Édith Piaf (19 December 1915 " 10 October 1963) was a French singer and cultural icon of partly Algerian and Italian descent who "is almost universally regarded as France's greatest popular singer." Her singing reflected her life, with her specialty being ballads. Among her songs are "La vie en rose" (1946), "Hymne à l'amour" (1949), "Milord" (1959), "Non, je ne regrette rien" (1960), "l'Accordéoniste" (1941), "Padam...Padam", and "La Foule".
In 1935 Piaf was discovered in the Pigalle area of Paris by the nightclub owner Louis Leplée, whose club Le Gerny off the Champs Élysées was frequented by the upper and lower classes alike.
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He persuaded her to sing despite her extreme nervousness, which, combined with her height of only 147 cm (4 feet 10 inches), inspired him to give her the nickname that would stay with her for the rest of her life and serve as her stage name, La Môme Piaf (The Waif Sparrow, Little Sparrow or Kid Sparrow in Parigot slang). Leplée taught her the basics of stage presence and told her to wear a black dress which would later become her trademark apparel. Leplée ran a large publicity campaign prior to her opening night, which resulted in celebrities including actor Maurice Chevalier attending the opening. Her nightclub gigs led to her first two records produced that same year, with one of them penned by Marguerite Monnot, a collaborator throughout Piaf's life.
In 1940, Édith co-starred in Jean Cocteau's successful one-act play Le Bel Indifférent. She began to become friends with prominent people, such as Chevalier and the poet Jacques Borgeat. She wrote the lyrics of many of her songs and collaborated with composers on the tunes. In 1944, Édith Piaf discovered Yves Montand in Paris, made him part of her act, and became his mentor and lover.
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