coming from the serial movement with which he had quickly distanced himself, Méfano remained above all known by lovers of contemporary music.
But the disappearance of Mady Mesplé three and a half months before his, who had worked with him, reminded us that the composer's music had known how to seduce performers of all stripes.
Moreover, this cantor of the overture also marked contemporary music as conductor, at the head of the famous 2e2m ensemble;
founded in 1972. With the latter, he bequeathed some forty recordings, and throughout his existence devoted himself to defending the music of others.
To read also: “Classical Instants N ° 21”: London 1720, Schumann in 1840, and the chefs of tomorrow ...
21: Michael Lonsdale, 89, actor
His long career has seen him both play under the direction of François Truffaut, in
Baisers Volés
in 1968, as the villain in
Moonraker
, a
James Bond
from 1979. He has played more than 200 roles in the cinema, juggling between experimental and popular films, in the theater or on television.
This actor with the Christian faith pegged to the body obtained in 2011 a César for Best actor in a supporting role for his interpretation of Brother Luc, free and heroic monk, assassinated in Tibéhirine in
Men and the gods
of Xavier Beauvois.
Read also: Michael Lonsdale, a mystical nonconformist
23: Juliette Gréco, 93, actress
From
Je suis comme je suis
à
Undress-moi
passing by
There is no longer after
... She was the magnificent interpreter of great poets - Mac Orlan, Sartre, Queneau, Brassens, Brel or Ferré ... - , which she served with this particular phrasing.
Symbol of the existentialist period and the artistic ferment of post-war Saint-Germain-des-Prés, it embodied at the same time a certain image of French song, ambitious, demanding, while remaining popular in the noblest sense. of the term.
Read also: Juliette Gréco, free singer and champion of freedom, died at 93
October
6: Eddie Van Halen, 65, guitarist
The founder of the legendary 1980s hard rock band Van Halen has died after "
a long battle
" with cancer.
Figure of hard rock from the 1980s, made popular by its hit
Jump which
sold millions of copies worldwide, the group Van Halen was founded by Eddie and his older brother Alex, on drums, with singer David Lee Roth .
Considered a virtuoso guitarist, he was particularly distinguished by a mythical guitar solo on
Michael Jackson's
Beat It
, in 1983.
Read also: Death of rocker and guitarist Eddie Van Halen at 65
28: Alain Rey, 92, linguist and lexicographer
He was the father of Petit Robert.
With his wife Josette Debove and Henri Cottez, he created a whole collection of dictionaries which revolutionized our approach to the French language.
In 1992, he published the first edition of the
Dictionnaire historique de la langue française
, a work that offers a journey into the history of French.
Read also: Alain Rey, the father of Petit Robert, died
31: Sean Connery, 90, actor
The Scottish actor was the legendary James Bond performer seven times.
Sean Connery will remain the one, the true, the only spy of His Gracious Majesty.
It is he who appears inside the barrel of a bloody weapon in the credits created by Maurice Binder.
He who pronounces for the first time the famous:
“My name is Bond.
James Bond. "
He who casually orders a Vodka Martini,
“with a shaker, not with a spoon”
.
He who has a license to kill 007 and draws his Walther PPK, while driving the shining Aston Martin DB5, in
Goldfinger,
in 1965.
Read also: Actor Sean Connery died at the age of 90
November
18: Michel Robin, 90, actor
Discreet, but unwavering in love with the theater, Michel Robin received at the age of 60 a Molière for a supporting role in
La Traversée de hiver
, a play by Yasmina Reza, directed by Patrice Kerbrat.
“We know my face, but not my name… I was the Poulidor of love!”
Used to say this former member of the Comédie-Française.
Shy until the end, he was nevertheless recognized by the public and the profession.
Very present in the theater, he was also in the cinema in
Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob
, by Gérard Oury (1973),
La Chèvre
, by Francis Veber with Gérard Depardieu (1981),
Merci pour le chocolat
, by Claude Chabrol (2000) or
The Fabulous Destiny of Amélie Poulain
, by Jean-Pierre Jeunet.
30: Anne Sylvestre, 86, singer
Known mainly for her
Fabulettes
, the singer also relied on a rich repertoire of more committed songs, such as
Non, tu n'as pas de nom
(1973), on abortion, two years before the Veil law.
Throughout her career, she was interested in the facts of society, and in particular in the condition of women, claiming the term of "
feminist
"
singer
.
She embodied a song with text, intelligent, ignoring fashions, in the wake of Guy Béart or Georges Brassens.
Read also: Death of Anne Sylvestre, great lady of French song, at 86 years old
December
12: John Le Carré, 89, writer
He leaves behind him twenty-five works having sold some 60 million copies worldwide and having for many been adapted for cinema.
The former MI6 employee had achieved international success after the publication of his third novel,
The Spy Who Came From the Cold
(1964), which he wrote at the age of 30,
"eaten up by boredom"
than his activities as a diplomat at the British Embassy in Bonn in Germany procured him.
This followed in particular
La Taupe
(1974),
Un pur espion
(1986) and
La Constance du jardinier
(2001).
Read also: John Le Carré, master of the spy novel, died at the age of 89
22: Claude Brasseur, 84, actor
Coming from a line of actors, he marked six decades of French cinema and theater, in addition to 110 films, alongside Marcel Carné, François Truffaut, Claude Sautet and Yves Robert.
For the youngest, it was Jacky, the dean of the
campsite
, for their elders, Vidocq or Vic's father in
La boum.
The son of Pierre Brasseur and the novelist Odette Joyeux, received two Césars for the comedy
An elephant that deceives enormously
in 1977 and for
La Guerre des Polices
in 1980.
Read also: Death of Claude Brasseur, the actor of all roles
23: Rika Zaraï, 82, singer
She was the quintessential popular singer.
Her moment of glory lasted ten years, from the end of the 1960s to the end of the 1970s. In 1965, she performed at the Olympia as a curtain raiser for a Jacques Brel concert.
At 30, the Israeli artist accumulates successes such as
Hava Naguila, Tournez merges, Michael.
But it's the frenzied
hit Casatschok
followed by
So I Sing
that really makes her a star.
Read also: Rika Zaraï, courage singer, died at 82
24: Ivry Gitlis, 98, violinist
His very expressive playing, his ardor, his sense of openness and his unfailing humor, made him one of the most endearing classical performers of his generation.
A magnificent performer of Bartok or Paganini, but also of the gypsy repertoire, he cultivated to the end a sincere curiosity and an interest in the younger generations, like this indomitable strength which made him an authentic "
tightrope walker
", often between two universe, partner sometimes of Martha Argerich sometimes of Yoko Ono, but forever unclassifiable.
Read also: Death of Ivry Gitlis, virtuoso violinist and endearing personality of the classical world
28: Fou Ts'ong, 86, pianist
Chopin fans will remember him for his admirably flexible playing and rich palette of nuances.
He left many fans of the Polish composer orphans.
From mazurkas to preludes, his airy and luminous touch often tinted his interpretations of Chopin with timeless poetry.
He was also one of the first Chinese to shine in an international piano competition, and a unanimously recognized teacher.
Read also: The pianist Fou Ts'ong in turn succumbs to the Coronavirus