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Yves Montand


1921 - 1991

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Yves Montand was not only a great actor but also a brilliant chansonnier who became a darling of the public for a whole generation. With his melancholy voice he enchanted Paris.

Although Yves Montand was born as Ivo Livi in Toscana he later impersonated the typical Frenchman. His parents fled from the Italian fascist and came to Marseille. There he led a life in poor conditions and he had to leave school at the age of 11 in order to bear the living costs as a errand boy, later as a docker and hairdresser.

His first real appearance as a singer he had in 1951, in the same year he got married with the actress Simone Signoret. She din't have an easy life with him. As protégé of Edith Piaf he conquered the Musical Hall and Simone Signoret looked over all his affairs.

Yves Montand already appeared in the 40's in first movies, with „Souvenir perdus“ (50) he attracted first attention. When he took part in the movie „Le salaire de la peur - Lohn der Angst“ (52) he played his most successful role.

Besides tough fellows in movies like „Les heros sont fatigués - Die Helden sind müde“ (55), „Compartiment tueurs - Mord im Fahrpreis inbegriffen“ (65) or „Z“ (69) he also played the passionate lover time and again at the side of Silvana Mangano, Gina Lollobrigida, Marilyn Monroe, Shirley MacLaine, Barbra Streisand or Annie Girardot, among them „Uomini e lupi - Frauen und Wölfe“ (1956), „La legge - Wo der heisse Wind weht“ (58), „Let's Make Love - Machen wir‘s in Liebe“ (60), „My Geisha - Meine Geisha“ (62) and „On a Clear Day You Can See Forever“ (70).

Beside it he was also political active and was also a friend of Moscow till the marching in of the Warsaw pact army in the CSSR. He was political involved in movies like „La guerre est finie - Der Krieg ist vorbei“ (66), „L'aveu - Das Geständnis“ (70) and „Etat de siège - Der unsichtbare Aufstand“ (73).

To his last movies belong "Garçon!" (83), "Jean de Florette" (86), "Manon des sources" (86) and "Netchaëv est de retour" (91).

The mix of womanizer and fighter made Yves Montand unforgettable even after his death.
 

Other movies with Yves Montand: 
Etoile sans lumière (46) Les portes de la nuit (46) L'idole (47) L'auberge rouge (51) Paris chante toujours! (52) Saluti e baci (53) Tempi nostri (54) Napoléon (55) Marguerite de la nuit (55) Un matin comme les autres (56) Die Windrose (57) Les sorcières de Salem (57) La grande strada azzurra (57) Premier mai (58) Django Reinhardt (59) Sanctuary (61) Goodbye Again (61) Paris brûle-t-il? (66) Grand Prix (66) Vivre pour vivre (67) Un soir, un train (68) Mr. Freedom (69) Le diable par la queue (69) Le cercle rouge (70) La folie des grandeurs - Die dummen Streiche der Reichen (71) On vous parle de Prague: le deuxième procès d'Artur London (71) Tout va bien (72) César et Rosalie (72) Le fils (73) Le hasard et la violence (74) Vincent, François, Paul...et les autres (74) Section spéciale (75) Le sauvage (75) Police Python 357 (76) Le grand escogriffe (76) La menace (77) Les routes du sud (78) Clair de femme (79) I...comme Icare (79) Le choix des armes (81) Tout feu, tout flamme (82) Trois places pour le 26 (88) IP5: L'île aux pachydermes (92)


 
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