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Born in Paris of Armenian parents
he made his debut at the age of nine, acting, dancing,
singing, and he has not left the stage since then, except for
a short period during the Second World War when he strolled
the Parisian boulevards crying out the headlines of the
newspapers he sold. Could this have been when he developed his
famous "frog" in the throat?
His first song "J'ai
Bu" received first prize for the record of the year.
After that his songs were one success after the other, and
several great singers sang and recorded them. among them were
Edith Piaff, Maurice Chevalier, Bing Crosby, Ray Charles,
Shirley Bassey, Fred Astaire, Liza Minelli, Placido Domingo.
..For his role in "La Tete
Contre Les Murs" he received the prize of the Cristal
Star as the best the male actor. 60 other acting roles
followed, among them -Tirez sur le Pianiste" by Francois
Truffaut, "Un Taxi pour Tobrouk", "Le Diable et
les Dix Commandments", "Les Aventuriers" and
"Le Tambour”
Now Charles Aznavour's success is
worldwide, but he did not become famous until the age of 30.
In fact he only became a star after a tour in Casablanca
(Morocco) and a terrible car accident, which nearly cost him
his 1ife. "I managed very well", he says today after
a new triumph at the Alhambra theatre. And which made a
journalist comment: "France is completely Aznovourian'.
After his first appearance
on Broadway Walter Kerr u rote: "Charles Aznavour is as
dynamic as five Beatles." And time Magazine described
Aznavour "as the best salesman of himself '.
Aznavour says about himself;
"My face is just an ordinary one."
Unlike most! Composers he
insists on having the words of his songs translated into the
language of the country in which he is to sing.
He sings with a voice the
French find so sensual as to describe it as "the voice
after making love".
After the terrible
earthquake that hit Armenia in 1988 he founded with Levon
Sayan the movement "Aznavour for Armenia". He
brought in with him 89 artists to record 'Pour Toi Armenie"
which was the first of the top fifty from the first week it
was out, remained on top of the list during several weeks and
sold over 2million records in France.
In 1975 he wrote -Is Sont Tombes"
in memory of the Armenian genocide during World War One. Since
then he has undertaken frequent visits to Armenia. And in1993
the Armenian president appointed him Ambassador of the new
Armenian Republic to the Unesco.
1n 1996 he returned to Armenia for
the fifth anniversary of the Republic and the thirtieth
anniversary of his first concert in Armenia In 1997 President
Jacques Chirac named Charles Aznavour "Officier de la
Legion d'Honneur" (the highest honor in France). |
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