Marie-Louise Damien
Marie-Louise Damien | |
|---|---|
 Damia in 1920 | |
| Born | Louise Marie Damien 5 December 1889 Paris, France |
| Died | 30 January 1978 (aged 88)January 30, 1978 La Celle-Saint-Cloud, France |
| Resting place | Cimetière parisien de Pantin[1] |
| Nationality | French |
| Other names | Marisa Damia, Marysa Damia |
| Occupation | singer |
Marie-Louise Damien (5 December 1889 – January 31, 1978), better known by the stage name Damia, was a French singer and actress.
Early life
Louise Marie Damien was born on 5 December 1889 to Marie Joséphine Louise (née Claude) and Nicolas Damien[2] on rue Jeanne d’Arc in the 13th arrondissement of Paris. Her father was a police sergeant in Lorraine and she was raised in a family of eight siblings. Running away from home after being sent to a reform school, Damien arrived in Paris when she was fifteen.[3]
Career
Damien initially worked as a model and actress playing bit parts with the Théâtre du Châtelet,[3] but by 1910 was performing as a dancer with Max Dearly in London.[3][4] After returning from London, she was encouraged to sing by the impresario Robert Hollard, who used the stage name "Roberty".[3] Hollard was the husband of the singer, Fréhel, at the time and his affair with Damien ended his stormy marriage.[5] Her singing debut occurred in 1911 at the Pépinière and was followed by a performance at the Alhambra,[3] which was arranged by Harry Fragson. He also arranged for her to perform at the Alcazar d'Été, where she worked with Maurice Chevalier. When Fragson was murdered by his father, Damien left France in 1913 and went to the United States.[6]
Felix Mayol and Loie Fuller
After being seen by Félix Mayol, one of the leading male singing stars at the time, he hired her to perform at his concerts. Despite this, her career evolved slowly, taking second billing for a number of years but with help in her stage presentation from the American dancer, Loie Fuller, she eventually became a singing star. At the beginning of World War I she opened Le Concert Damia, in Montmartre, where she became the first star ever to have a single spotlight trained on her face, bare arms and hands. From this point in her career she became the most important exponent of the chanson réaliste genre until Édith Piaf came along in 1936. Her nickname was "la tragédienne de la chanson", and amongst her big hits were "Les goélands", "Johnny Palmer", "C'est mon gigolo" and "Tu ne sais pas aimer"—the latter song became a theme for French sufferers of AIDS.
Films
In 1927, she appeared in the film, Napoléon directed by Abel Gance with early silent film stars Antonin Artaud, Philippe Hériat, Annabella, and Suzanne Bianchetti. Her other film successes included "Sola" and "Notre Dame De Paris", alongside Anthony Quinn. Damia had enduring appeal that stretched to audiences as far away as Japan where she toured in 1953.
Farewell tour
A few years later she did a farewell tour, ending her more than forty-year career in a double bill with Marie Dubasin front of a full house at the Paris Olympia. Her actual swansong, however, was singing "Les Croix" on "La joie de vivre d'Edith Piaf", in 1956.
When asked in 1974 by the Anglo-French biographer David Bret to divulge the secret of her long life and fabulous voice, Damia replied, "Three packs of Gitanes a day!"
Death
Damia died at La Celle-Saint-Cloud, a western suburb of Paris, and was interred in the Cimetière de Pantin. Today, she is considered to be[by whom?] the third greatest singer of chansons réalistes, after Edith Piaf and Barbara.
Selected filmography
- Calais-Dover (1931)
References
Citations
Bibliography
- Bret, David (1992). Maurice Chevalier: Up on top of a Rainbow. London, England: Robson Books Ltd. ISBN 978-0-860-51789-4.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Conway, Kelley (2004). Chanteuse in the City: The Realist Singer in French Film. Oakland, California: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-93857-1.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - King, Gemma (2018). "Fréhel (1891-1951): (Marguerite Boulc'h) A Tragic, Epic Life". In Abecassis, Michaël; Block, Marcelline (eds.). An Anthology of French and Francophone Singers from A to Z: "Singin’ in French". Newcastle upon Tyne, England: Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 267–270. ISBN 978-1-5275-1205-4.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - "Damien 3026" [Memorial plaques near the hospital Semashko]. Archives de Paris (in French). Paris, France: City of Paris. 5 December 1889. p. 13. Birth certificate #3026. Retrieved 18 June 2018.
